Liverpool Continue Search for Main Stand Partner as FSG Reportedly Consider Selling

By Christian Radnedge

Liverpool have insisted that they are only seeking a commercial sponsor for the renovated Main Stand at Anfield, buy but it is understood that privately the club’s owners are open to selling the Premier League outfit.

Fenway Sports Group acquired Liverpool in 2010 for around £300m. Their initial remit was to stabilise the club’s finances after a period of inconsistency under previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Also, order sale | in 2011, FSG owner John W. Henry pledged to increase Anfield’s capacity to increase Liverpool’s financial capabilities.

Anfield’s redevelopment was confirmed in December of last year and recent pictures showed the new tier taking shape with 8,500 seats being added, taking the Main Stand capacity to over 20,000 and increasing the overall capacity of Anfield to around 54,000.

The plan is for the Main Stand to be open in time for the start of the 2016/17 season.z10

Liverpool director Michael Gordon said in July that, as part of a search for the naming rights partner for the new stand, the club would consider “outright investment”.

However, at a supporters club committee meeting, chief executive Ian Ayre insisted that the owners are “not looking for direct investment in the club, but are looking solely for sponsorship partners.

“If, for example, one of those partners brought a strategic opportunity in addition to a naming rights deal, then the Club would not rule out giving up some equity if this meant securing the right deal,” Ayre said.

“However, the Club is not actively looking for equity investment in isolation, as it would only be considered as part of a strategic partnership.”

Whether FSG will be in place to see the new stand opened remains to be seen, as sources close to iSportconnect revealed that the owners are open to selling Liverpool to concentrate on their other properties back in the US, including the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Globe newspaper.

A redeveloped stadium would certainly help in attracting a high price for the club, and give Henry a good return on his £300m investment.z9

USOC Set to Select Los Angeles as Candidate City for 2024 Olympics

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has confirmed it will choose Los Angeles as its candidate city to launch a bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, cialis subject to a deal being finalised.

USOC has turned to Los Angeles after Boston withdrew from the bidding process last month and the organisation has said talks are underway and are working on a deal to put the city forward to host the Games.

USOC chairman, Larry Probst siad: “We continue to think that a US bid for the 2024 Games can be successful.

“The board authorised the chief executive, Scott Blackmun, to work with Los Angeles to explore the viability of a potential bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“We hope to finalise terms that benefit both the city of Los Angeles and the Olympic movement in the United States so that we can submit a world-class bid to the IOC by its 15 September deadline.”

In a statement released on Wednesday, L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti also confirmed they had “very positive discussions” with USOC.

L.A. hosted the Olympics in both 1932 and 1984 and facilities are in place to stage another one, including the Coliseum Stadium.

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Fluendo to Introduce LongoMatch in China

Fluendo, advice an international company that enables multimedia and video on a wide variety of devices and operating systems, drug is entering into a new partnership with Truth Media LTD, to introduce LongoMatch, Fluendo’s video analysis software tool for sports, in Asia.

Under the terms of the new agreement, LongoMatch will be developed and made available to coaches, athletic teams, and sports production professionals in China for a wide variety of sports, including football, basketball and badminton.  

LongoMatch will be available in local languages and will support coaches and local teams to improve technique, tactics and strategy.

LongoMatch is used today worldwide by amateur and professional sports teams, including the Belgium national World Cup football team, Cesena FC Italy (Serie A) team, Harvard University soccer team, among others.

With LongoMatch, professional or amateur coaches and athletes can record and edit videos with tags and diagrams to produce detailed performance breakdowns and game statistics.

Customizable to any sport and compatible with multiple software platforms, LongoMatch allows users to review tagged events in-game and export the video clips while still analyzing games live.

LongoMatch_2

“With football being one of the most popular team sports in China, there is a need for innovative technology to help coaches and athletes improve performance,” said Fluendo CEO Muriel Moscardini.

“We’ve received very positive feedback in the U.S. and Europe from football and other sports enthusiasts currently using LongoMatch. The time is right for us to make our easy-to-use video analysis tool available for the Asian sports market.”

“I am using LongoMatch in my coaching capacity, and I am excited to help introduce this user-friendly and powerful tool to the sports community in Asia. LongoMatch is invaluable for anyone looking to improve athletic performance,” said Jasper Chung, owner, Truth Media Group Ltd.

Already used worldwide by professional teams in football, rugby, volleyball, basketball, field hockey, ice hockey, wrestling, water polo, rugby, floorball, netball, korfball, cricket, and others, LongoMatch was nominated as one of the 10 best sports analysis systems in the world in the 2013 Performance Video Analysis Software Guide.

The sports analysis software is the recent recipient of NewBay Media’s Best of Show Award, presented at the 2015 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show by TV Technology.

Repucom Name David Cushnan as Global Communications Manager

Repucom have announced the appointment of SportsPro editor-in-chief David Cushnan as their new Global Communications Manager.

As part of his new role Cushnan will help to implement and develop Repucom’s international thought leadership communication. 

Read more HERE.

Top 14 Final to be Held at Barcelona’s Camp Nou

Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium will host the final of the 2015-16 season of the top division of French club rugby union, therapy the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), diagnosis the governing body of the Top 14 has announced.

The game is scheduled for June 24, 2016 and will take place outside France for the first time due to the country staging the UEFA 2016 European Championships football tournament.

As a result of this, major French stadia will become unavailable for the Top 14 finale, which has usually been held at the Stade De France in Paris.

The Camp Nou has a capacity of 98,600 and will stage a rugby match for the first time, with the LNR hoping it will set a new attendance record

With key Euro 2016 games schedule for 25 & 26 June, the LNR and French Rugby Federation (FFR) decided to stage the match on the evening of Friday 24th June to gain maximum exposure for the occasion.

