Media

Canadian broadcaster TSN says first round World Cup matches have produced outstanding ratings.

Dorna, the Spanish company which owns the marketing and commercial rights to the Motorcycle Road Racing Grand Prix has been bought by a British group, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

International Management Group (IMG) and Global Sportnet the German marketing and consultanting group have joined forces to offer marketing services to first and second division German Bundesliga football clubs.

Michael Richter of the Czech advertising agency IP Praha has said his company's revenues from ads during the World Cup will bebetween 25 and 30 million crowns.

Irish state broadcaster RTE has signed independent production company Oblivion Television to produce all Irish horse racing coverage for the next six months.

UK broadcaster ITV Sport reports an audience of 21 million for its live transmission of England?s 2-1 World Cup defeat at the hands of Romania.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is proposing an end to a ban on athlete interviews by non-rights holding media according to specialist Olympic news service 'Around the Rings'.

ESPN Star has signed what it claims to be the most comprehensive cable and satellite package for live NBA coverage in Asia.

Brititsh newspaper The Daily Telegraph has signed up to be an official FA Premier League sponsor as part of its strategy to become more closely identified with sport.

The UK government has removed England's home cricket international matches from the list of events that terrestrial television stations can cover freely.

The English Football Association hopes to collect #12million by selling the rights to sponsor the England football team in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup.

M6, the sole French terrestrial TV station with no World Cup coverage, has said it had more viewers during the tournament compared with the same period last year, but the rise was not as strong as the overall increase in French television viewers.

Sponsorship Information Services Ltd (SiS) are to open offices in Asia.

WEMBLEY, the leisure group, is handing back cash to investors by way of a share buy-back. Almost half its capital will be returned to shareholders following the planned #103m sale of its stadium to English National Stadium Trust.

The heir to Australia's biggest fortune, Mr James Packer, is expected to use an alliance with the Collingwood Football Club as a launching pad for an assault on the Australian Football League's lucrative television rights.

Sydney 2000 Olympics organisers have said the cost of staging the Games had blown up by A$150 million (US$90 million), largely because of an increase in the number of events.