Category: Sports

MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals (RR), champions of IPL 2008, is relaunching its website, www.rajasthanroyals.com, from 30 October.

The new version of the website will feature an enhanced homepage featuring latest news from the cricket field, analysis, opinions and articles from experts. A player of the week section will cover the star‘s cricketing accomplishments, profile and images.

Fans of the team will get a quick access from every page to the RR online shop, latest contests and other popular areas of the website. There will be an enhanced forum for participation and discussions on the latest topics from cricket.

Fans will also be entitled to royalty points for participation in forums, blogs, ratings and contests. To add to the excitement, the website will have a dedicated fan zone where users can upload their videos/pictures, indulge in discussion forums, participate in fantasy cricket league. As gratification, the winning fan of the week will stand to win exclusive RR Merchandise.

Commenting on the relaunch of the website, Rajasthan Royals chairman and co-owner Manoj Badale said, “The new-look of the website re-emphasises the strategic intent of the Royals to reinforce the connect with our fans. We felt the need to enhance our engagement with cricket fans round the clock globally. It is a significant initiative from Rajasthan Royals to bring our fans and the team up close and personal.”

MUMBAI: David Shepherd, the former England test umpire, died today after losing his long battle with cancer. He was 68.

Shepherd was among the most popular and longest serving international umpires having officiated in 172 ODIs, including three successive world cups, and 92 tests between 1983 and 2005.

The portly Shepherd was a hit with the players and fans for his good humored-approach to officiating and his odd superstitions in particularly Nelson – the famous Shep’s ‘jig‘ when scores reached 111 or a multiple thereof. His final county appearance came at his former home ground of Bristol. Shepherd had represented Gloucestershire as a batsman over a 14-year career, which included 282 first-class matches and 12 centuries.

After retiring, Shepherd returned to Devon and remained involved with his local club. He married Jenny, his long-time partner, in 2008.

MUMBAI: In an effort to give sports persons from various disciplines their due, Sahara has launched the Sahara India Sports Awards.

The aim of the awards is to felicitate achievements in different fields. The awards will also recognise the contribution of coaches, administrators and officials. The first edition takes place on 9 November.

Percept has helped conceptualise the event. Max is the broadcast partner while Kingfisher is the Airline partner. Sahara says that the new initiative cements its involvement with Indian sport. It already sponsors the Indian cricket and hockey teams. It is also sponsoring 56 sportspersons in wrestling, shooting, archery and boxing with the aim that India should win more medals in the 2012 Olympics in London. The group, among other things, supports the Calcutta Football League.
 

Speaking about the awards Sahara MD Subrata Roy Sahara notes that in this country sport still takes a back seat and does not get the much needed recognition and applause. “We feel that we need to encourage sportspersons and give an impetus to their talent by appreciating and facilitating it.”

There are 13 Jury members for the awards. Sunil Gavaskar is the chairman. The other members include Michael Ferreira, P Gopichand, Nandan Bal and Dilip Vengsarkar.

The Sahara India Sports Awards has several categories. The nominees for best team are the Indian Hockey team, Deccan Chargers, Churchill Brothers, Indian cricket team and Indian men’s archery team. Competing for sportsman of the year are Abhinav Bindra, Vishwanathan Anand and Jeev Milkha Singh. The nominees for sportswoman of the year are Mary Kom, Koneru Humpy and Saina Nehwal. The nominees for best male cricketer are Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni. The nominees for female cricketer of the year are Priyanka Roy, Mitali Raj, Rumeli Dhar and Gouher Sultana.

MUMBAI: In an effort to combat the menace of piracy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has come together with other boards to fight the menace and protect IPR.

Indian Premier League (IPL) CEO Sunder Raman says that a meeting took place a couple of days back in Hyderabad and the board representatives of various countries as well as sports broadcasters have agreed to work together to fight the issue.

“The music industry had also come together and formed a coalition to protect their rights. What we will be doing is similar. Our efforts have the backing of the ICC who wants to do its best to protect the interests of the sport at large. It is not just a question of the IPL being affected. We are looking at the larger picture,” Raman added.

The meeting was attended by David Collier from the English board, Gerald Majola from Cricket South Africa and James Sutherland from Cricket Australia. They have all agreed to help fund the campaign with the BCCI. Representatives from ESPN Star Sports (ESS), Sony and Taj Television were also present.

Raman further says that there are three areas of copyright infringement that the coalition will look to tackle. These are trademark infringment, Internet piracy and footage violation. IPL chairman Lalit Modi had earlier raised the issue of news channels using footage beyond what was allowed.

A sports broadcaster representative says, “Basically the news channels in India take a huge amount of sports channel footage without our permission. Thus is a breach of copyright. In other countries there are regulations in place that govern what news channels do. But here there is nothing – which leads to the current mess.

“The meetings in Hyderabad were about this issue and the need for the sports industry including federations and broadcasters to work together. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) was invited but they did not come.”

Raman further adds that the boards are looking to work with the Sports Rights Owners Coalition (SROC) to form a legal framework for the different boards. SROC operates as a forum through which sports bodies can share information and experiences. In particular, the purpose of SROC is to enable:

– discussion and sharing of best practice on key legal, political and regulatory issues;
– raising awareness of new developments and innovation in sports rights; and
– sports to take joint action to protect and promote their rights.

