Events

Some European soccer clubs are on the verge of liquidation, Virginie Lannevere, a sports analyst at HSBC, told delegates at the Sports Events Products and Rights conference in Paris yesterday.

Fox Sports Net (FSN) will continue to broadcast its boxing showpiece ‘Sunday Night Fights’ for a further five years after agreeing a new deal with America Presents.

The NFL is close to signing a five-year, $110 million deal with America Online, Viacom and CBS Sportsline making it the biggest internet sports-rights package ever.

While the sports industry may sometimes over-inflate its value to media operators, it seems the merger agreement between rival Italian pay-TV outfit’s Stream and Telepiu was greatly motivated by sports rights issues, a leading UK media analyst has told sportbusiness.com.

Tom.com, the media and advertising company controlled by Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-Shing, has won the broadcast and advertising rights to China’s national basketball league, adding to its portfolio of Chinese volleyball, table tennis, rowing and college soccer rights.

UK soccer fans will be able to watch Saturday night English Premiership soccer highlights on terrestrial television from 7pm GMT, broadcaster ITV announced today.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has been buying advertising slots from the media companies that broadcast its tournaments in a move which it hopes will secure advertising space for its major sponsors such as Mercedez-Benz.

New York's international network, many hotels and plans to build new sports arenas amounted to a strong bid to stage the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, a United States Olympic Committee (USOC) panel said.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the PGA Tour's procedures for determining playing positions in Senior PGA Tour events, setting aside claims from golfer Harry Toscano.

The people of Utah are finding out how the 2002 Winter Olympics will affect them and their communities after a series of open houses was introduced to educate and inform residents.

Boxing promoters Cedric Kushner Boxing (CKB), Inc plans to reverse into Zenascent, Inc, the former internet technology and e-commerce incubator company listed on New York's over the counter billboard market, as part of a merger agreement.

Sports Resource Group plc is to acquire Sweden-based IEC in Sports International Events and Communications AB for an initial consideration of up to £17.5million ($25.04m/B

ESPN-owners Walt Disney Co took a 26 percent hit in fiscal third-quarter pro forma profit as the entertainment company marked lower TV ad sales and theme-park attendance, and absorbed a $95million (B

Churchill Downs Inc (CDI), in conjunction with the New York Racing Association and Television Games Network, has lost out in its bid for the purchase of New York City Off-Tracking Betting Corp (NYCOTB).

A new crowd-pleasing motor-racing Grand Prix series featuring cars racing in the livery of Europe’s top soccer clubs is aiming to reach one billion viewers in its first season, sportbusiness.com can reveal.

Australia’s Nine Network will be the official broadcaster for the Tennis Masters Cup which will be held in Sydney from November 12-18 at the Sydney SuperDome.