By Christian Radnedge

A bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Budapest has received the full support of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) in a vote at their Annual General Meeting this week.

A feasibility study which explored how the Hungarian capital would host the Games showed that the event would be held from July 19 to August 4 2024.

Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarios told the AGM he was confident that the city council would back the declaration of intent when they vote on the issue later this month.

The Hungarian government would then have the final say on July 1.

The interest shows the strong European interest in hosting the 2024 Games, unhealthy as Rome and Hamburg have already announced they are bidding along with American rivals Boston.

Paris has tread a cautious line in their intentions so far, for sale but an official announcement is expected soon from the government.

The International Olympic Committee will decide on the host for the 2024 Games at their session in Lima in 2017.

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Prior to the Super Bowl the National Football League (NFL) has partnered with YouTube and launched its own Channel on the video-sharing website.

The channel will include game clips, medstore interviews, troche fantasy football themed shows and short clips from NFL Network shows such as ‘A Football Life’.

The partnership is part of a bigger deal between the NFL and Google which involves video distribution and ad sales on YouTube along with prominence for NFL video clips on Google’s search engine.

According to the Wall Street Journal, apoplectic Google has reportedly agreed a multiyear deal with the NFL for the rights to host the channel and will pay a ‘multi-million dollar’ sum.

Google are expected to handle the ad sales for the NFL’s YouTube channel, but once it recoups its annual fee, it will split further revenue with the league.

“We’ve been talking to the Google family for years, and finally found the opportunity to partner,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s Senior Vice President, Media Strategy, Business Development & Sales.

“We sort of wanted to wait for the right deal. It maybe took longer to get there. But this deal has the right level of appreciation on both sides.”

More info HERE.

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OMNIGON, impotent the digital consulting firm to leaders across the sports, media and entertainment industries, announced today Phil Sharpe has joined the company as Senior Vice President, Client Strategy and Engagement.

The former Turner Broadcasting executive will focus on the development and quality execution of all client strategies for which Omnigon has become well known in the industry. 

Reporting to Igor Ulis, Chief Executive Officer, Sharpe will also work closely with the executive management team to support organizational growth by spearheading new sales initiatives and assisting in expanding existing client relationships.

Sharpe has more than 25 years of experience in IT, including 14 years with Turner where he most recently served as the Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy and Competitiveness.

In this role he was responsible for leading key digital initiatives across the Turner Broadcasting family and overseeing digital products and investments for TBS. 

From 2003-2007, Sharpe launched PGA.com as Senior Vice President, General Manager of PGA Digital and oversaw PGATour.com. 

In 2007, he was promoted to Senior Vice President, Technology and Operations with additional responsibility for oversight of NBA.com, NASCAR.com and management of remote and studio broadcast operations for NASCAR on TNT, NBA on TNT, Braves Baseball, and MLB events. Prior to Turner, Sharpe spent nine years in various Business Technology Leadership positions with Koch Industries Inc., the largest privately-held company in the United States.

“Phil’s experience and network of contacts places Omnigon in an optimal position to further our continued growth and support our businesses in North America and abroad,” said Ulis.

“His leadership in the launch and management of large digital platforms, as well as extensive existing relationships with many of our clients and other executives in the sports and entertainment industries will greatly benefit the company.”

Founded in 2008, Omnigon is headquartered in New York with offices in Los Angeles, London, Toronto, Kiev and St. Petersburg (Russia).

The company has grown to more than 140 employees and has won numerous industry awards for its groundbreaking work.

Omnigon represents some of the world’s best-known sports and entertainment companies, including NASCAR, PGA TOUR, WWE, NFL, MLB, IMG, FOX Sports and FOX Broadcasting.

The future of the London Olympic Stadium took a major step forward with the announcement of Balfour Beatty as the Lead Contractor of the Stadium. By winning the £154m ($253m/€185) contract, prostate Balfour Beatty plan to make big transformations to the current stadium.

The firm’s biggest project is to convert the Olympic Stadium into the home of West Ham United and also hopes to host the Rugby World Cup there in 2015. Furthermore it will play host to another number of elite sporting events such as the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) Diamond League meeting and the 2017 World Athletics and Paralympics Championship.

