Bogdanovich Buys Usain Bolt Tracks & Records Franchiser

Downsound Records CEO Joe Bogdanovich now owns the majority of the UsainBolt's Tracks & Records franchiser.

The long-time partner in dancehall calendar event Sting, who recently inked a deal to buy the Sumfest brand, has now purchased a 51 per cent stake in FranJam, the franchising company of the Jamaican-themed restaurant, from KLE Group.

FranJam was spun off and sold to pay off a US$650,000 ($79 million) debt owed by KLE to Bogdanovich for a loan he gave to the company in 2014 after he took on a 23 per cent stake in KLE and joined its board.

The loan initially carried an interest rate of 6.5 per cent for a period of four years and was secured by the assets of Famous Nightclub. It was renegotiated in 2015 for new terms requiring 7.9 per cent interest per annum for three years, while the nightclub located in Portmore, St Catherine, was sold this January.

KLE CEO Gary Matalon, who also heads FranJam, said the debt renegotiation was done to offset any potentially negative impact the debt might have on the company's balance sheet in 2015 while the deal to sell FranJam, which was already well advanced by then, was being finalised.

The sale and repayment of the debt valued KLE's 49 per cent stake in FranJam at $76 million, which was reflected on the company's balance sheet as investment in associate for the first quarter ending March 2016.

It also added $156 million to the company's income statement, reflecting an accounting of the combined effects of repaying the $79-million debt and the unrealised gain on the revaluation of FranJam.

Importantly, the sale of Famous in January and the repayment of the costly debt make KLE Group, which is left with Tracks and Records in Marketplace, profitable.

The restaurant posted a modest operating profit of $4 million for its first quarter, a period Matalon says has historically been the worst three months for the establishment. During the comparative quarter in 2015, the restaurant posted a $5-million operating loss.

Depreciation runs KLE around $3.6 million a quarter, so substantially eliminating finance costs by repaying the debt to Bogdanovich also bodes well for the company's profitability, especially given that better months for revenue are ahead, by Matalon's estimation.

"Last Olympics, we did $22 million in revenue," the KLE CEO told the Financial Gleaner. "Just accounting for price increases, the same amount of traffic this year could generate $29 million in revenue in August."

With a gross profit margin of 64 per cent, as was the case in the first quarter of 2016, and with depreciation, administrative and other expenses running just below $10 million a month, achieving this revenue target would translate into $9 million to the bottom line for this year's Olympics.

Tracks and Records' first franchisee is also expected to open its doors in Ocho Rios, St Ann, within eight weeks, which might be just in time for the Games where six-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt plans to repeat his triple-sprint win for a third time.

However, revenue from that franchise arrangement, as with those to be established in the future, will go to FranJam. KLE then would earn a share of FranJam's profit.

In a way, the sale of the Tracks and Records franchise is similar to the approach being taken by the company for its Bessa project, which seeks to develop a property in Oracabessa, St Mary, in partnership with Sagicor Life Jamaica.

KLE is taking on a small group of investors to invest US$250,000 of the US$350,000 that the entertainment company committed to the project, while it will manage the project for an annual administration fee equal to one per cent of the invested amount by the investor group and a bonus equal to 15 per cent of the profit made by each investor. But that is if the profit exceeds the US LIBOR rate plus four per cent.

Matalon's take on the FranJam sale is that it will accelerate the pace at which the restaurant chain is expanded through franchising locally and overseas.

Franchise development means going up against operators with deep pockets, such as Yum! Brands (owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and others), and other themed restaurants such as Outback, Chilli's and Finnegan's.

"We negotiated, with the spin-off of FranJam, that financing would become available," said Matalon. "Now we have the money needed to attack the market."

This Beggar Claimed He Couldn’t Walk But Ran Like Usain Bolt When His Bag Was Stolen

If you come across a beggar begging on the streets, you would probably take pity on their condition and shell out some money. It doesn’t cross your mind that the beggar might be faking his condition.

Watch this eye-opening video by Idiots pEople doinG idioTs acTs showing the exact situation. You can see a beggar asking for alms by claiming he can’t walk, but runs at lightening speed when he finds his bag is stolen.

Bolt Losing Passion For Man U As Van Gaal's Tenure Drags On

Sprint mega-star Usain Bolt, who considers himself a life-long Manchester United fan, and who previously expressed a desire to play for his favourite Barclays English Premier League team after retiring from athletics, says his passion for the club is disappearing as the tenure of current dutch manager Louis van Gaal drags on.

Twenty-nine-year-old Bolt, who has dominated world sprinting with individual world records in the 100m (9.58), 200m (19.19), has announced plans to hang up his illustrious running shoes at the end of this year’s Olympic in Rio, Brazil.

