Media

Retired basketball star Michael Jordan proved himself just as formidable in a courtroom as on the courts when a federal judge ruled in his favour in a dispute with restaurateurs over exclusive Chicago rights to his name.

The TVS Television Network, the US-based classic sports archive network, will launch a fulltime sports service by encompassing satellite, cable, and internet delivery as well as non theatrical and home video services.

Meddling councils and tourist bodies in Sydney are creating a bureaucratic nightmare for overseas television stations hoping to film in the Olympic city during the run-up to this year's Games, reports the South China Morning Post.

The European Broadcasting Union has called for clear rules on the use of virtual advertising in televised sports events.

Dutch telecommunications company, KPN Telecom, has made a bid for the rights to the Dutch First Division (Eredivisie), reports The Soccer Investor Weekly Bulletin.

The Kirch Group has decided on the price of its pay-per-view season tickets for the Bundesliga next season, reports the soccer industry newsletter, The Soccer Investor Weekly Bulletin.

The NBA and TSN, Canada?s most watched sports network, have extended their television agreement for another two years. The new contract will include 26 regular-season games - at least eight featuring Canadian teams - and 18 playoff games.

Sportingbet.com, the Channel Islands-based bookmaker, has acquired Betmaker.com, a Costa Rica-based internet gambling site, in a deal worth about #15million, reports the Financial Times.

Octagon CSI has been appointed by British Motorsport Promoters to produce the British Superbikes series.

ESPN.com has teamed up with Winnercomm and NTRA Productions to provide visitors to ESPN.com with expanded web coverage of horse racing.

Sportal Ltd., the U.K.-based online sports information company, has denied reports that it will be acquired by Canal Plus? internet unit Numedia. The speculation arose from a report in Saturday's edition of French newspaper Le Figaro, which said that Canal Plus was close to buying Sportal for between $300 million and $400 million.

Sportsworld Media, the Australia-based sports programming and marketing company, has completed its #50m recommended offer for Sports and Outdoor Media International (SOMI) now that the acquisition has been declared wholly unconditional, reports the Financial Times.

The NBA Board of Governors have approved new owners for the Dallas Mavericks, Vancouver Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets.

The Volvo Ocean Race has signed major television deals on both sides of the Atlantic for next year?s event.

A spokesman for BSkyB has denied reports it has made any bid for exclusive UK television rights to the soccer World Cup in 2002.

Media magnate, Rupert Murdoch, has been named the most powerful person in the world of sport, according to a ranking published in The Guardian newspaper.