The PGA TOUR announced today that Champions Tour President Mike Stevens is leaving the PGA TOUR effective Jan. 1, 2015.

It was also announced that Greg McLaughlin, currently Senior Vice President of PGA TOUR Championship Management, is transitioning into the role.

Now 56 years old, Stevens felt that after a 35-year career in professional golf, both as a Tournament Director at the RBC Heritage and Senior Executive roles at the PGA TOUR, the time was right to make a change and tendered his resignation this week.

“Mike has done an exemplary job in leading the Champions Tour since 2008. Mike brought fresh ideas and enthusiasm for the Champions Tour and we are grateful for all of his contributions and wish him all the best as he transitions into the next phase of his life,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.

“We are extremely pleased to have someone of Greg’s quality to step into the role,” added Finchem. “Greg brings great experience, as both a tournament director and administrator. This perspective will ensure future growth and success of the Champions Tour.”

“I’ve had a great 35-year career in professional golf, first as Tournament Director at the RBC Heritage and then serving in an executive role with the PGA TOUR,” Stevens said. “Having said that, I just feel the time is right to pursue other opportunities.

“I have had the privilege to work with a dedicated staff on the Champions Tour and take great pride in the growth we have achieved. I firmly believe the Champions Tour is well positioned for the future.  I would like to thank Commissioner Finchem, Ed Moorhouse and Charlie Zink for the opportunities they’ve given me and their support throughout my career.  It’s been an honor to have worked at the PGA TOUR.

“I look forward to working with Greg McLaughlin for the remainder of the year and I am confident that he will be able to continue the important initiatives that the Champions Tour team has developed over the last seven years.”

McLaughlin joined the PGA TOUR in June, 2014 after serving as President and CEO of the Tiger Woods Foundation for 14 years. In addition to running the Foundation, McLaughlin oversaw the three tournaments run by the organization – Quicken Loans National, Deutsche Bank Championship and the Hero World Challenge.

Prior to joining the Tiger Woods Foundation in 2000, McLaughlin was the Tournament Director at the Northern Trust Open, The Honda Classic and BMW Championship.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the players and staff of the Champions Tour to continue to help grow this unique and exciting tour,” said McLaughlin. “Mike has done a wonderful job over the past seven years and I look forward to continuing those efforts in growing the Champions Tour.”

The current back-to-back Investec Super Rugby champions, medstore Chiefs, denture have entered a high performance partnership with Japanese rugby club, the Kobelco Steelers.

The Chiefs exclusive Japanese partnership agreement will provide a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship for the Chiefs and the Kobelco Steelers.   

The arrangement will involve rugby high performance development exchanges between the two rugby clubs.  The Kobelco Steelers coaches and players will visit the Chiefs during the Investec Super Rugby season and Chiefs coaches and team management staff will head to Japan during the Kobelco Steelers’ season. 

Chiefs Rugby Club CEO Andrew Flexman said “This is an important relationship for us as we believe it provides genuine value for both the Chiefs and the Kobelco Steelers.  From a Chiefs perspective it aligns with our strategic objectives around fostering international relationships and continuing to develop our brand globally.”

The Jeep brand will debuts a new on-air advertising campaign on Saturday, January 18, to coincide with the X Games Aspen 2014.

In addition to the thirty-second national television commercial, the campaign consists of print, digital and social extensions.  For the 11th year, the Jeep brand is returning to Aspen as the exclusive automotive sponsor of the world’s premier winter actions sports event. The popular X Games Aspen will take place Thursday, January 23 through Sunday, January 26 at Buttermilk Mountain at Aspen/Snowmass. 

“Both the Jeep brand and X Games Aspen demonstrate what is possible when we face challenges with determination and passion,” said Olivier Francois, Chief Marketing Officer, Chrysler Group LLC.  “The ‘Snow Miser’ campaign reflects that even the coldest, most extreme elements of nature can bring out the best in us.”