Bolt was responding to a reporter following his sixth RJR Sports Foundation National Sportsman of the Year award win at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, last Friday night.

“Well looking at how (Louis) van Gaal is. I don’t think I would ever want to be coached by van Gaal so I think I will put that on pause until we get a new coach,” the Manchester club.

Bolt explained to Andy Goldstein's Celebrity Reds on MUTV in November “how he once discussed the idea of a trial with former boss Sir Alex Ferguson”.

The now 74-year-old Ferguson retired as Manchester United's most successful manager in 2013 after 25 years in charge at the club.

Meanwhile, current coach van Gaal led the Netherlands to a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, prior to his appointment to Manchester United.

In his first season, van Gaal led United to fourth place in the UEFA Champions League football, but were eliminated.

They are currently fifth in the league, with the much-criticised Dutch manager linked with the exit door following another topsy-turvy season for the Manchester–based team.

MANCHESTER UNITED NEWS: ANTHONY MARTIAL IS PREMIER LEAGUE'S FASTEST PLAYER

Anthony Martial of Manchester United shoots from close range during the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield, January 17. According to official statistics, Martial is the league's joint-fastest player.

Is that blinding blur on the Old Trafford pitch a bird? A plane? A Train à Grande Vitesse?

No, it’s Anthony Martial, Manchester United’s teenage striking sensation.

During the 3-3 draw with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on January 12, Martial was clocked by the EA Sports Performance Index running at 35.4km/h over five seconds—or 22mph.

Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week

That equals the record for this English Premier League season held by Jamie Vardy, the Leicester City striker.

Martial’s speed is startlingly impressive given that a footballer will never run in a completely straight line, as a track sprinter does, with short bursts of pace followed by rapid changes of direction prioritized.

Usain Bolt, in smashing his own 100 meters world record at the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin in 2009, was timed at an average of 23.5mph or 37.8km/h over 9.58 seconds with a top speed of 30mph.

Neither, of course, has anything on the cheetah, which can reach 110-120km/h or 68.3 to 74.5mph over distances of less than 500 meters. In August 2012, a female of the species called Sarah broke her own land speed record for an animal, running 100 meters in 5.95 seconds. Her skill with a football remains as yet unknown and untapped.

And Martial will not be rivaling the peregrine falcon anytime soon, the bird of prey that is believed to be able to reach 240mph (386.2km/h) when it swoops down towards the ground for prey.

But the confirmation of the Frenchman’s speed will be enough to catch your average Premier League defender on the hop.

Apprentice April makes Bolt for home

ONE of Lord Sugar’s latest boardroom victims hopes to see her close pal Usain Bolt when she returns home to the Caribbean.

Ex-Miss Jamaica April Jackson, fired from The Apprentice last night, reportedly had a romance with the Olympic sprint legend.

Old flame ... April reportedly dated pal Usain Vantage News

She told TV Biz: “When I go home in January I will probably go say ‘Hi’.”

April is also friends with singer Shaggy and former footballer Sol Campbell but said: “I spoke to Sol a couple of days ago. I don’t think he watches The Apprentice.”

Despite her exit, April said: “I was interesting before The Apprentice and I will continue to be interesting afterwards.”

2015: International Athletics' Year of Doping Scandals

Several scandals have emerged in the athletics world in 2015, with both governing body IAAF and several independent athletes under the scanner for what sources (and several authorities) allege is an evidentially supported involvemenet in doping. 

The athletics world became shrouded in controversy when, earlier this year, English newspaper The Times said it had been given data by an anonymous whistleblower, examined by its own panel of forensic experts, that allegedly proved several IAAF athletes who participated in the London Marathon had done so under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs, putting the results of the marathon into question.

At the time, authorities behind the marathon had responded saying it had a “strict no-tolerance policy” against doping, but the doubt had already been cast. Organi.

This August, the IAAF released a statement rejecting the allegations outright, although suspicion has persisted ever since. 

Several of athletics’ most iconic names came into the spotlight as a result – among them Justin Gatlin, Usain Bolt and Mo Farah. 

Farah and American Olympic athlete Galen Rupp came under immense scrutiny after their coach, seasoned marathon champion Alberto Salazar, was subject to a BBC investigation alleging he had been involved in the doping of several athletes who trained under him at the Nike Experience Project, of which several runners – including American marathon icon Kara Goucher and her husband were a part. 

Salazar’s second-in-command and several athletes who trained under him bore testament to the allegations, with Salazar issuing several denials. The accusations also led at the time to Farah withdrawing from competition for a short period, as UK athletics conducted their own independent investigation against the athlete. 

