Media

Athletics Australia's main commercial sponsor Optus has demanded over A$600,000 back from the sport's governing body, alleging the Optus-sponsored Melbourne and Sydney grand-prix were dominated by Nike brand.

The English Football Association has announced a five-year extension to its existing agreement with national team kit supplier Umbro.

Marketing experts say most official World Cup sponsors have made little impact on consumers in the run-up to the tournament and must work much harder to maximise brand awareness.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) have signed an agreement with Israeli broadcaster JCS (Jersulem Capital Sports), to broadcast more than 70 NBA games and 20 WNBA games over the next two seasons.

Television ad inventories are selling out as France prepares for next month's WorldCup tournament.

A Paris sports bookshop is turning its soccer department into a poetry section during the World Cup finals as a protest against the big spending and media extravaganza surrounding the tournament.

City investors in the UK have delivered a swift riposte to Sunderland Football Club?s failure to clinch a place in the Premier League.

Leading sports event media and marketing group ISL have appointed Dagmar Brandenstein managing director of ISL Television Ltd. Daniel Beauvois will move to the headquarters of ISL in Lucerne, Switzerland to head the newly formed Media Division.

Nascar is to stage 15-25 branded concerts from May-August next year in partnership with CBS and TNN, in a move to attract a younger and more geographically diverse audience.

Princeton Video Image, Inc. the leader in electronic imaging, has announced the signing of an agreement with the Arizona Cardinals to use Princeton Video's proprietary L-VIS(TM) system during the 1998 NFL preseason.

The money-spinning power of World Cup soccer has drawn FIFA and British business into a turf war where lawyers not players will determine the result.

World Cup tickets are being sold illegally on the internet for over $10,000.

German fund management company The Union Investment group has launched the countries first sports equity product. UniSport50Plus, launched on April 1 1998, is aimed at capital investors interested in sport.

Television shops in soccer-mad Vietnam are gearing up for an expected bonanza during the upcoming World Cup in France that starts June 10.

The London based sports management group IMG and its broadcasting operation TWI have signed an exclusive deal with Sci-del for the provision of virtual advertising services.

Two TV networks that lost out in the high-stakes bidding to televise NFL games face major hurdles in realising their ambition to form a new pro football league, according to advertising executives.