“The Jeep brand has been a proud sponsor of the ESPN X Games Aspen for 11 years.  It is a collaboration that reaches a core consumer audience – those who share a desire for excitement and adventure,” said Mike Manley, President and CEO – Jeep Brand, Chrysler Group LLC.  “In addition to the custom content produced specifically for this signature event, our new 2014 Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition will be prominently featured on site during the games, allowing our consumers to engage with us in a way that is a natural fit for the Jeep brand.”

Creative efforts were developed by GlobalHue, based in Southfield, Mich., the Jeep brand’s lead advertising agency.

Global sports marketing agency, allergist Infront Sports & Media, buy cialis has revealed its acqusition of B2RUN GmbH & Co. KG, which organises the B2RUN running championships, from previous owner, consulting firm actori.

B2RUN operates a number of running championship which includes ten events each year and attracts approximately 5,000 companies, including numerous blue chip brands. In total, over the course of 2013, the number of participants, mobilised by their employers, increased to over 100,000 (+22 per cent compared to the previous year). The figure made B2RUN the largest running series in the German-speaking region and under Infront’s tenure the series will continue to expand both nationally and internationally over the coming years.

For 2014, a new event has already been added to the roster, scheduled to take place in the city of Bremen. Thanks to the support of SV Werder Bremen, a long-term partner of Infront, the race will culminate with the finish in the Weser Stadium. The Bremen event will take the B2RUN series to a new total of eleven events – starting on 15 May in Dortmund and ending with the final on 3 September in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. For sponsors the B2RUN platform provides options to be involved across the entire season as industry exclusive B2RUN Competence Partners. In addition, Infront will market an exclusive Presenting Partner package which will provide diverse activation options and high visibility before, during and after the events.

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront, commented: “The enthusiasm for endurance events is on the rise worldwide, holding high appeal due to their experiential character. In terms of sponsors, we are also registering an increase in demand for platforms that provide direct customer engagement in the sporting environment. The acquisition of B2RUN, the market leader of company runs Europe-wide, is therefore a strategic decision and logical next step for Infront. The aim is to establish the B2RUN brand in new cities and countries in the short term as well as integrate sponsors in the most versatile way.”

Dr. Stefan Mohr, Managing Director of actori, added: “We have developed B2RUN into one of the most popular event brands in Germany over recent years. In many cities the runs are a fixture in the event calendar. Infront, with its global network and expertise in sports marketing, is ideally positioned to expand B2RUN internationally – as well as set new standards in the marketing of endurance sports.”

Following the acquisition, B2RUN will be fully integrated into the Infront Group. The existing management team – led by Managing Director Sebastian Wirtz – will remain unchanged, continuing to steer operations from Munich together with their experienced staff.

Sebastian Wirtz, Managing Director of B2RUN, said: “With its experience and international team, Infront will support us with further strengthening the B2RUN brand and its resonance in the economy and society. We see a continuing trend for companies to more actively promote health and sportive recreation for their employees. B2RUN has anticipated and addressed this direction early. Together with the Infront team, we will be able to continue this success story and expansion path.”

Research conducted by KPMG in association with Oxford Economics has revealed Golf in Scotland is now a £1 billion industry.

The ‘Value of Golf to Scotland’s Economy’ report, commissioned by the Scottish Golf Union in conjunction with VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise, and published at the KPMG Golf Business Forum in St Andrews, found that the industry generates £1.171 billion in revenues, including direct, indirect and induced effects. 

More than 20,000 people are employed in golf in Scotland – one in every 125 jobs are dependent on golf – creating wage payments of £300 million.

Once costs are taken into account, golf directly contributes £496 million to Scotland’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually, equivalent to 0.4% of the country’s total economic output. (see note 2)

While Scotland is known worldwide as ‘The Home of Golf’, it is the first time the value of golf to Scotland has been measured in this way.

Hamish Grey, CEO of the Scottish Golf Union, said: “This report clearly demonstrates the significant value of golf to Scotland’s economy. Comparing it to other industries, we can now see for the first time that for example golf’s direct contribution to GDP is 89% that of fishing and fish farming, and 83% of air transport.

