Oil and gas development and exploration company Oil Search have agreed a deal to sponsor this year’s Rugby League World Cup. The tournament will be co-hosted by Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
The Papua New Guinea-based company will serve as a platinum partner to the event , which takes place late this year.
Oil Search will benefit from extensive brand exposure as part of the deal, with Papua New Guinea hosting the first three tournament games.
Discovery Communications have agreed a new carriage deal with Sky, which will allow Eurosport to remain available on Sky platforms in the UK and Germany.
Discovery had threatened to withdraw its channels from Sky and NOW TV due to a financial dispute. The long-standing deal with the two companies looked to be doubtful after Sky accused Discovery of having ”completely unrealistic” financial demands.
Discovery’s 12 channels will all remain available on Sky channels for an undisclosed period, believed to be several years at least.
Online gambling and casino company Jojobet.com has agreed a deal with World Snooker to sponsor the 2017 edition of the Gibraltar Open.
The event, which takes place in early March, will be known as The Jojobet.com Gibraltar Open.
The event will serve as a full-ranking event, with 128 players competing in the tournament. The reigning champion is recent Masters semi-finalist Marco Fu of Hong Kong.
A new partnership between Right To Play and British Athletics, has been announced today. The children’s education charity and the UK’s governing body for athletics are teaming up to inspire athletics fans to give vulnerable children around the world a sporting chance in life.
Right To Play will be the official charity partner for British Athletics at their events in the UK, including the Müller Anniversary Games at the London Stadium this summer. The Anniversary Games is one of the top annual athletics meets and will play host to many of the world’s leading athletes.
Right To Play and British Athletics first partnered at the 2016 London Anniversary Games, attended by 80,000 people and featuring athletics superstars, Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah.
Niels de Vos, CEO of British Athletics said: “I’m delighted that we’re again able to support Right To Play and the amazing work they do in helping disadvantaged children. British Athletics shares Right To Play’s vision that sport and play is positive and this partnership will go a long way in supporting that message.”
Nikki Skipper, National Director, Right to Play UK said: “As a charity that has sport and play at its core British Athletics – is a natural partner for Right To Play.
“Playing is what comes naturally to children and is crucial for their intellectual and emotional development. It can play a key role in enabling children to realise their potential, whether that is an aspiring Greg Rutherford in the UK, a child from a remote village in Tanzania, or a refugee in Lebanon.
We are excited about the opportunities this partnership will bring and hope athletics fans will support us and help make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children around the world.”
Right To Play Athlete Ambassador and London 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Greg Rutherford, sent a message of support for the partnership: “As a Right To Play Ambassador for over ten years I have seen first-hand how they are making a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children through the power of sport and play. I am delighted that Right To Play and British Athletics have teamed up to help change children’s lives. I’m fully behind the Right To Play’s essential work and hope athletics fans around the country will do the same.”
As the charity partner of British Athletics, Right To Play will have a prominent presence at British Athletics events, where we will be engaging athletics fans with interactive games and fundraising activities.
Formula One Chairman Chase Carey has announced that several Formula One teams have expressed interest in investing in the company.
Liberty Media, who have made substantial progress in a takeover bid for the series, announced in 2016 that they would offer stakes in the competition to F1 teams.
Liberty Media are prepared to issue F1 shares to teams at $21.26, which is significantly lower than the Liberty Media price of $28.
The takeover of F1 by Liberty Media is reportedly expected to be formalised and completed by the close of the month.
Betting company Betfred have secured title naming rights to the upcoming Lightweight world title bout between Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares.
Betfred sponsored the previous match between the pair in 2016, during which 31-year-old Venezuelan Linares defeated British fighter Crolla in a unanimous points decision.
The fight will take place on March 25, with three World Championship belts on the line.
Fred Done, owner of Betfred, said, ”as a proud Mancunian, I hope and believe I will be celebrating with Anthony this time”.
China is set to be banned from international weightlifting competitions for one year, after three of its athletes were stripped of their 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medals for failing doping re-tests.
The International Olympic Committee has retrospectively disqualified three Chinese gold medal-winning weightlifters from Beijing 2008.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) stated in 2016 that any countries with three or more failed tests in the re-tests of Beijing 2008 and London 2012 would be banned for a year. The IWF has not confirmed the sanction yet.
Five other athletes have been retrospectively disqualified from the games.
Chelsea FC have been given permission to build their new 60,000-seater new stadium.
Hammersmith and Fulham council have given the West London side planning permission to demolish their current 41,600-seater home and replace it with a £500m new venue.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan will have the final decision regarding Chelsea’s new stadium plans. The new venue has been designed by Herzog and de Meuron, who were responsibe for the Birds Nest venue in Beijing.
Chelsea may have to temporarily relocate while building work takes place, with Cricket ground Twickenham and England football team’s home Wembley being considered as candidate locations.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich previously attempted to buy Battersea Power Station with intention of redevelopment, but lost out to property developers. Fellow London clubs Arsenal, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have all made similar moves this century to increase home support via larger stadia.
Chelsea currently lead the Premier League by seven points.
The organising committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has today announced its budget plans for the events, vialis 40mg with between Y1.6tr and Y1.8tr due to be allocated towards the two events.
Tokyo 2020 said all operations were on schedule with their forecasts, therapy which have been decided since the very beginning of preparations. A total of Y500bn has been set aside for the organising committee (OCOG) budget, while the other entities budget has been set at between Y1.1tr and Y1.3tr.
Tokyo 2020 said in a statement: “Tokyo 2020’s commitment to deliver Games at the highest level, in accordance with the schedule, and with the best experience for athletes and fans alike remains at the forefront of all decisions made in relation to the budgets for the Games.”
iSportconnect, sale the world’s largest global private network of sports business executives, successfully hosted the final Directors’ Club of the year along with a Christmas Dinner at the Grange St. Paul’s Hotel in London yesterday, 6th December 2016.
The Directors’ Club, one of a series of exclusive, invite-only events consisting of board-level sports business professionals who influence the sports industry globally, rounded off a fantastic year of sport.
The panellists included Peter Gutierrez, CEO at Intercarabao; Benjamin Morel, MD & SVP EMEA at the NBA; Charles Classen, GM ESPN EMEA at ESPN; and Hussain Naqi, SVP International Development at Jacksonville Jaguars.
The panel discussion was expertly moderated by iSportconnect Chairman, Michael Cunnah.
The discussions with top panellists, under Chatham House rules, reflected over the key issues that affected the sport business industry throughout the year and key future trends impacting the industry.
A festive Christmas dinner followed the Directors’ Club, where former cricketer Ronnie Irani entertained the guests with stories about his life in the game. The dinner was held in partnership with Lord’s Taverners and Vindicia.
The attendee list included representatives of Tottenham Hotspur FC, Juventus, NFL, Formula E and Twitter among several others.
More event pictures:
{jcomments on}