With the sporting juggernaut that is State of Origin continuing to grow as a multimillion dollar money spinner for Australian rugby league, the third International Origin series between England and the ‘Exiles’ is set to take place at the Halliwell Jones Stadium Warrington June 14,th with organisers hoping the fixture will benefit from some pre-World cup good will.

Sponsorship Today has published a detailed analysis of sponsorship in Australian and New Zealand sport; finding that the combined countries’ sports sponsorship spending is US$880 million (AUS$927m). While the report deals with the facts and figures of Australian and New Zealand Sponsorship, the analysis goes further, examining the trends behind the data, to reveal some interesting findings about the impact of sponsorship in the two countries.

The success of Barcelona, who matched Real Madrid’s record season of 100 LA Liga points, has further highlighted the increasing polarity between the top two Spanish teams and the rest of Spain’s Primera Division. The main factor behind this growing polarity that has seen Real Madrid and Barcelona literally dominate on the field has been the growing financial disparity between them and the rest of the league off the field. But what is the solution for a more balanced competition in La Liga?

Cricket Australia Governance has a soft underbelly, which has been controlled by dictators fueled by self interest rather than the good of the sport. Be it at local, semi professional, state, or national level, the sport has seen a decrease in player numbers, sponsorship and public interest; yet the governance of the sport has stayed the same or even reverted to the ‘old guard’. It may have worked previously, but unless it changes, the sport will continue to suffer.

On Thursday 30 May, 2013, Sports Business Club (SBC) held its second Sports Business Club Panel at 80 Proof, Sydney. The Panel of experts, consisting of Al Baxter, Bill Pulver, Greg Peters, Greg Clark and David Barham, used their experiences from different perspectives within the rugby union world to give an inside view on the future of Australian rugby.