North America

Sporting goods and clothing retailer Venator Group Inc., parent of Foot Locker and Champs Sports, will close 358 stores and lay off 3,700 employees to reduce costs.

The Pan-american Sports Network (PSN), a new, 24-hour, all sports cable and satellite digital television network directed at sports fans throughout Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean, will debut on Tuesday, February 15 with the live, exclusive broadcast of Copa Libertadores, the region's most important football event.

Chicago-based Xpedior Incorporated , a leading provider of eBusiness solutions, has announced its sponsorship of the America True, The San Francisco Yacht Club challenge for America's Cup 2000, a semi-finalist in this year's America's Cup.

MVP.com board members John Elway, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky, joined CEO John Costello in launching MVP.com, the online destination for high-quality sports, fitness, and outdoor gear and apparel.

Organisers of soccer?s Euro 2000 have launched a crackdown of on-line black market ticket sales for the tournament.

Princeton Video Image (PVI) has announced it will insert virtual advertisements for several sponsors in the international feed of NFL Super Bowl XXXIV on January 30 from the Atlanta Georgia Dome.

Tickets.com, a leading one-stop online provider of sports, entertainment and travel tickets and event information, has been named as the Official Ticketing Services Supplier for the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Advertisers of Super Bowl television coverage this year will pay, on average, more than $2 million for 30 seconds of time before an audience that Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network predicts will exceed 120 million, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Last week's persistent snow and rain has prompted Bear Stearns to revise downward its forecast for the economic impact of Super Bowl XXXIV on Atlanta, the firm's senior managing director Jason Ader said on CNN Financial News.

The U.S. Justice Department had no comment on reports that its officials met with Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch as part of its investigation into the Salt Lake City Olympic bribery scandal.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has said he would provide free housing for his country's athletes - provided they won Olympic or world titles.

Members of the US women's soccer team have agreed a five-year contract with the US Soccer Federation, thereby ending their month long dispute with the governing body.

Peacock Real Estate Development Corporation (PDC), the wholly owned subsidiary of Peacock Financial Corporation, has signed an agreement with Milwaukee-based The Stadium Game, LLC to assist TSG in identifying stadium, arena, recreational and entertainment facility development opportunities in the Western United States.

Predict It Inc., an Internet service which measures, identifies, ranks and rewards users based on their prediction performance in event categories such as sports, finance, politics, and entertainment, has signed a distribution agreement with the Meadowlands Racetrack.

New Jersey State Governor Christie Whitman has announced she will help prepare a plan for moving the Yankees across the Hudson River if one is requested by an advisory panel that the team's owner, George Steinbrenner ??..

The world's most popular doll is heading for the World Cup. Barbie is donning shorts, shinpads and cleats and will be representing the women's championship tournament, set for next year in the United States.