Worcestershire County Cricket Club has announced a profit after interest of £225,009 for the year ending 30th September 2012.

Chief Executive, David Leatherdale commented “while it is pleasing to make a profit for the 3rd consecutive year, the 2012 figure is boosted by the exceptional profit from the land lease to Premier Inn.

“At the Club’s 2011 AGM it was noted that we had done a great deal to reduce risk, but clearly have not yet done enough to offset the extreme adverse weather in 2012. Met Office figures showed 2012 to be the second wettest summer since records began and resulted in the loss of over 15 days home and away cricket, making 2012 a real challenge.

“However, we now have our Premier Inn hotel and new Club facilities under construction, which is anticipated to attract 35,000-40,000 hotel visitors a year, and combined with our own new conferencing, bars and executive facilities will allow the Club to extend existing revenue streams as well as develop new areas. This will create a truly 365 day a year business with a long term viable and sustainable future ultimately allowing further investment both on and off the pitch.

“As we head into 2013 it is hoped the visit by Australia on the 2nd-5th July, as they warm up for eagerly anticipated 2013 Ashes series will also give the Club and City a boost at the height of summer.”

Soccerex, drugs the global leader for the business of football, has confirmed the signing of a three year contract with the Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Government and  EThekwini Municipality, to host the Soccerex African Forum from 2012 – 2014.

The inaugural Soccerex African Forum will take place at the International Convention Centre in Durban from 23-24 October 2012, just days ahead of the draw for the 2013 African Cup of Nations which is attended by all the federations from across the continent. 

The two day event will feature a conference, exhibition and a programme of networking events and will build on the business legacy of Soccerex’s three year stay in South Africa (2007-2009) for the Global Convention and the legacy of 2010 FIFA World Cup across Africa. Focusing on a mixture of continental and global football issues, the Forum will bring together the leading decision makers in African football business with their counterparts from around the world for two days of unrivalled learning, networking and commercial opportunities.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said: “I am so pleased that Soccerex is returning to South Africa for the Soccerex African Forum.  Following the positive experience we had there with our Global Convention, we always intended to return to the country and in Durban I am sure we have found the perfect host for the next chapter of our experience in South Africa.”

The Soccerex African Forum is part of a new Soccerex event programme that includes the regionally focused Soccerex Lagos Seminar and the internationally renowned Soccerex European Forum in Manchester and Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro.

The Womens Tennis Association (WTA) has ignited a bidding frenzy among major venues after putting the season-ending Tour Championships in 2014 out to tender.

The event, which will take place in Istanbul both this year and next, does not yet have a home for its 2014 staging.

London’s O2 Arena could be interested having successfully staged the equivalent men’s event, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, over the past three years.

It will continue to do so until 2013 but it currently does not have the rights to stage the 2014 tournament, creating a possible opening. However, while the men’s event has proved popular with more than 17,000 people regularly attending, the women’s event, won last year by Petra Kvitova, is likely to be harder to sell to British fans.

Interested venues have been asked to express their interest by June 29 of this year. A formal bid must then be made by September 21.

The WTA will announce a shortlist in October with a final decision being made next March.

Stacey Allaster, chairman and chief executive of the WTA, said: “Based on the significant demand by numerous cities around the world to invest in women’s tennis and host our year-end WTA Championships, we decided to launch an international bidding process to select a host city for 2014 and beyond.

“It’s a chance for some city somewhere to step up on the world stage. We are confident that through this process we will be able to identify the right city to become the next partner for the world’s premier sporting event for women.”

The tournament features the world’s top eight players from that particular season.

The WTA Championships have previously been staged in cities including Los Angeles, Munich, Madrid and Doha.

However, New York’s Madison Square Garden (MSG) is probably its most well-known host venue having staged the event every year bar one between 1977 and 2000. It is believed to be interested in staging more tennis in the future, having held a special exhibition event, featuring Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, earlier this season.