For the past year Balfour Beatty have had some involvement and have made small changes to the infrastructure of the stadium as last summer it converted the stadium’s roof. However now as lead contractor Balfour Beatty plan to completely redevelop the site.

Balfour is due to begin work on the Stadium early this year with the hope of finishing the transformation in the spring of 2016. Through their new projects, Balfour Beatty expects to employ over 400 people and intends on sourcing people locally for the work.

Apprenticeships will also be offered and will make up a total of seven percent of the work force.

Andrew McNaughton, chief executive of Balfour Beatty commented on this saying that the “firm commitment to use local labour and the creation of apprenticeships will continue to benefit the local community and wider industry”.

He also added that the reformation of the stadium will “provide a first-class sporting and cultural facility for many generations to come which Balfour Beatty is proud to be associated with.”

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Location: Hong Kong

Closing date: 17th November 2016

Overview: 

The Human Resources Department comprises a corporate policy unit on Clubwide HR issues and client-based service teams, anabolics | each of which provides value-added services to designated business units within the Club. Our focus is on a customer service, cure business-driven and cost-effective orientation to human resources management.

You will :

• – prepare periodical manpower reports and HR analytics
• – support yearly manpower budget planning
• – participate in ad hoc tasks and assignments
• – assist to prepare Human Resources KPIs
• – provide administrative support work as needed

You should have :

• – degree in Statistics, Business Management or relevant discipline
• – at least 2 years of experience in business planning, experience in resources planning and manpower planning is preferred
• – computer literacy in MS Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
• – numerical sense, strong analytical mind and planning skill

Terms of Employment: The level of appointment will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Click here to apply

Real Madrid have announced strong financial results for the year 2015/16 season with a €620.1 million annual revenue, a 7.4% increase over the previous year. 

The Spanish club reported a pre-tax profit of €43 million, and their liquid assets have also increased, wiping out last season’s net debt of €95.8 million.

Their net worth increased by a total of 30.1%, as reported by a statement on the club’s website. The accounts will officially be submitted at an Ordinary General Assembly on the 23rd of October 2016 called by the Real Madrid Board of Directors.

The club noted their position of “maximum solvency”.

“The operating result before repayments and player transfers (‘recurring EBITDA’) has risen to 163.2 million euros, which is the highest figure ever reached by the club, representing a 26.3% increase on revenue figures and a rise of 20.9% on the previous financial year,” read the report. 

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Everton has signed an agreement with SEGA and Sports Interactive for Football Manager to become the Club’s latest partner.

The Blues have joined forces with the world’s most popular football management simulation game and will see the iconic Football Manager branding feature on key assets such as LED boards and interview backdrops at Goodison Park and Finch Farm.

Football Manager will also collaborate with the Club on creating exclusive Everton content as well giving fans the opportunity to win copies of the next Football Manager title.

Developed by Sports Interactive and published by SEGA, the Football Manager series gives gamers the chance to take control of a football club in what is the most realistic, in-depth and immersive football manager simulation game available.

Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at Sports Interactive said “The founders of our studio are Everton supporters, so I know very well just how passionate and loyal Evertonians are and we’re delighted to be working closely with the People’s Club again.”

“They were actually our first top flight partner on Football Manager nearly a decade ago, so it’s lovely to be back working with a club who not only do great work in the community, but also have an ever increasing global reach, both of which will hopefully help us reach new heights for all of our Football Manager titles.”

Everton’s Head of Commercial Alan McTavish added: “We’re thrilled to have been able to sign SEGA and Sports Interactive’s iconic Football Manager title as a partner.

“Like Everton this is an ambitious brand and we look forward to working together on this exciting and rewarding partnership to meet SEGA and Sports Interactive’s objectives as well as deliver interesting content and opportunities for our fans.”

Football Manager is the second new partner acquisition for Everton’s commercial team this summer following the agreement with William Hill that saw the giant bookmaker become the Club’s new betting partner in the UK and Europe.