North America

SOCOG have affirmed that more than a million Australians have either ordered tickets for next year's Sydney Olympics or had tickets ordered for them.

Fifa President Sepp Blatter has hit out at the Asian Confederation which walked out of last month's congress in Los Angeles in a rown over places at the 2002 World Cup.

CBS and the NCAA are in talks to extend their broadcast rights agreement to the Division I basketball tournament.

Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE:DIS - news) Buena Vista Internet Group has agreed to purchase 60 percent of soccernet.com from the Daily Mail & General Trust Plc (quote from Yahoo!UK & Ireland: DMGO.L) for an undisclosed amount.

Total Sports, a provider of online coverage of college sports, has added

US television networks AOL and NBC will meet National Basketball Association (NBA) officials over the next couple of weeks to discuss new television contracts.

Following the lead of pop diva Celine Dion, Canadian Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve inked a deal on Thursday with the Quebec government to promote the charms of the French-speaking province in the United States.

The National Football League (NFL) has increased its pay offer to referees and has given them just one day to consider it before deciding whether to accept them in time for this weekend?s start to the season.

Sears Point Raceway, the San Francisco market motorsports facility owned by Speedway Motorsports, has reported an upswing in corporate business during the 2001 season.

As the NFL pre-season concluded, all but one of the first-round draft picks (defensive end Justin Smith, selected by Cincinnati) had signed contracts.

H Wayne Huizenga, owner of the NFL's Miami Dolphins and former owner of baseball's Florida Marlins and the NHL's Florida Panthers, is investing in Arena Football.

One year into its existence, the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) has already made some front office adjustments.

The Women?s United Soccer Association (WUSA), which has just completed its league?s inaugural season, is to move its headquarters to Atlanta to further utilise the corporate infrastructure of one of its investors, Cox Enterprises.

German sportswear giant adidas has signed an endorsement deal with the NBA?s Washington Wizards' rookie Kwame Brown.

Germany and Portugal are due to take part in a series of international friendlies in South Korea to open new stadiums for the 2002 World Cup.

The New York based Nasdaq-listed Magnum Sports & Entertainment, Inc. has announced the resignation of two Board members - Herbert Kozlov and Harvey Silverman - for personal reasons.