The National Basketball Association (NBA) and China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) have signed a new multiyear marketing partnership agreement that designates China Mobile as the NBA's official telecoms service provider in China. The partnership will enable China Mobile to utilise a range of NBA marketing assets to promote its services and distribute NBA wireless content to millions of NBA fans across China. The partnership will focus on promotion of China Mobile's M-Zone platform, a subscription and content package targeted to teen and young adult market segments. China Mobile will activate the NBA marketing association through a series of consumer promotions, sponsorship of the league's national and regional television programming, the NBA's Chinese website NBA.com/China, and partnership in NBA on-ground events in China. NBA wireless content to be distributed by China Mobile will include NBA game scores and statistics, downloads of NBA logos and player images, and additional interactive products.
Deltatre/Espon deal extended
Digital solutions company Deltatre has extended its agreement with Epson for the provision of IT services for the IAAF World Athletics Series. The new agreement extends the current partnership to 2009 and covers all IAAF World Athletics Series events, including the IAAF World Championship. Epson and Deltatre will develop a range of new technologies for the events, including: 3D TV graphics; centralised management of in-field information boards; Japanese language management; and enhancement of touch-screen commentator information systems.
Interactive TV for Real Madrid
Spanish soccer club Real Madrid and Interactive Sports Television (ISTV), are to jointly develop and broadcast a new interactive television programme – Realmadrid Life – to be launched in several of Asia’s most dynamic soccer markets later this year. Local-language editions of the show will be broadcast weekly throughout the soccer season – from August to June – on free-to-air television in China (inc. Hong Kong and Macau), South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Performance ratings system launched
The Football League in England and Wales and PA Sport have launched The Championship Actim Index - the new official Coca-Cola Championship Player Ratings Index. The Championship Actim Index ranks soccer players according to their performance, both by position and overall and was developed in partnership with statisticians from Salford University, one of the UK's leading centres for sports statistics. It is calculated using a unique mathematical formula that rates each player's contribution be it goals, shots, passes, dribbles, tackles, crosses, saves, clearances, blocks, interceptions, time on the pitch or number of points gained by the team. Additionally, marks are deducted for red and yellow cards. The Top 100 players and Top 5 players by position will be available free of charge from the official Actim website: www.actim.pa.press.net, which will be updated every Thursday during the soccer season. It can also be viewed via The Football League website: www.football-league.co.uk.
New broadband horseracing channel
Interactive horse racing channel, Racing UK, has partnered with sports newspaper the Racing Post to launch a new broadband service which also allows customers to place bets over the web. The service will be marketed to online sports and gaming firms who wish to offer their own-branded online horseracing channel. Companies are being invited to tender for five licences offering a combination of live coverage of Racing UK's entire media portfolio and analysis and form supplied by the Racing Post. Wireless sports agency Sportev, has been appointed to manage the bidding process. Meanwhile, Sportev and Vodafone have agreed a partnership to offer comprehensive multimedia content from soccer’s English Premier League in New Zealand. When this service is available, Vodafone mobile customers in New Zealand will be able to enjoy video clips of pre-match analysis, in-game goals and match summaries, as well as full image and data packages covering the league.
LeBron James in online comic action
Powerade and DC Comics have unveiled what they claim to be a web ‘first’: the first of four new online comics starring NBA star LeBron James as ‘King James’, the world's newest superhero. Each Powerade online comic available at http://www.flava23.com/ features LeBron drawn by a dynamic DC Comics art team as animated Flash pages that use LeBron's voice, audio clips and interactivity to create a dramatic, serialised story.
