Events

National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern announced that the league will open an office in London as part of its ongoing effort to bring the NBA closer to its growing fan base throughout Europe.

London is gearing up to host one of the most hotly anticipated sporting events of the year, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said as he met with representatives from America’s National Football League (NFL) and the New York Giants.

IOC President Jacques Rogge outlined further details for the new youth multi-sport games - open to athletes aged 14-18 - that was endorsed last month by the IOC Executive Board in Beijing.

Li-Ning, China’s leading sporting apparel firm, has become an Official Sponsor and exclusive Sportswear Apparel Sponsor of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau, China.

The qualifying structure for future Rugby World Cups is to be changed to better reflect the modern Game and to increase the profile of one of the world’s largest sporting events.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc and becomes a free agent from 2008 in a move that is expected to have an impact on US motor racing series Nascar’s TV ratings, merchandising sales as well as driver salaries.

Soccerex London Forum moved to the new home of English Football, Wembley stadium, and once again delivered the perfect opportunity for participants to learn, network and do business.

Cricket heads the table of sports that Australians are most interested in, according to sports research consultants Sweeney Sports.

Tennis champion Maria Sharapova will promote Sochi’s bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games during the crucial eight weeks before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote on 4 July in Guatemala.

Infront Sports & Media, the exclusive global marketing partner of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the German Basketball Federation, has set up two exhibition games between Germany and China to take place this summer.

Rugby union chiefs are expected to announce an end to the bitter row which had threatened the future of next season’s Heineken Cup competition.

Australia could avoid paying compensation to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union if the Australian federal government bans the Australian team from touring there later this year.

This weekend’s WBC light middleweight fight between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar de la Hoya is set to become the highest grossing fight in boxing history and could be worth over $100 million.

The IRB Council awarded the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 to the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union. The Tournament, which will be the first to incorporate a women’s competition, will be played in Dubai in February 2009.

The professional Tour of Ireland is making a return some fifteen years after the final Nissan Classic.

Capitalize has been appointed by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) to promote the QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship.