Randy Lerner has completed the sale of NFL franchise Cleveland Browns to Tennessee businessman Jimmy Haslam III.

“This is a very exciting time for my family and me, erectile ” said Haslam. “To own such a storied franchise as the Cleveland Browns, seek with its rich tradition and history, is a dream come true.  We are committed to keeping the team in Cleveland and seeing it get back to the elite of the NFL – something all Browns fans want and deserve.  We plan to bring relentless dedication and hard work to every aspect of this organization, and we look forward to getting to know this team and community as quickly as possible.  Our family is committed to becoming an integral part of the Cleveland community. We also want to thank Randy Lerner for his friendship, counsel and support during this process.”

For the last 16 years, the 58-year old Haslam has been the CEO of Pilot Flying J Corporation, the nation’s largest retail operator of travel centers and truck stops.  A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Haslam and his wife, Susan “Dee” Bagwell Haslam, have three adult children, Jim, Whitney and Cynthia.

Randy Lerner assumed control of the Browns in October 2002 following the death of his father, Al.  The National Football League awarded the Cleveland franchise to Al Lerner on September 8, 1998.  The formal transfer of ownership from the Browns Trust to Lerner took place on October 23, 1998.

Lerner said: “I was approached regarding Mr. Haslam’s interest several weeks ago.  While as a fiduciary I have always felt it was my responsibility to listen to offers, I had not been approached with a proposal that felt as natural and complete as Mr. Haslam’s. He had done a lot of work on the Browns and the City of Cleveland and first and foremost gave me his personal assurance the team would remain in Cleveland.”

Cleveland has made the playoffs once since it rejoined the league, a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

The 50 places for the first iSportconnect Directors Club event in Germany on November 17, ailment 2011, erectile situated in Munich are almost occupied.

Only a few places are left for interested representatives of the sports and sponsorship industry. Delegates from BMW and BMW Motorsport, view Allianz, 1. FC Nürnberg, EON, Osram, Deutscher Eishockey Bund, Nürnberg Ice Tigers, TSV 1860 München, Sky Deutschland Deloitte and Thomas Sabo already confirmed their participation.

The main topic of the first iSportconnect Directors Club Germany will be ‚Hospitality & the law‘. S 20 e. V., Germans association of the top 20 sports sponsors, has recently published a code of practice in this regard. Unclear compliance rules when it comes to inviting business partners to sports events aren’t only a threat for sponsors, but also for rights holders, clubs and federations.

Dr. Christian Deuringer, Head of Global Brand Management Allianz SE and member of S 20 e. V., will open up the discussion with a Keynote on the code of practice. A panel discussion with agency CEO Hans-Bernd Kamps, Deloitte representative Stefan Ludwig and S 20 e. V. General Manager Josef Stadtfeld will follow.

(To register for the iSportconnect Directors Club Germany, please go to dev.isportconnect.com/directorsclubgermany.)

Further Directors Clubs will follow in New York, London, Singapore and Barcelona for regional iSportconnect members to network and discuss current affairs in sports business in those regions in a relaxed environment.

William “Bill” Russell, capsule the former National Basketball Association (NBA) star center for the Boston Celtics is on the warpath after accusing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in an antitrust complaint of selling videos using his likeness without paying him or seeking his consent.

The lawsuit is the latest to claim the NCAA violates federal antitrust laws by keeping former student basketball and football athletes from receiving compensation for the commercial use of their images and likeness. The association has denied wrongdoing in those cases.

Electronic Arts Inc., cheap the second-largest U.S. video game maker, medstore is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Russell accuses it of using his image in a “Tournament of Legends” feature on an NCAA basketball video game.

Russell, who led the University of San Francisco to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, said in the complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Oakland, California, that the association sells $150 videos of the team’s championship games. At least 54 video clips featuring him are available through the website of the NCAA’s for-profit business partner and photos of him through an NCAA on-line photo store, according to the complaint.

Russell seeks a court order blocking further sale of the videos, plus a share of the profits from the videos and unspecified damages.

