ARLINGTON, TEXAS
Rangers extend Sportservice deal
The Texas Rangers extended their contract with Delaware North Sportservice to be the team’s food and beverage provider as well as provide retail services. The company has served as the team’s food and beverage provider since Rangers Ballpark opened in 1994 and took on retail this past season.
Rangers sign office supplier
The Rangers entered into a partnership with CPI Office Products for the 2013 season. CPI will become the team’s official office supplier, and the partnership will include signs at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, media and print buys, and season tickets.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.
Global to manage Boardwalk Hall
The Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority hired Global Spectrum to manage and operate the historic Boardwalk Hall as well as the Atlantic City Convention Center, effective early this year. Global Spectrum is a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Comcast-Spectacor.
BOSTON
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Snow removal along Charles River paths costs about $10,000 each winter.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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New Balance renews Charles River deal
New Balance renewed a sponsorship agreement with the Department of Conservation and Recreation to ensure area runners, joggers and walkers have clear and safe running paths along the Charles River this winter. For the fourth straight winter, New Balance will provide funding to support snow removal efforts along the 17-mile path.
BUFFALO
Lexus renames Sabres’ Harbour Club
The Buffalo Sabres formed a partnership with Lexus to rename the Harbour Club, an upscale club and banquet facility inside First Niagara Center. The site will now be marketed as the Lexus Club. Terms of the multiyear deal were not disclosed.
CLEVELAND
Fox completes SportsTime Ohio deal
Fox Sports Media Group completed its acquisition of Cleveland-based RSN Sports-Time Ohio. As part of the deal, Fox signed the Cleveland Indians to a long-term media rights deal that will keep Indians games with Fox well into the next decade. Fox and the Indians wanted the deal to close in 2012 because of tax issues.
DALLAS
Mavs, PwC adding up Trees for Threes
The Dallas office of Pricewaterhouse-Coopers is partnering with the Dallas Mavericks for the third consecutive year for the Trees for Threes program. Part of the team’s overall Guard the Planet initiative, Trees for Threes will plant a tree for every three-pointer the team makes at home this season. Last year, the program planted 294 trees at local schools.
DENVER
Tourism, sports groups merging
Visit Denver will absorb Denver Sports in 2013, bringing the former Metro Denver Sports Commission under the roof of the city’s convention and tourism bureau in an attempt to attract more big-name athletic events to the area. The board of Denver Sports voted in December to approve the move, effective this month.
MIAMI
Heat partners with Li-Ning
The Miami Heat signed a partnership with Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning. The partnership is part of a marketing program to support Wade, a new athletic footwear and apparel collection that Li-Ning recently launched with Heat guard Dwyane Wade. The partnership includes signs at AmericanAirlines Arena and other advertising assets on Miami Heat properties.
NEW YORK
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Arena’s Facebook page promotes giveaways.
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JetBlue gets arena status, hosts contest
JetBlue Airways has become the official domestic airline of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Each Thursday this month, Barclays Center will host a Bound for Brooklyn sweepstakes. Customers can visit Barclays Center’s Facebook page and enter for the chance to win a pair of round-trip tickets to or from New York, plus a pair of tickets to an event at Barclays Center.
PHILADELPHIA
Flyers, Pens building youth team
The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins are teaming up to form a youth hockey team that will play in the 2013 Brick International Super Novice Tournament in Edmonton. Team Pennsylvania will feature the top 10-year-old players in the state. The tournament will be held July 1-7 at the West Edmonton Mall.
PHOENIX
Suns to wear retro black uniforms
The Phoenix Suns are bringing back one of the club’s most popular jerseys, the retro black uniforms that the Suns sported 1993-2000. As one of seven NBA teams chosen for the league’s Hardwood Classics campaign, the Suns will wear the black-and-orange jersey 10 times this season, and for the first time when they face the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 30 at US Airways Center.
SOUTH BEND, IND.
Hall of fame closes doors
Dec. 30 marked the College Football Hall of Fame’s final day in South Bend, Ind., before it moves to Atlanta. More than 4,000 visitors passed through the doors over the weekend, according to a South Bend Tribune report. The HOF charged $2 for admittance on its final day. General admission had typically ranged from $7 to $14.
COAST TO COAST — BEYOND THE COASTS
BUSHMILLS, N. IRELAND
Group opposes new luxury resort
U.K. campaigning group the National Trust is challenging a plan backed by Northern Irish politicians for a five-star golf resort, according to a London Guardian report. The National Trust is seeking to thwart the development of a $161 million golf course on the edge of the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage site.
DOHA, QATAR
UEFA head renews call for changes
UEFA President Michel Platini renewed his call for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be moved to the winter to avoid the crushing heat of a Gulf summer, according to an AFP report. He spoke at the Dubai International Sports Conference. There has been criticism of the cost and environmental impact of an effort to provide air-conditioned stadiums, as well as outdoor temperatures.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA
Indonesian Open added to calendar
The Indonesian Golf Association, Asian Tour and IMG signed a three-year deal to stage the Indonesian Open beginning in 2013, according to a Jakarta Post report. By becoming part of the Asian Tour’s TV platform, the Indonesian Open will be broadcast to more than 200 countries and 650 million homes around the world.
SOCHI, RUSSIA
Earthquake prompts venue check
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an immediate check of all 200 buildings and venues associated with the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics after a 5.3 earthquake hit the Black Sea region, according to a London Telegraph report. The epicenter of the Dec. 25 quake was almost 100 miles from Sochi in the Black Sea.
TOKYO
Sawa presenting 2020 bid
Reigning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Homare Sawa will present Tokyo’s candidature file for the 2020 Olympics to the International Olympic Committee, according to a Kyodo report. Sawa will submit the file today at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Tokyo, host of the 1964 Summer Games, is bidding against Madrid and Istanbul, two cities that have never hosted.
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