LAUSANNE, Switzerland – SportAccord Convention is delighted to share details of the City Forum which forms part of City Day on Tuesday 4 April, taking place at the Convention Center in Aarhus, Denmark, this year’s European Capital of Culture. This year’s SportAccord Convention will have well over twenty cities present, and the 2024 bid cities presenting their short introductions at the afternoon session of the ASOIF General Assembly.

The ever popular City Forum will focus on Legacy Planning and Successful Hosting Strategies. City Forum is intended for cities, International Federations, stakeholders, sponsors and service providers, who work together to host the best international sports events. Organisations who would like to take part in the City Forum and take advantage of City Day should register at www.sportaccordconvention.com before the delegate fee increases to CHF 3000 (plus VAT) on 15 March 2017.

Jacob Larssen, Director of the Danish Athletic Federation will hit the ground running and share his insights on ‘Mass participation events and how to prioritise a city’s legacy’. The session will determine the event outcomes for cities that are most important to their community, sporting partners and stakeholders, and look out the best ways to communicate what they want to accomplish to these audiences.

With cities under increasing pressure to deliver on their legacy agendas, the session, ‘Promises to Keep: The truth about Legacy Planning’, will examine what structures and safeguards can be put in place to keep the promises made during the bid city process.

Commenting on this year’s City Forum programme, Don Schumacher, Executive Director of the National Association of Sports Commissions said, “Since its inception City Forum has offered content prepared specially for host city organizations. With the balance of SportAccord Convention focused on broader industry issues, the chance for cities and other governmental units to focus on mutual problems and opportunities makes it a highlight for me.”

When it comes to hosting strategies, there are many dynamics for International Federations to consider when determining what to look for from a host city. The first Hosting Strategy session will discuss some of the key considerations for sports federations when they evaluate their requirements for a host city including technology, viewer and participant expectations, economics, the environment, and the sport themselves – which change regularly and sometimes dramatically.

The concluding session at this year’s City Forum: ‘Think creatively as an event host,’ will explore how a city can best play to its strengths when bidding for and hosting events that are becoming larger and more complex with every passing year.

Nis Hatt, Managing Director, SportAccord Convention said, “City Forum provides a unique opportunity to hear from industry leaders on a variety of cutting-edge topics, while interacting with city representatives from around the world. I consider it a must-attend event for any city engaged in bidding for or hosting a major sporting event.”

City Forum will be preceded by City-to-City. This event is for cities and regions only and will focus on two subjects which have gathered momentum in recent months: (1) How cities can engage with their populations regarding hosting events (2) Whether sport events really are a proper tool to help increase participation in a specific sport.

Tubby Reddy, the chairman of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), has insisted that the city of Durban has “done enough” to retain hosting rights to the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games multi-sport event.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) awarded the Games to Durban after a unanimous vote in September 2015. The city had been the sole bidder since February of the same year, following the decision by Canadian city Edmonton to drop out of the race amid doubts over their financial position.

South Africa’s Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, said this week that the city may have to forfeit its hosting rights due to the high cost of staging the event. The CGF is due to make a final decision at a meeting on March 10.

Liverpool have offered to host the Games in the event of a Durban withdrawal, while Birmingham are also said to be considering the opportunity should it arise.

EFL Cup winners Manchester United have entered into a global partnership with Malaysian e-commerce corporation Aladdin Group.

The deal, of undisclosed length, will see the two parties work to generate brand awareness and engagement projects with United’s global fan base. The Aladdin Group  will launch its global website AladdinStreet.com later this year.

Digital initiatives will be launched, as well as one-to-one fan events and campaigns. In addition, United fans will soon be able to enjoy unique opportunities and benefits when they shop online at AladdinStreet.com.

Aladdin Group’s co-founder and president, Dato’ Sri Desmond To, said: “Our goals and ambitions are closely aligned and will soon become visible to everyone in the very near future through our joint campaigns worldwide.”

Manchester United generated the highest revenue of any sports team worldwide in the 2015-16 season.

The Old Trafford outfit have won the last three available trophies open to them, with wins in the FA Cup, Community Shield and EFL Cup.