Russell’s complaint will probably be consolidated with a pending lawsuit brought by former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon on behalf of other former NCAA players against the association and Redwood City, California-based Electronic Arts, according to the complaint.

Jon King, an attorney for the former players, said in an e-mail: “Bill Russell, one of the greatest NCAA, NBA and Olympic basketball players in history, joins the lawsuit brought by Ed O’Bannon alleging that the NCAA has violated federal antitrust law by unlawfully foreclosing former Division I men’s basketball and football players from receiving any compensation related to the commercial use of their images and likenesses.”

The official French website for selling tickets to the London 2012 Olympics has crashed before selling a single ticket.

The tickets were set to go on sale to pre-registered applicants this morning, June 13, through the French Olympic Committee’s official reselling agents Eventour2012.

EU laws mean UK users can buy seats and more than 4,000 Brits had registered in the hope to secure tickets after many lost out in the process in the host nation.

A message posted on the site at the time when the sale process was set to begin read: ”For technical reasons we invite you to return to the site www.eventeam2012.fr from 14.00 (13.00 BST). Thank you for your understanding.”

It is believed that a last minute rush by UK residents may have caused the site to overload through increased registrations which allow users a 48-hour window of private sales before Wednesday, June 15, when tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Research from YouGov/SMG Insight has revealed that over a third of British adults aged between 18 and 34 are planning to watch this season’s English Premier League on television outside of their own home.

23 per cent of viewers within that age group plan to watch football matches at a pub or club, while 11 per cent of respondents are most likely to go round a friend’s house to watch a game. 51 per cent said they planned on watching games at home.

Founder and managing director of IMG Insight, Frank Saez, said: “The age group of 18 to 34 year olds is an extremely important group of viewers to advertisers and sponsors. They are the first to have the latest gadgets and less likely to have developed brand loyalties.

“Yet out-of-home viewing in many cases is still considered to be value-added beyond traditional TV ratings. Our international consumer panel provides us with the ability to monitor out-of-home sports viewing with precision on a regular basis. This study is the first of several viewing studies planned for this season.”

The former sports minister of the British Government, Richard Caborn, has launched a scathing attack on the Football Association (FA), claiming it is “unfit for purpose”.

The FA has been hit by a series of high-level losses to its management, coupled with the national team having a disappointing tournament at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Caborn said: “Is the FA fit for purpose? No I don’t think it is. I believe the governance of the game is not prepared to stand up to its responsibilities. The FA need to say we have to look at ourselves very seriously and we need to modernise ourselves.

“In Germany in 2000, there was a repositioning of the governance of German football. I think that has been to the benefit of German football, and we are seeing some of those results at the current World Cup.”

Caborn even went as far to say that the FA should “franchise out” Wembley Stadium, and the FA Cup, leaving it to concentrate on governing the sport.

He said: “Should a governing body be running that (the FA Cup and Wembley) as well as governing the sport? What is absolutely clear is that they are assets of football and those assets should be put back into the FA.”

 

USA Triathlon today announced that Kevin Haas has been named Treasurer of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors.

Haas has been a member of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors since 2013 and represents the Southwest Region, sale which includes Arizona, allergist California and Nevada. Haas has previously served as the Collegiate Committee Chair, pharmacy Conference Commissioner for the West Coast Collegiate Triathlon Conference and President for the UC-Berkeley Triathlon Team.

As Treasurer, Hass will assume fiduciary responsibilities for the funds, financial records and fiscal reporting of USA Triathlon. He will also oversee preparation of the proposed annual budget for submission to the Board of Directors.

World Archery has announced today that Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, will host the 2015 World Cup Final and 2017 World Championships.

World Archery hopes that by awarding two elite events to a city that already displays an appetite for the sport, strong development and community engagement programmes can be built to complement the continued growth of archery in Latin America.

Mexico City 2015 will be the second time the nation hosts the Archery World Cup Final. The first ever such event was held in the Mayapan Pyramids in 2006, the same year in which Merida ran the World Archery Youth Championships nearby.

Mexico also has a decorated history of hosting major multisport events, including Pan American, Caribbean and Central American Games – and the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.