During these investigations, it was revealed Farah had also missed two drug tests prior to the 2012 London Olympics, where he won Gold.

Although he was eventually exonerated, Farah went on to say that the accusations had taken a toll on his physical and mental health. 

Gatlin and Bolt went on to be cleared as well, but organisers of several events – most notably the London Marathon, criticised the IAAF for what they described as a significant “lack of transparency” in dealing with samples. 

Now, it has emerged that the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) have mounted a full-blown investigation into allegations of doping by a number of Russian athletes – doping the independent body says were “state-sanctioned”. According to the investigation, the drug use had not only been ‘systematic’, but samples that had been cleared in Moscow over the years had passed through labs that, as per the report had “zero credibility.”

Former WADA head Richard Pound was at the helm of the investigation, and described the team’s findings as “worse than we thought” and “pretty shocking.” The panel has recommended that Russia be suspended by the IAAF from all international competition with immediate effect. 

IAAF President Lord Sebastian Coe has now responded to the WADA panel, saying the organisation had given Russia until the end of the week to address the allegations in the report, although  Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko has claimed the incident is an attempt to malign Russia politically. 

Top officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency will meet in the United States of America to figure out a new course of action against Russia. 

The country has been under the scanner since last year, however, when a German television documentary alleged that as many as 99% of athletes had been involved in serious doping, and that high-ranking officials had been accepting bribes to provide athletes with banned substances, and hide results that proved athletes had been using. 

Russia does not have a clean slate – 2010 London Marathon winner Liliya Shibulkova confessed to the makers of the programme that she had been using performance-enhancing drugs ahead of her participation, and admits paying the Russian Athletics Federation €450,000 to cover up a positive doping test. 

She is far from alone – discus thrower Yevgeniya Pecherina also admitted that several athletes were using drugs, telling the BBC ”anything an athlete wants” is available. Currently serving a 10-year ban for doping in 2013, Pecherina had earlier been handed a 2-year suspension for a similar offense. 

Although officials from the country – including its President Vladimir Putin – have strenuously denied claims, Russia’s record appears to speak for itself. 

Doping may be a recurrent feature in the athletics world – but it appears that 2015 has been one of its darkest years. 

Stars set to glitter at Diamond League in Brussels

A raft of medallists from the recent athletics world championships in Beijing will appear in the Belgian capital on Friday night. Usain Bolt, who won three golds in China, should have been in Brussels. But he withdrew saying he was tired after his record-breaking races in China.

Less than two weeks after the world championships, some of track and field's top stars will be in action in Brussels for the final Diamond League meeting of the season.

The American sprinter Justin Gatlin will contest the 100 and 200 metres. The 33-year-old won silver in both events in Beijing behind the Jamaican Usain Bolt who pulled out of the 200 metres citing fatigue.

Last season, Gatlin clocked the year's fastest times in both races. This year he will face a stern examination from the South African Wayde van Niekerk, who claimed the 400m gold in Beijing worlds in 43.48 seconds.


The 23-year-old has notched up a 200m best of 19.87 seconds. The 100m also features a strong field including Jamaican duo Nesta Carter and Asafa Powell, American Mike Rodgers and France's Jimmy Vicaut.

The highlight of the women's sprint races will be the showdown between Dafne Schippers and Allyson Felix from the United States.

When Schippers crossed the line on 28 August in 21.63 seconds - ahead of the Jamaican duo of Elaine Thompson and Veronica Campbell-Brown - she became the first European to win the title since the Russian Anastasia Kapachinskaya claimed the gold medal in 2003.

In the interim, Felix has won it three times followed by Campbell-Brown and her fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Schippers' mark was the fourth-fastest time.

"It is exciting to see new talents coming up in the event and I love new challenges," said 29-year-old Felix. "Yes, the 200m was an impressive race in Beijing, they ran very fast.

"It was hard not to be a part of that, because races like that don't often come your way."

Felix said ahead of the race on Friday night that her goal was to qualify for the US teams for the 200 and 400 metres for next year's Olympic Games in Rio.

"As far as the Olympic time schedule is concerned I can't say anything about that; things can always change. But I would love the opportunity to compete in both events."

Schippers said the world championship gold medal had changed her life.

Since winning in Beijing, Schippers has found that she is far more in demand now back home in the Netherlands.

“It’s a crazy world now for me. It’s all new,” she added. “It’s nice, but it takes a lot of energy. A gold medal is very important to the Netherlands. It’s no longer possible to walk down the street with my dog because a lot of people come up to me. I like it, though."