LNR president Paul Goze admitted that the Camp Nou wasn’t the only venue considered for the showpiece.

“Many European cities were competing,” he said.

“London with Twickenham and Wembley, as well as Rome, Milan and Barcelona. We studied the clubs that were finalists in the last 10 years and there is almost the same travel time for these clubs to Paris or Barcelona. Barcelona is only 180km from Perpignan.”

 

Inaugural Sports Technology Awards Announce Strong List of Finalists

Finalists for the first ever Sports Technology Awards have been announced with a strong mixture of worldwide brands making the list.

Entries have been received from all over the world including: Austria, vialis 40mg Holland, allergist Finland, Turkey, Italy, South Africa, USA and Australia.

Companies on the shortlist for the event that takes place in London on April 4 include a range of technology companies, sporting bodies and clubs as well as large global brands.

Some of those involved include: Adidas, Continental, Opta, O2 and Vodafone.

Rebecca Hopkins, Director of the Sports Technology Awards said: “The response to the announcement of the finalists has been truly overwhelming. We expected feedback to be positive but this has surpassed what we anticipated.

“What’s great to see is it’s not just shortlisted brands who are excited. We’ve had a lot of people engaging with us through twitter, adding their thoughts to which finalist should win.

“It’s great to see how much awareness there is for the Awards. We started taking table bookings almost immediately after the shortlist was announced and it’s that level of interest which bodes well for a great event in April.”

The event takes place at The Brewery in Chiswell Street and you can see the full list of finalists here.

President of NOC of Turkey Promises to ‘aggressively’ Fight Doping as 31 Athletes Suspended

Professor Ugur Erderner, ambulance the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Turkey, has promised to ‘aggressively’ fight doping after 31 Turkish athletes were suspended for drug violations.

The Turkish Athletics Federation (TAF) said the 31 track and field athletes had been suspended for two years each, with Esref Apak amongst the names.

Apak was a silver medalist in hammer throw at the 2004 Olympic Games and three of the 31, including Apak, were a part of Turkey’s London 2012 team.

Responding to the news, Erderner said: “I look forward to working closely with the new incoming chairman of Turkish athletics who I will expect to aggressively seek out and expel all athletes who cheat using performance-enhancing drugs. 

“The list of 31 Turkish athletes who have been suspended for doping violations, released today by the Turkish Athletics Federation, is a clear signal of how seriously Turkey is taking the global issue of doping.”

Erderner continued: “Led by the Turkish Government, Turkey has zero-tolerance for doping and it is our intention to have clean, young athletes competing on the international sporting stage in the future.”

iForex and PSV announce sponsorship deal

Leading online trading company iForex have become the Official Sponsor and Official Trading Partner of PSV Eindhoven. iForex join the current Dutch Champions at an exciting time as they are challenging for their third Eredivisie title in as many seasons.

The partnership agreement, negotiated by leading London-based sports marketing agency SportQuake, will provide iForex with extensive marketing rights, including the use of the club’s IP.

Or Kapelinsky, Managing Director of iCFD Ltd., iFOREX Group’s regulated European entity, said: “PSV have been the Eredivisie Champions for the last two years and always aim for the highest level. The club has a proven record of developing world class talent with the likes of Ronaldo, Arjen Robben, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mark van Bommel and Memphis Depay.

“This top sport environment with personal attention and coaching is exactly in line with our core values to be the best and most reliable trading partner for every trader. We at iForex believe it is our task to provide our traders the best service and training. This is why iForex chooses PSV.”

Toon Gerbrands, CEO of PSV, said: “We are happy to welcome iForex as our new sponsor. iForex is an international market leader in their fast developing business. PSV and iForex share strong international ambitions and we both want to be the best in what we’re doing.”

Sales Manager, China – ONE Championship

Location: Shanghai, abortion China

Background:
Reporting to ONE Championship China Commercial Director Addy Po, erectile this role will be responsible for ONE Championship’s revenue generating activities and identify new business opportunities in China. Based in Shanghai, the Sales Manager will initiate and develop regular commercial opportunities with brands from a broad range of sectors. Combining a passion for sports and entertainment with an understanding of brand marketing, the Sales Manager will demonstrate the value that a partnership with ONE Championship can deliver.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Develop, contact, approach and identify key decision makers and influencers across target businesses in the Chinese market
  • Select and qualify prospects based on detailed research
  • To identify and develop relationships with potential sponsors, proactively lead on contract negotiations and maintain strong and effective relationships with existing sponsors
  • Be consistently out in the market, raising the profile of ONE Championship
  • Manage the formulation and development of the sales strategies for the marketing of exclusive rights to targeted accounts
  • Manage the development of targeted sales presentations focusing on the unique benefits that Partnership can deliver
  • Present benefits of partnership and drive competitive interest in exclusive rights
  • Negotiate and structure deals that align with the overall commercial strategy
  • Effectively manage the sales process from ’research to result’
  • Ongoing partner management of sponsors and partners
  • Travel regularly within Greater China region

Skills & Experience Required:

Essential:

  • Minimum 3-5 years of relevant work experience in sales
  • Successful track record in business to business sales in China
  • Experience in sponsorship sales in a sports or entertainment environment is preferred
  • Track record in tailoring sales pitches to suit / fit broad strategy and brand objectives of major corporations
  • Experience working in a multi-cultural business setting
  • Passionate and knowledgeable about MMA or Boxing
  • Fluency in Mandarin and English
  • Flexible and open mindset to sales approach, with a willingness to learn new skills and methodologies
  • Attention to detail and perfectionism in preparation of materials to support meetings
  • Self-motivated, ambitious, hardworking
  • High degree of discretion and confidentiality

Click here to apply