Belgium

The major issues facing the sponsorship industry were addressed at the annual ESA Conference, ‘Future Sponsorship’ held in Brussels last week. The opening keynote speech came from Havas Chief Executive Officer Fernando Rodés, who confirmed the increasingly important role sponsorship will play in the coming years, describing it as the way forward for marketing. “It is sponsorship’s ability to deliver marketing’s current needs – namely the interactivity and connection between the brand and consumers”, said Rodés.

Acid Sport, the French-based company agreed a three-year extension to its consulting deal with Media Partners & Silva.

FIFA, world football’s governing body, could be set to reach a compromise deal with the G14 group of leading football clubs over the issue of compensation for clubs whose stars are on international duty.

Motorsport world governing body the FIA has unveiled the trimmed down calendar for next year’s Formula One season.

With more than 2 months to go before the opening of SPORTELMonaco 2006, exhibitors have committed to more than 85% of the expanded floor space in the Grimaldi Forum.

The 24-hour sports channel ESPN Classic agreed a deal with Spanish telecoms company TelefC3nica for carriage on its IPTV platform Imagenio. The deal marks the channel’s first move into the Spanish IPTV market.

Marketing giant Octagon has confirmed Coca-Cola executive Nick Massey is to take over as managing director of its UK operation – Octagon UK.

Turkey is the latest country to sign up sports TV network ESPN Classic, following a carriage deal inked with Turkey’s leading digital platform, Digiturk.

NASN and Major League Baseball (MLB) have reached a groundbreaking five-year, pan-European broadcast deal, beginning with the 2006 season.

Safety concerns at a leading European stadium could lead it to be replaced as a nation’s traditional home venue.

Next year's Golden League athletics meetings will start in Oslo on June 2, the sport's ruling body (the IAAF) said.

Belgium's regional Walloon government is set to ask Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone for help to secure the future of the country's grand prix.

Euroleague Basketball has agreed television deals with BR3 Germany, BETV Belgium and MegaSports in the Ukraine.

Euroleague Basketball and the pan-European sport channel Eurosport 2 have announced a new deal for coverage of the ULEB Cup, starting on November 8, 2005.

European officials have denied that they ever proposed the FA Premier League would have to insist on no single broadcaster winning the rights to 50 per cent of future games.

In a bid to bolster its event management expertise, Octagon has promoted Bob Verbeeck to president of global event management.