Hotel prices are expected to rise by as much as 50 per cent in 2012 due to the Olympics, viagra following a study which showed how sporting events ramp up local hotel rates.

The latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI) showed how British rugby fans travelling to the World Cup paid 29 per cent more on average for hotels in Wellington at £73, pills and 11 per cent more in Auckland at £68. The overall rate in New Zealand itself also rose 14 per cent to £70 per night.

Similarly, the report also showed Formula One Grand Prix racing can impact pricing and occupancy rates in venue cities with the sport being one of the factors behind a 22 per cent jump in Melbourne to £96 and a 5 per cent rise in Barcelona to £102. During Wimbledon tennis, the price of a room in London rose by 3 per cent to £113 with the city at full occupancy.

In contrast, following a major sporting event, prices can fall dramatically – following the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, the country saw its average room rate drop by 17 per cent in the first six months of this year to £105 with host cities Cape Town down 20 per cent to £100 and Johannesburg down 13 per cent to £111.

Looking ahead to next summer’s Olympics, hotel insiders are predicting rates could jump as high as 50 per cent.

Alison Couper of Hotels.com said: “Prestige sporting events are one of the key drivers of hotel prices and can lead to double-digit percentage increases, as many rugby fans are finding at the moment. What is happening in New Zealand and what happened in South Africacould provide a foretaste for what might occur in London next year.

“It is expected that several thousand additional hotel rooms will be available in the city in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. However, despite the extra capacity, we would urge people thinking of coming to the capital next summer to book their accommodation as soon as they can as the demand and prices are likely to soar the closer we get to the event.”

American television network Fox has said it has sold 90 per cent of advertising for its post-season Major League Baseball (MLB) matches.

Fox says it is currently 25 to 30 per cent ahead of sales in 2008, buy and double that of last year if it stays on the current pace of ad sales.

Fox advertisers include General Motors, cialis Chevrolet and Anheuser-Busch, herbal and New York-based Kantar Media has said spending by marketers on network TV increased by 7.2 per cent in the first half of 2010.

The network is due to air the National League Championship Series playoffs and World Series starting on October 16 and October 27 respectively.

It is charging US$2255,000 for a 30 second ad in the playoffs, and US$450,000 for 30 seconds during the World Series. It is understood that these rates are up eight per cent on last year.

Following the announcement this week of the six candidates standing for the FEI Presidential election, anesthetist the FEI Bureau has set up an Independent Advisory Committee to oversee the election of the new president.

The Independent Advisory Committee, sale cheap which will oversee the election process and all related matters, viagra usa includes FEI President, HRH Princess Haya, The Chair of the Equestrian Community Integrity Unit, Lord Stevens, The former Chair of the FEI Tribunal, Ken Lalo and the Chair of the FEI Audit and Compliance Unit, Brian Mangan

In addition, no candidate will be involved in any aspect of the election process. This process will be handled in FEI Headquarters by the Director Governance and Executive Affairs and the Legal Director.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced the Uzbekistan Rugby Federation (URF) as a Full Member Union after IRB Council approved its application at the annual meeting in Dublin on Wednesday.

The URF became an Associate Member of the IRB in November 2004 and is already a Full Member of the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU), regularly taking part in regional events and council meetings. In addition, the URF is recognised by its National Olympic Committee.

The IRB is committed to the development of Rugby in Asia and this is another step forward for the Game in that part of the world as Uzbekistan is regarded as a country with huge potential for further growth.

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Uzbekistan as a Full Member of the IRB. Rugby is experiencing unprecedented global growth and interest with more than 6.6 million men, women and children playing the Game. Today’s announcement certainly underlines Rugby’s ability to reach out to new communities and countries in every region.”

“As home to 60 per cent of the world’s young people, Asia is a strategically important region for the IRB. Working in collaboration with ARFU we are currently investing more than US$3 million annually in development, high performance and tournament programmes across the region and we will ensure that Uzbekistan has the structures in place to flourish and grow on the world stage.”