“The ‘Value of Golf to Scotland’s Economy’ report, commissioned by the Scottish Golf Union in conjunction with VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise, provides credible data for all interested in Scottish golf to work from. A related and complementary study of the social impact of golf in Scotland is being developed concurrently and will be finalised later this summer.

“Scottish golf clubs are continuing to operate in challenging conditions, particularly in terms of finance and climate, and the Scottish Golf Union are providing our affiliated clubs with increased support, guidance and help with future business planning to ensure we have stronger clubs in the future to take advantage of the money spent in the industry.

“Our collective challenge is to work together to build on the evidence base from this report and ensure that future generations of Scots benefit from this great game and the related industry.”

Dr Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, added: “Golf is a hugely important contributor to the economy of Scotland, and tourism in particular. With a number of major golf events on the horizon in Scotland, it was important to understand the scale of the industry as a whole in order that we continue to build and grow the industry in future.”

The report focuses on six sectors of the golf industry – golf facility operations, golf course capital investments, golf supplies, golf tournaments and endorsements, golf tourism and golf real estate – and is based on 2011 data.

The arguments between Germany’s motorsport associations are one of the main reasons a Formula One race has yet to be confirmed in the country for 2013, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has revealed.

The race alternates between Hockenheim, which hosted the race last year, and the Nurburgring, which was due to host the race on July 7. But Nurburgring has been 

Moving the race to Hockenheim would not be straightforward though, as the AvD which looks after the Nurburgring are keen to ensure the German GP name is not used at another venue in 2013.

“It’s all a little bit political, with different political groups fighting each other,” Ecclestone said.

“You have the AvD, one club there that looks after the Nurburgring, and the ADAC, another club, which looks after Hockenheim.

“The Nurburgring is where the race should take place, and the AvD say unless they can’t do it then it can’t take place. We’ve said to them we don’t have to call it the German Grand Prix this year, we can call it the Grand Prix of Europe.

“It’s all a bit messy. At the moment the race is on-off, on-off, but we’re doing our best to get it sorted. We’ll try and make it happen.”

FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann has revealed his frustration with UK Sport’s decision to cut funding to Britain’s national teams.

In December British Basketball was notified it would retain no funding ahead of the Rio Olympics in 2016, having received £8.6m in the run-up to London.

Baumann believes the decision wrecks several years of hard work in the run up to the 2012 Olympics by the men’s and women’s teams.

They only won one game out of 10 between them, but many observers say they did well simply to be playing there at all given that they were only set up six years ago.

“We are certainly very frustrated that the efforts of the basketball family have to come to a stop because of this decision of UK Sport,” Baumann said.

“I think (British Basketball) had done extremely well and the team were very competitive during the Olympics.

“Maybe the end results don’t reflect that but if you saw the game both the men and women were very competitive to get there and put in that kind of performance, and their achievement deserves the chance to go on and try to go to future World Cups and Olympic Games.”

Without funding from UK Sport, Baumann believes British Basketball’s good work to date would be undone and the program set back several years.

“It would be a waste of resources and time,” he said. “Whether you can recover from a blow like this depends on how quickly you can refinance yourselves, but in this climate it is very difficult to do.

“We’ve worked with British Basketball since day one,” he added. “We’ve supported them when times were good and now we will be there when times are difficult.”

Board of Control for Cricket in India has surpassed all the expectations and registered a whooping profit for the year 2011-12.

BCCI net profits for this year alone were a massive Rs. 192.63 crore a rise of 101.53 per cent from the previous year (2010-11).

BCCI had estimated a surplus of Rs. 296.31 crore ($55.41 million) for 2011-12, asthma but by the end of the year the cricket board had amassed a staggering amount of Rs 382.36 crore ($71.5 million).

According to reports published in Indiatoday.com, medstore the main source of BCCI income is media rights, sponsorship rights and receipts from ICC and ACC. The Board recently awarded crores of rupees to veteran cricketers. BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world.