Events

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has hired the chief executive of advertising giant WPP and the chairman of Australian telecommunications company Telesra, to help sell its marketing and media rights following the collapse of its former commercial partner, ISL.

The official website for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, Lionstour.com, attracted over 10 million page impressions during the tour.

Sports network ESPN is to sell advertising packages covering a variety of media platforms for eight of its major sports events broadcast next season.

Teleglobe Broadcast Services have been selected by News Corps units Fox Digital and Fox Sports to provide digital video transmission of National Football League Europe games to North American viewers on Fox Sports, Fox Sports Net and DirectTV.

Birmingham City, the UK?s Nationwide League soccer club, said it must secure promotion to the Premier League next season to prevent it from financial ruin.

South American soccer authorities have said that there had never been any doubt that this year's Copa America would be held in Colombia, one of the world's most violent countries.

The battle to gain media coverage of horseracing events in the UK moved closer to being resolved today after the Go Racing consortium, which is made up of BSkyB, Channel 4 and Arena Leisure, signed up the remaining racecourses it needed to finalise its horseracing media rights deal.

The UK government has accepted terms offered by British Sky Broadcasting Plc (BSkyB), which will allow the British satellite TV group to take over the Open interactive TV platform it operates.

ESPN Star Sports (ESS) will develop its broadcast feeds in Asia with the addition of the Philippines.

The British Horse Trials Association, the promoters and organisers of show jumping, dressage and cross-country events, is losing about #100,000 ($144,000) a month because of the foot and mouth crisis.

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

F2 Broadcast Network has signed an endorsement deal with PGA Tour member Brian Gay.

Speedway Motorsports has elected North Carolina businessman Tom E. Smith to the company's Board of Directors.

VTV has been awarded the contract to produce the UK?s Channel 5?s live coverage of the MotoGP World Motorcycle Racing Championships for 2001.

The London-based Quintus Group has concluded the acquisition of Bailey Carr Ltd, adding to the company?s recent acquisition of RHB Ventures USA .

Car manufacturers would damage the world of motor racing if they created a rival circuit to Formula One, German media group Kirch said on Tuesday.

South Korean soccer fans have applied for more than one million tickets for the 2002 World Cup finals, four times the number of seats offered in the first round of sales, organisers said on Thursday.

South Korea plans this week to discuss cultural and sports exchanges with North Korea - including sharing of some 2002 World Cup soccer matches.