North America

Sportbusiness.com can exclusively reveal that the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is to invest $122 in Sports Capital Partners, the private equity fund co-established by marketing giant IMG.

The 38-year-old Washington Wizards part-owner and president Michael Jordan has opened the door a little wider to the possibility of returning to the NBA playing courts he once ruled. For the full story see the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has hinted that new baseball stadia for the New York Yankees and the New York Mets would be built soon.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will move the Florida Marlins out of South Florida or abolish it altogether if it doesn't get a new ballpark, according to newspaper reports.

Global event hospitality company, Iluka UK, have re-signed sponsor Samsung for management of their Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic winter Games hospitality programme.

At least eight XFL players have signed NFL contracts and as much as 100 could follow as NFL teams follow up the draft by acquiring free agents to fill their training camp rosters.

Baseball?s official site, MLB.com, will this week launch two new features it hopes will raise its customer confidence after several early-season gaffes.

The City of Pontiac in Michigan has subpoenaed the National Football League and sued Wayne County to wrest information about the Detroit Lions' new stadium and how it landed the 2006 Super Bowl.

The Florida Marlins baseball team has hit a major roadblock in its bid to secure a new Miami stadium.

An American radio station has dropped its online broadcasts of a local ice hockey team because of advertising concerns.

The Boston Red Sox?s chances of obtaining the city approval needed to proceed with their plan for a new home stadium at Fenway Park look bleak after a recent meeting between the team and city officials.

The New York Yankees have started planning their own television network next year, having settled their lawsuit with Madison Square Garden.

Eurosport is embroiled in a rights-row with the United States Tennis Association and its exclusive marketing agency SFX.

Italy has moved closer to selling Rome's Foro Italico sports complex, announcing it would auction one of the great projects of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini "very shortly".

European high tech firms WIGE MIC and Swiss Timing will be the official timers at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia.

Continental Europe is waking up to the commercial benefits to be gained from new stadia builds said a panel of industry experts on the second day of industry conference SportBusiness 2001.