Infront in IIHF deal with MediaZone
Infront Sports & Media the exclusive marketing partner of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has negotiated an agreement between MediaZone, a leading online provider of licensed video and audio content, and IHWC.net, the official website of the IIHF World Championship, which started in Austria on 30 April, 2005. IHWC.net is the official website for the IIHF World Championship and is jointly managed by the IIHF and Infront. The complete schedule of 56 matches was offered Live and On Demand online, on MediaZone's Ice Hockey Channen http://www.mediazone.com/hockey. It was not made available to subscribers located in countries where the event was already on television, in order to protect the territorial exclusivity of the IIHF’s broadcast partners. Leading sports production company Plazamedia produced the signals for the event.
Betfair to sponsor test cricket on Channel 4
Peer-to-peer betting exchange Betfair is set to sponsor test cricket on Channel 4 in the UK. It is the award-winning company’s first broadcast sponsorship. Beginning on 22 May, the Betfair and Betfair Poker sponsorship will cover the npower test cricket series: England v Bangladesh and England v Australia. The six-figure deal also includes The Cricket Show, a weekly half-hour show transmitting from 22 May until 10 September and Betfair branding throughout www.channel4.com/cricket.
Triple play in Rugby League for ts.com.
Salford City Reds, Leigh Centurions, and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats have all chosen to use ticketingsolutions to sell and market to their fans for the 2005 season. The clubs are all selling tickets to their fans over the web, on the phone and for walk-up callers using ts.com's online sales and marketing service ticketingsolutions.
London 2012 countdown clock unveiled
At the end of April, London 2012 unveiled a Countdown Clock in Trafalgar Square that is counting down the days, hours and minutes to the appointment of the 2012 Host City on 6 July in Singapore. London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe, and London 2012 ambassador Cherie Blair were present as were the (at the time) secretary of state for culture, media and sport Tessa Jowell, Conservative shadow sports spokesman Hugh Robertson, and Liberal Democrat spokesman for London Sarah Teather to demonstrate united support from the three main political parties in the UK. Also present were London 2012 ambassador and 800m runner Jo Fenn, and 2012 Olympic medal hopeful Montell Douglas.
Page from ArkSports' Sport and Technology (www.sportandtechnology.com) on 2008-11-21 : News - May 2005 : http://www.sportandtechnology.com/news/0271.html
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) have signed a new multiyear marketing partnership agreement that designates China Mobile as the NBA's official telecoms service provider in China. The partnership will enable China Mobile to utilise a range of NBA marketing assets to promote its services and distribute NBA wireless content to millions of NBA fans across China. The partnership will focus on promotion of China Mobile's M-Zone platform, a subscription and content package targeted to teen and young adult market segments. China Mobile will activate the NBA marketing association through a series of consumer promotions, sponsorship of the league's national and regional television programming, the NBA's Chinese website NBA.com/China, and partnership in NBA on-ground events in China. NBA wireless content to be distributed by China Mobile will include NBA game scores and statistics, downloads of NBA logos and player images, and additional interactive products. 
Interactive horse racing channel, Racing UK, has partnered with sports newspaper the Racing Post to launch a new broadband service which also allows customers to place bets over the web. The service will be marketed to online sports and gaming firms who wish to offer their own-branded online horseracing channel. Companies are being invited to tender for five licences offering a combination of live coverage of Racing UK's entire media portfolio and analysis and form supplied by the Racing Post. Wireless sports agency Sportev, has been appointed to manage the bidding process. Meanwhile, Sportev and Vodafone have agreed a partnership to offer comprehensive multimedia content from soccer’s English Premier League in New Zealand. When this service is available, Vodafone mobile customers in New Zealand will be able to enjoy video clips of pre-match analysis, in-game goals and match summaries, as well as full image and data packages covering the league. 
Peer-to-peer betting exchange Betfair is set to sponsor test cricket on Channel 4 in the UK. It is the award-winning company’s first broadcast sponsorship. Beginning on 22 May, the Betfair and Betfair Poker sponsorship will cover the npower test cricket series: England v Bangladesh and England v Australia. The six-figure deal also includes The Cricket Show, a weekly half-hour show transmitting from 22 May until 10 September and Betfair branding throughout 