Location: Salford, England

Closing Date: March 3, 2017

Overview:

Our Social Media Lead will work closely with the Younger Audiences Editor to help develop and deliver an industry-leading social media strategy, aimed at maximising audience reach, referrals back to the BBC Sport platforms and increasing engagement with a young, hard-to-reach and diverse audiences; primarily 16-34s.

Our Social Media Lead is a key senior role with BBC Sport Interactive, working as part of the management team and responsible for the development and implementation of the social media strategy as agreed by the Younger Audiences Editor and the Head of Sport Digital.

The successful candidate will have substantial experience of working in a senior role in a social media environment with in-depth professional knowledge of different social media platforms and how they can be utilised to benefit BBC Sport.

Our candidate will have experience in a management role with strong leadership skills and valid experience in working with internal/external partners and talent to develop social media accounts and communities. Experience in maintaining relationships with external stakeholders, contacts and governing bodies is key to this role.

You will have a comprehensive understanding of how social media can be used to support, enhance and engage audiences around our major events and content output.

A proven track record of delivering social media innovation through storytelling, audience engagement and account growth, as well as an understanding of the UK Sport scene is essential to be successful in this unique role.

How to apply: visit http://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/Sport-Social-Media-Lead/19514

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has named Paris as the host of its 2018 Men’s World Cup, with the three-day event to be held in the Events Arena at Disneyland Paris.

The Disneyland resort, which resides just outside the French capital, will play host to the event in October 2018, with the French Table Tennis Federation admitting a concerted drive to host one major international table tennis competition per annum.

The 2016 edition was held in Germany, and the 2017 version will take place in Belgium. 

Australian Rugby Union Chief Operating Officer Rob Clarke has announced he is confident that a new sponsor for the Super Rugby club competition will be found before the 2017 campaign begins.

Super Rugby has been without a title sponsor since August 2016, when Asteron Life opted not to extend the three-season deal they penned in 2014.

The 2017 edition begins on February 23, and talks with prospective backers are continuing.

Rob Clarke said, ‘the two or three companies we’re talking to are global brands’.

No matter what sport you participate in, it’s a universal truth that stress impacts our ability to perform at our best.

NuCalm is a patented technology that uses clinically proven neuroscience to guide athletes to deep relaxation – allowing the mind and body to naturally relax, recover, and restore.

By naturally reducing stress and achieveing deep relaxation, the body idles in the optimal healing state. This allows you to recover and rebuild quickly. NuCalm is the only patented system for balancing and maintaining the health of the automatic nervous system.

At this moment in time, NuCalm work with professional athletes and sports teams including the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, The Premier League and La Liga.

As NuCalm celebrates 15 years of neuroscience practice, this e-magazine details who they work with and how exactly it all works!

Chicago Blackhawks Head Trainer, Mike Gapski explained how the NuCalm technology helped his team reach their optimum performance levels:

“You could tell that these guys were just more relaxed. We want our players to play ‘intense’ not ‘tense.’ NuCalm is a way for them to just relax and deal with frustrations. NuCalm was very beneficial because it clears your head and allows you to start from scratch. The crucial part of this game is recovery. That’s why I think NuCalm played an important role for us, especially during the playoffs.” — Mike Gapski, Head Trainer, Chicago Blackhawks

You can read NuCalm’s first e-magazine here.

US mass media company Liberty Media has claimed to have received clearance that will enable their takeover of the Formula One motor racing Championship.

Liberty Media declared in a recent statement that all required approvals from anti-trust authorities have been granted, medicine allowing for their takeover to proceed.

Several approval processes are still yet to be completed for the $1.55bn move, bronchi which was initially provisionally announced in September. The takeover is expected to be resolved by March.

Nike has announced it will collaborate with three elite distance runners in a bid to take the world record marathon time under two hours.

The Breaking2 initiative, designed to improve upon the current milestone of 2:02:57 by almost three minutes, will not take place on a sanctioned course and therefore will not be world-record eligible.

The athletes taking part in the project are reigning men’s Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, two-time Boston marathon champion Lelisa Desia and half-marathon world record holder Zersenay Tadese.

Nike has pledged to provide the runners, who will miss significant marathons to join their project, with the finest apparel and physiological support.

This news is a key moment in Nike’s distance running focus of recent years.