MUMBAI: The Indian Premier league (IPL) Governing Council will hold a workshop with the franchises next month.

The event will take place from 10-12 November in Bangkok.

On the agenda will be the way forward for the league. Now that the event returns to India next year, franchises will have the opportunity to look at licensing and merchandising activities. Also on the anvil would be hospitality plans and what the most effective way would be to leverage this as a revenue stream.

MUMBAI: CricketNirvana.com, a part of Nimbus Communications, is webcasting the India – Australia ODI series.

The live matches and Video on Demand would be available for viewing free to the Indian users whereas fans logging on from the rest of the world (where permitted) would have to pay a nominal rate for the same.

For those who can‘t watch the matches live, Video on Demand would showcase match highlights, 4s and 6s and wicket packages to watch whenever you want. Complimenting this will be a live interactive scoreboard with features such as ball by ball commentary and statistical graphs – wagon wheels and spiders a single click away.

Nimbus Communications VP new media Sumit Luthra says, “CricketNirvana.com will provide cricket fans an online experience like never before. This is going to be the largest online broadcasting cricketing event in history, offering viewers a new level of choice and flexibility in live cricket coverage. Using high Quality format, we will provide cricket lovers an exclusive access to live and on-demand video content, all through an immersive and interactive video experience that will redefine how cricket fans consume content online.”

Exclusive columns by Indian spin legend Anil Kumble and Aussie cricketer Mike Hussey will be also available on the website. While Kumble will bring into perspective the goings on in the Indian camp and an insight into the players psyche on the field, Mike Hussey will help decode Australian strategy and a behind the scenes look at their camp. As part of the series promotion, CricketNirvana.com will be also giving away tickets to watch the matches live by answering a few simple quiz questions.

MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced that its executive VP global media Shane McMahon has tendered his resignation, effective 1 January, 2010.

McMahon says, “It has been an incredible experience to help build WWE into a global phenomenon. However, having been associated with this organisation for the majority of my life, I feel this is the opportune time in my career to pursue outside ventures.”

WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon who is also Shane‘s father says, “Even though I am personally saddened by Shane’s decision to leave the company, I am proud of the enormous contributions he has made. He will unquestionably bring passion, commitment and extensive business experience to any endeavor he pursues.”

MUMBAI: The Qatar 2022 Bid Committee has signed a sponsorship and exhibition deal for the television trade Soccerex 09 in order to promote their bid for what would be the first ever Fifa World Cup in the Middle East.

The Soccerex convention will run from 28 November to 2 December 2009 in Johannesburg

A World Cup in Qatar would be the first global sporting event ever to be hosted by the Middle East, bringing greater unity and understanding between peoples from every continent and reflecting the Fifa slogan, “For the Game; for the World”.

Qatar 2022 Bid Committee CEO Hassan Al Thawadi says, “Soccerex is an important part of our bid strategy and will help us promote our project to the key decision makers in the world of football. We have huge ambitions in Qatar and Soccerex is the place to share them. We believe there is something powerful in Fifa taking its premier event to the Middle East for the first time and we will be working hard to communicate this message throughout Soccerex and beyond.”

MUMBAI: Neo Cricket has roped in six sponsors for the India versus Australia seven-match ODI series that kicks off this Sunday.

Tata Motors, HP, Perfetti, Gillette and Intel are associate sponsors for the series while Tata DoCoMo is the co-presenting sponsor.

Says Neo Sports Broadcast marketing head Abhishek Verma, “Discussions are going on with the other companies to extend their contract. We are looking at two more sponsors who could be season partners.”

Verma also claims that Neo Cricket has sold 70-75 per cent of the inventory for the India versus Australia series.

Verma adds that a season partner like Tata DoCoMo will get a lot of benefits like having a presence on other shows like Dial C For Cricket and pushbacks.

MUMBAI: Neo Sports has announced an agreement with PGA Tour for the rights of the golf tour in the Indian Subcontinent for the next six years, starting January 2010.

It has been learnt that Neo Sports has shelled out $2.6 million. There were no other bidders.

Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan says, “The PGA Tour is the premier Golf tour in the world. Our renewal of broadcasting rights for six years is an indication of our interest and commitment in bringing high quality Golf to Indian audiences.”

Neo Sports has been associated with the PGA Tour since 2008 and has been showcasing Tour tournaments live.

The PGA Tour season is divided into two parts – the FedExCup, which includes the PGA TOUR Regular Season and the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup, followed by the PGA Tour Fall Series.

The PGA Tour Playoffs consists of The Barclays, the Deutsche Bank Championship, the BMW Championship and the culminating Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

PGA Tour senior VP, international television Tim Leisure says, “The PGA Tour is extremely pleased to be associated with Neo Sports, the leading sports network in the country to broadcast the world’s best golf to the Indian sub-continent and to Indian fans of the sport.

“Golf enjoys a significant and growing fan base in India and our association with the channel will help us reach the ever-growing Indian golf audience and fulfill its expectations of access to top quality golf.”

In addition to broadcasting the live events, Neo Sports will also present two shows every week: The PGA Tour Highlights, a show that focuses on the highlights of the previous weeks PGA Tour action, and Inside the PGA Tour, which is a peek into the PGA Tour events of the week ahead.