Sponsorship & Marketing

The Welsh Sports Association (WSA) has appointed a new commercial unit to reduce dependency on public sector funding and boost the marketing and communication of sport and outdoor recreation in Wales.

Editorial director Kevin Roberts on the issues of the past seven days.

Chelsea has ended its kit sponsorship with Umbro International Ltd by mutual agreement.

SP Holdings plc, the marketing services company, has signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Bahrain in a bid to become the pre-eminent professional sports marketing company in the territory.

Amundsen Oslo is to provide timekeeping equipment and the Amundsen Trophy for world's fastest offshore yachting race.

Research suggest the typical Premier League fan spends more on books than cinema tickets, wears clothes from Next, holidays in the USA, drives a Ford and pays out ÂŁ65 a year on flowers.

FIFA and adidas have extended a long-term partnership agreement in a $351million deal giving adidas the Official Partnership, Suppliership and Licensing rights for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014.

Hilton Hotels Corp has signed as a sponsor of the United States Olympic Committee.

Leading US sports broadcaster ESPN has signed a 15-year integrated marketing agreement with video game manufacturer EA Sport.

FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) rights holder, International Sportsworld Communicators Ltd. (ISC), has agreed a global sponsorship deal with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The Champ Car World Series has agreed an exclusive licensing and merchandising partnership for 2005 with Speedgear, the leading open wheel merchandise company in North America.

The Beijing Summer Olympic Games in 2008 look set to smash all sponsorship records with corporate sponsorship worth $1billion.

NVIDIA Corporation, a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors, has broken into the premier British Superbike Championship for 2005.

NASCAR’s broadcast schedule includes an unprecedented 38 prime-time races, and live coverage of all 99 events from the NEXTEL Cup Series, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

A partnership between ATP and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline began on the eve of the 2005 Australian Open in Melbourne to address concerns over supplements used by professional tennis players.

The ATP tour and Ricoh Europe B.V. have entered a partnership that sees the international office equipment leader become an official provider of the ATP and sponsor of a number of European tournaments.

Editor David Smith reviews the issues of the past seven days.

AT&T, one of the world’s leading voice and data communications companies, has joined the West McLaren Mercedes Formula One team as exclusive Corporate Partner for voice and data networking services.