TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Jacques Kallis steadies South Africa innings with assured century against England Thanks to an unbeaten century from Jacques Kallis, his sixth on his home ground of Newlands, South Africa won the final session of the third Test, and may even have shaded the first day. Certainly, after slipping to 51 for three, they will be the happier of the two sides after being put in on a day that began and finished under thick cloud cover. The umpires took the players off for bad light with 6.4 overs still remaining. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Beltre completes $10 million deal with Red Sox BOSTON (AP) -- Don't let his stellar defense fool you: Adrian Beltre is a pretty good hitter, too.... hosted.ap.org |
Northern Rock's £10m sponsorship of Newcastle United under fire • Magpies must play in the Premier league for four years• Rivals RBS and LLoyds have trimmed their sponsorshipsNorthern Rock, the nationalised lender, ran into criticism after it signed a sponsorship deal with Newcastle United that could cost up to £10m.The contract, which the lender said was a "valuable investment", will last for four years and renew a relationship going back to 2004 when Northern Rock was the fastest-growing bank in the UK.But it ran into criticism from opposition politicians and locals who said the publicly-owned bank should spend its money supporting mortgage borrowers and business customers rather than the local football team.Liberal Democrats Treasury spokesman Matthew Oakeshott said customers and the taxpayer should come before any sponsorship deals."Northern Rock needed to be rescued by the taxpayer and is still in intensive care. While it was right to honour the old contract, it was wrong for the nationalised bank to splash £10m of taxpayers' cash on corporate spin. The time for the bank to agree a new sponsorship deal is when it is in private hands," he said.Local websites reported a split in sentiment towards the deal, with some people welcoming the tie-up between two well-known north east brands, while others, including some former workers and shareholders who lost money when the bank crashed, questioned using Âmillions of pounds of taxpayer cash to fund the deal.One told the Newcastle Chronicle: "I lost more than £6,000 by being associated with this bank when it crashed. I find it insulting that they can come up with these sums of cash to support a bunch of over-paid prima donnas."Newcastle-based Northern Rock said it believed the sponsorship contract fitted in with its responsibilities under government ownership.Gary Hoffman, chief executive of the bank, said: "We remain mindful of our responsibilities under government ownership and only consider those advertising and promotion channels that deliver a high return on investment and good strategic fit."We believe that the sponsorship deal with Newcastle United football club Âprovides both of these."Newcastle United is currently at the top of the Championship and is on course for promotion amid a recent turnaround in fortunes.The club is owned by Mike Ashley, who heads the Sports World retail empire Sports Direct International.Hoffman said the relationship with Newcastle United "represents an important community link". Northern Rock was split in two on 1 January, with the "good" bank hived off, comprising about £19bn in savings and £10bn of mortgages, leaving its toxic assets in the hands of the taxpayer. The £10m will only be paid out if the team remains in the Premier League for the full four years.Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, the other banks with major taxpayer stakes, have also trimmed their sponsorship costs. RBS has ended its deal with the AT&T Williams Formula 1 racing team and cut the annual allowance paid to its roster of "sporting ambassadors", including tennis star Andy Murray, golf legend Jack Nicklaus and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.Lloyds is a founding sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic games and has cut some programmes to focus funds on the main event.Northern Rock has also maintained its sponsorship of the Newcastle Falcons rugby and Newcastle Eagles basketball teams since nationalisation, although it said these and all other sponsorships are under review. It has cut previous deals with county cricket teams Middlesex and Durham since mid-2008.Northern RockLloyds Banking GroupRoyal Bank of ScotlandSports Direct InternationalNewcastle UnitedNewcastle FalconsMiddlesexDurhamWilliamsAndy MurraySachin TendulkarMike AshleyLiberal DemocratsPhillip Inmanguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Portsmouth’s latest attempt to lift transfer embargo fails Portsmouth have failed to persuade the Premier League to lift their transfer embargo despite two days of talks and confident announcements that the end of their ban on signing players was “imminentâ€. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Nadal tumbles out after Australia Day fireworks MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Andy Murray had been warned about the fireworks, the crackle and dazzling burst of color that lights the sky to mark Australia Day celebrations.... hosted.ap.org |