Events

Australia's second-largest city Melbourne is bidding to host the 2005 swimming world championships after failing to win the right to host the athletics championships.

UK commercial radio station talkSPORT has won the rights to broadcast exclusive coverage of the England cricket tour to the West Indies in 2004.

Organisers of England's bid to host the 2006 World Cup have shrugged off a report claiming South America had offered its backing to rival bidders South Africa.

Nettaxi.com, a community and portal web site with over 44 million visitors per month, has renewed its sponsorship agreement with the San Jose Sharks for the 2000-01 hockey season.

Total Sports, an online sports media company, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will have provided online coverage of nearly 100 events when this year?s spring season championships come to a close.

Dutch KPN Telecom NV has said it had bid to buy the broadcast rights of all Dutch first division soccer matches for five years in an effort to boost the content of its internet division.

Laurie Landgrebe, director of marketing for Pro Player Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins, has enlisted the help of the NFL in securing a new naming rights deal.

The Portland Trail Blazers have received criticism from basketball fans for showing Game 2 of the playoff series against Utah on pay-per-view at a cost $24.95. The game was broadcast nationally by the TNT cable channel, and blacked out within a 35-mile radius of downtown Portland. Responding to the criticism Harry Hut, the Blazers Senior vice-president for marketing said: ``People get the idea there's an obligation on the part of the team to televise a game, but there isn't.? The team, he said, wants ``to protect the home gate ... to provide a sold-out crowd atmosphere'' at the Rose Garden. However, Sunday's Game 1 of the series against the Jazz, shown on NBC, attracted a capacity crowd of 20,351.

TVNZ Satellite Services has reached agreement with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) to provide a concurrent 8-channel service delivering live coverage of events for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics.

A united North-South Korean soccer team for the 2002 World Cup finals is one proposal South Korea plans to make to the North at an unprecedented meeting of their leaders in June, a South Korean official has said.

The campaign team behind South Africa's bid to host the 2006 World Cup will end its global charm offensive in the coming week with visits to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

ISL have confirmed a sub-licensing agreement with the Portugal?s commercial free-to air broadcaster SIC for live and exclusive television coverage for the Tennis Masters and the Tennis Masters Cup in Portugal.

Tel Aviv may bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, officials have said.

The chairman of soccer?s richest club ? English and European champions Manchester United ? has delayed his retirement so that he can be involved in the next round of bidding for the Premier League broadcasting rights.

ESPN has announced its X Games franchise is to undergo a major expansion ? which include staging several events annually around the globe.

UK all-sport radio station talkSPORT says it is being `robbed? of ratings after a survey revealed many listeners mistook its broadcasts for that of its rival the BBC.