A strong bid backed by Mayor Dr Miguel Angel Mancera and Director of Sport Mr Horacio De La Vega – who had a great career as an athlete – national government and broadcasters persuaded the World Archery Executive Board to award both events to the same organiser.

Director of Sport in Mexico City Mr Horacio De La Vega said: “Archery is central to Mexico’s sport programme following the success the nation’s athletes have already achieved. It is a sport on the rise in popularity and participation and there is a significant audience for its international events and athletes within the country. It’s now time for Mexico City to showcase the best of itself, internationally, thanks to great athletes.”

World Archery Secretary General Mr Tom Dielen said: “Athletes were at the centre of the decision to award these events to Mexico City. Mexico’s archers have been asking for an international tournament in their country for some time, and they are one of the most internationally competitive teams right now.

“With the Mexican Challenge concept, this organising committee proved that it shares our values of putting athletes at the heart of international archery competition. We are confident it will build on that success with two of World Archery’s flagship tournaments.”

Leeds Carnegie executive chairman Sir Ian McGeechan has revealed the RFU Championship club will be rebranded.

Following discussions with the Yorkshire RFU and clubs across the county, McGeechan has unveiled the plan to create Yorkshire Carnegie from the 2014-15 season to replace the existing Leeds Carnegie club. The team will play at Headingley Carnegie Stadium to meet minimum Premiership standards but with the intention to create a side to represent Yorkshire at the highest level and create an integrated Yorkshire wide system.

To achieve that goal, McGeechan is appealing for a broad base of financial support from across Yorkshire from people with a real interest in enhancing Yorkshire Rugby Union’s legacy that dates back to 1876 with the formation of the Yorkshire RFU.

Commenting on the announcement McGeechan said, “Since the game went professional in 1995, benevolent individuals at clubs like Leeds, Rotherham and Doncaster have pumped millions of pounds of their own money into trying to make professional Rugby Union a success in Yorkshire. Undoubtedly the player pool within the county is as strong as ever with the fantastic work being done at junior and school levels. We have successfully created an Academy structure that benefits all clubs across the county and the time is right now to spread that philosophy to the senior structure. We now face a crossroads if we are able to create a sustainable future for the professional side of the game.”

The new club will be in a strong position with a 20,000 capacity stadium, all existing players and staff from Leeds Carnegie as well as benefiting from all the existing sponsorship and income streams that currently go to Leeds Carnegie, including the club’s partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University.

Leeds Rugby Chief Executive Gary Hetherington added, “Leeds Carnegie, Rotherham and Doncaster have all tried to create a winning team on the field to gain and retain a place in the Premiership. Clearly, by leveraging talent and support across Yorkshire that gives us the best chance possible of succeeding. The Leeds Academy has long been recognised as the best in the country and that is clearly demonstrated by the success of players such as Danny Care, Calum Clark, Rob Webber and most recently Luther Burrell. These players are the latest in a long history of world class players from Yorkshire that includes the likes Sir Ian McGeechan, John Spencer, Mike Tindall and Rob Andrew. This year marks the 150thanniversary of rugby being played in Leeds for the first time which presents a timely opportunity for us to examine a way forward for the game.

“The business model for professional Rugby Union has changed dramatically over the last decade and now we must forge a new way to give Yorkshire the chance to succeed. Rather than relying on the generosity of a handful of benefactors we now want to create a group to control the Yorkshire franchise and allow the club to challenge the best in England and Europe,” added Hetherington.

Leeds Rugby Chairman Paul Caddick added, “Like myself, Ian McGeechan is passionate about Yorkshire Rugby. Since his return to the club he has persuaded the board that in order for us to not just return to the Premiership but compete, we must be in a stronger position. At Leeds we managed to compete for five consecutive seasons in the Premiership but the game has changed at that level and it needs further investment to thrive at the top.

“For many years I have invested a great deal of time, commitment and effort to create a team that the whole county can be proud of and I am happy to continue my involvement if the new board wish me to. Sir Ian McGeechan’s vision is one that deserves support by all who care about the game in the county and it has my full backing.”