Sports and media business WME | IMG has signed a worlwide marketing and management deal with American tennis player Jack Sock.

More info HERE.

The Manor Marussia Formula One team is due to return to the Formula One grid after being named on a 10-team entry list for the 2015 season.

The team were taken out of administration by Stephen Fitzpatrick, viagra cialis the owner of energy firm Ovo.

Read more HERE.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced Australia and New Zealand will co-host the World Twenty20 in 2020.

More info HERE.

According to Forbes, this year’s College Football Championship Game tickets could be the second least expensive in five years. 

Only last season’s BCS National Championship Game between Florida State and Auburn at the Rose Bowl had a less expensive average price. That game was the only one over the last five years to have an average price below $1,000 on the secondary market with a $907.48 average.

The average price moved less than 1% from the average during the day on Saturday following the announcement of the four playoff teams.

All the figures available HERE.

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The ATP has confirmed fans who attended Sunday’s ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena will receive a 60 per cent refund after not watching the final due to Roger Federer’s late withdrawal.

The Swiss had to pull out of the final against Novak Djokovic because of a back injury he received in his semi-final match.

The ATP issued an apology this morning for the “inconvenience caused” in a statement released on their website and said all customers from Sunday would receive a 60 per cent refund on their tickets.

The statement said: “Following the unfortunate circumstances that prevented the singles final from taking place as part of the final session of the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, order all ticket holders who purchased regular tickets through authorised ticketing channels will receive an automatic 60 per cent refund.

“Customers will be contacted directly via their respective ticketing outlets with specific details on how they will receive their refund.

“Ticket holders for the 2014 final will also receive advanced access to purchase tickets for the 2015 tournament. Further information on how to take advantage of this offer will be sent out to all applicable customers in February next year.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused, and thank you for your support of the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.”

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced the five cities that will stage men’s college basketball Final Four for the years 2017-2021.

Phoenix will host the event in 2017 which will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The other cities chosen by the NCAA include San Antonio in 2018, Minneapolis in 2019 and Atlanta in 2020. The 2021 Final Four has been awarded to Indianapolis.

“This certainly was a very competitive process, so selecting Indianapolis to host the 2021 Final Four presented the committee an opportunity to select four other cities for the original span of the bid cycle,” said Dan Gavitt, NCAA vice president of men’s basketball.

“The agreement we have with the city of Indianapolis provides flexibility to the site selection process, so any reasonable option that benefited the event while maintaining the integrity of the bid process for the other finalist cities was considered.

“The Indianapolis local organizing committee was receptive of the idea and assured us that they would be prepared with guarantees from the venues and local hotels.”

Powerboat P1, asthma the international marine motorsport promoter, has signed a deal with FOX Sports International to extend the broadcast coverage of its existing P1 SuperStock and P1 AquaX championships in the UK and USA and the new race series in Singapore next year to over 100 countries.

Speaking about the deal, P1 CEO James Durbin (pictured) explained how important media and broadcasting is to Powerboat P1.

“Media and broadcast relationships play a central role in building our international presence and in delivering exposure for host venues as well as commercial partners,” he said.

“This latest deal with FOX Sports International enhances our already extensive TV distribution and shows that the interest and commercial value of powerboat racing is increasing significantly.”

P1 announced a year ago that it had signed an agreement with FOX Sports Florida for coverage of its two race series this year, with 12 programmes being aired on the Sun Sports channel from May through to October this year and continuing in 2015.

Tim Ivy, director of programming at FOX Sports Networks in Fort Lauderdale said: “We are delighted to be running a double bill of marine motorsport action and are confident that the focus on Florida, together with the high quality production delivered by P1, will deliver excellent audience ratings.”

Durbin added: “Our growing partnership with FOX Sports is a reflection of the strength of our motorsport championships and adds huge value to our race venues and sponsors, plus the obvious benefits of increased exposure and advertising opportunities.

“Our broadcast partners at an international, national and regional level are crucially important to the success of our business as we move towards the goal of a P1 world championship, and this latest TV agreement is another important milestone in our international growth.”

Hello and welcome to the very first iSportconnect Social Media Café blog.

It’s the place where we take a look at the sporting social and digital universe, pick out some of the best bits, look at the people doing things right, and round-up some of the news and opinion to keep you abreast of all things online.

Athletes Getting It Right: Roger Federer

The Swiss tennis legend (does he count as a legend yet) has really taken to Twitter in a big way.

There are other athletes and teams who haven’t always got the hang of it and occasionally been hung out to dry, but Roger is an athlete getting it right.

He’s already a nice guy and someone who takes a little time and care over the relationship he has with his fans, but a recent flash Q&A demonstrated just precisely how nice a guy he is.

Federer was quite happy to chat with fans about everything and anything from his taste in television to which countries he’d like to visit, his favourite Italian football team and his handwriting. You’ll find the full story here: http://mashable.com/2013/10/10/roger-federer-twitter/

Team in Focus: Lotus F1

When Kimi Raikkonen decided to make a return to F1, it was always going to be a breath of fresh air. And always going to be social media gold for the team he drove for.

