North America

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has admitted the city is likely to lose the San Francisco 49ers, one of the most successful teams in National Football League (NFL) history, to nearby Santa Clara.

The National Hockey League (NHL) has approved a realignment plan that will give the competition four conferences instead of six.

The SportAccord Convention has announced that its 2012 conference in Quebec City in Canada will explore the impact and implications of the continuing developments of the past 10 years under the theme of “A Decade of Change, A Future of Promise”.

Telecommunications company Sprint has signed an extension to its title sponsorship of NASCAR’s top racing series through to 2016.

The Green Bay Packers, the National Football League’s (NFL) only publicly-owned franchise, confirmed details on Thursday about a new stock sale that will raise money for the redevelopment of Lambeau Field.

Organisers of next year’s scheduled US grand prix at Austin in Texas have been given until Wednesday of next week by Formula One rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone to prove they have the financial structure to support the race.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver believes the National Football League (NFL) franchise will not relocate to Los Angeles despite announcing on Tuesday that he had agreed to sell the team to Pakistan-born businessman Shahid Khan.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is planning to launch a regional sports channel in 2015, when the ice hockey team’s local television rights contract expires, according to Canadian website Thestar.com.

A shortened National Basketball Association (NBA) season is set to begin on Christmas Day after a tentative deal was reached over the weekend to secure a new collective bargaining agreement and end a five-month lockout.

John Skipper has been promoted to succeed ESPN president George Bodenheimer, who will relinquish his day-to-day responsibilities at the sports media giant on January 1, 2012.

Major League Baseball (MLB) announced on Tuesday that it had struck a new five-year Collective Bargaining Agreement with the MLB Players Association, ensuring labour peace through to 2016 in baseball’s richest league.

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has renewed its partnership with the TeamFanShop e-commerce service.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has made a new call for Major League Soccer (MLS) to align its regular season with the world football calendar, stating it would further assist the development of the sport in the United States.

US pay-television operator Fox Sports asked the US bankruptcy court to dismiss Major League Baseball team the Los Angeles Dodgers from bankruptcy with immediate effect.

Major League Baseball (MLB) owners have approved the US$610 million sale of the Houston Astros as part of a deal that will see the National League Central Division franchise moved to the American League West for the 2013 season.

The National Football League (NFL) announced on Thursday that a partnership had been struck with Microsoft to sign up Xbox 360 as the official console sponsor of the league.