Events

The European Tour has announced it is moving beyond its traditional confines with Brazil hosting two events this year for the first time.

Sponsorship value will double to $50 billion by 2010, or around 8.5% of global advertising spend, according to a recent survey.

News Digital Media, the interactive arm of News Corp., has acquired Stats Inc., a privately held supplier of sports scores, statistics and other analysis, according to a report in Variety magazine.

Scotland's top football clubs are close to signing a #30m deal with broadcasters BSkyB and Scottish Media.

Iranian women will soon be able to play football, one of the Islamic republic's most prominent sports officials has said.

Average ticket prices for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Game will be around A$57 (US$24), according to New South Wales Olympic Minister Michael Knight.

Nascar is to stage 15-25 branded concerts from May-August next year in partnership with CBS and TNN, in a move to attract a younger and more geographically diverse audience.

The Spanish football club Real Madrid, which won the European Champions Cup last month for the first time in 32 years, has bought back part of the Canal Plus empire in Spain for Pta12bn ($80m) from Gesport.

The German government is set to launch a legal challenge to the European Union ban on tobacco advertising which threatens to cut off a financial lifeline to some sports and events.

Men?s tennis is to undergo a commercial revolution from 2000. The ATP has partnered with ISL and Octagon to develop television and sponsorship on the back of a re-structured, heavily branded sport.

Japan and South Korea, co-hosts of the 2002 World Cup, are pushing ahead with their plans to build new stadiums despite the economic crisis in Asia.

The issue of spectator safety at motorsport events is back in the spotlight after a tyre flew into the grandstands during the US 500 CART race on Sunday, killing three spectators and leaving six others injured, officials said.

England?s Chelsea football club chairman Ken Bates has received substantial but undisclosed libel damages and a public apology over a newspaper article which he said cast a slur on his name.

The New South Wales Police Chaplaincy Service will oversee religious observance and cater for the spiritual needs of Olympic athletes during the Sydney 2000 games.

Mobile telecommunications company Ericsson has announced a three-year sponsorship with English Rugby Football Club Wasps.

Manchester United fans are planning a mass protest against Rupert Murdoch's bid for Britain's most celebrated soccer club in a spirited attempt to defy market forces.