What the team has managed to do is retain a sense of humour, while maintaining a slick, F1-aspirational tone to their output.

They’re quite overt with their hastagging. It’s done with tongue firmly in cheek and what they also do with some panache is aggregate content on their website.

While the premise of social media is push, rather than pull to a digital hub, Lotus’ community section (second from the left on the main menu) gathers all the content they’re producing in one place. A single place to see all the Instagram, Facebook and Twitter content and, in addition they use the nifty Storify application to bolster the whole thing and gather in even more content.

But… there is the tendency to get a little self-referential at times with the videos. The first video of the year which saw Matt Le Blanc quiz a typically reticent Kimi Raikkonen on his thoughts on the new car on YouTube was a little forced. And the slightly awkward Déjà Vu video, again on their YouTube channel, was unnecessary. Their idea of getting a slide guitar player to emulate an engine noise is a good one. And even if a car company did use a similar concept, parading your innovation and dismissing an agency’s apparent dearth of original ideas is not one to display in public.

But far more often they get it right. And perhaps their coup de grace was fortuitously in Monaco.

Where for most it’s an alpha male competition to see who can host the most lavish party or serenade the biggest A-lister into their motorhome/yacht, Lotus managed to seize the zeitgeist by the short hair and made more of a splash with two French guys most people would have trouble recognizing whether they’re wearing their helmets or not.

The Columbia Records link-up has proved fascinating. Lotus have managed to bring music into the Paddock while retaining their cool and the label’s credibility. But in Monte Carlo, just nine days after the launch of perhaps the most (over)hyped record of the year, Daft Punk strode through the Paddock, met the drivers and watched the race from the garage. And the on-track/in-harbour action was all backed up with a great social campaign, spearheaded with another hashtag. #getlucky, of course.

The upshot is that a team which was having a small bout of identity confusion (Renault-Lotus Renault-Not Green Lotus-Team Lotus-Lotus F1 Team), but in its latest 2011 guise had heritage in name and livery, now had a charismatic lead driver and a newly unveiled wit and sense of humour.

Case in point? The brilliant picture they put on Twitter when Kimi Raikkonen announced he was leaving to re-join Ferrari. That picture didn’t only light up the Paddock, but it also went viral. Even sad news can be re-worked in the wonderful world of social media.

Their social and digital media wasn’t a necessity, therefore, but it has lifted the fans’ (and the sponsors’ potential audience) appreciation and dedication to the team.

Fan Interaction of the Week

Not so much sports, more an internet phenomena which will not only take up five minutes of your day but will also have your eyes rolling at the state of the youth of today.

Check out #dunkcam on Vine for some hilarious high school, basket ball-related pranks and some which really aren’t so funny. And if you’re inspired to try one yourself, do send it in to us… We’ll put some on the digital café blog for you to take a look at to take up five minutes of your day…

You’ll find video’s here: http://seenive.com/tag/dunkcam

Training Ground – Better hacks for your social media marketing

Use Socialbro to figure out the best time to send your tweets. The timing of your tweets is really important. You can send during a quiet period when not many followers are online hoping the few that are will see your tweets. Or you can send during the busy times when most of your followers are online. Socialbro will help you figure out the best time. Lots of other great functionality but that’s a good one to start with.

Don’t forget that the Social Media Café congregates around a large cappuccino every week at iSportconnect.tv.

We’ll see you there.

Having spent eight seasons in Formula One managing the digital channels for world champions Red Bull Racing, David Granger now runs Fact 51, a social and digital content agency.

David’s

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The London Velodrome will host the 2016 Track World Championships after being awarded the tournament by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

The decision was made by the UCI management committee in Florence, discount Italy and means that cyclists will have the chance to compete at the same venue they rode in during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The process to bring the UCI Track Cycling World Championships to London began in 2012 in the run up to the Olympic Games and has involved a partnership between British Cycling, capsule UK Sport, online London Legacy Development Corporation, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, London & Partners and the Mayor of London.

British Cycling’s Chief Executive, Ian Drake, said: “Winning the bid to host the final Track Cycling World Championships of the next Olympic cycle is important strategically for us, it’s good for the current generation of athletes, but it’s also an important tool for inspiring the next generation who will follow in their footsteps.

“The events we’ve delivered over the last decade in the UK have rightly been regarded as world class but the delivery of a World Championships in this iconic venue will be the biggest task we’ve taken on to date.”

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, added: “This is absolutely fantastic news for London, marking the arrival of yet another thrilling world class sporting fixture to our city. These prestigious championships will be centred around our stunning Olympic velodrome, a remarkable venue that saw such awe-inspiring performances from British cyclists last summer. Interest in cycling is rocketing in this city and I’ve no doubt London’s 2016 Track World Championships help will propel this even further.”

The 2016 Track Cycling World Championships will take place between 24and 28 February.