Media

World champion Michael Schumacher has said he would reluctantly wear a sponsor's helmet after a Belgian court issued an injunction to stop him appearing in a rival firm's helmet that he claims is safer.

ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has signed multi-year agreements for Asian broadcast rights to Formula One motor racing and the leading tennis Grand Slams ? the US Open and Wimbledon.

RTL, Europe's largest television group, is close to an accord with European pay-TV group Canal Plus over sports broadcasting rights, RTL, according to its CEO Didier Bellens.

Formula One teams, car manufacturers and sponsors will resist any move by German media companies to shift their glamorous sport from free to pay television.

Eurosport has signed a new two-year deal with Gillette for an extensive package of football broadcast sponsorship on the pan-European channel.

A UK government select committee has led a critical inquiry into the nation?s capability to stage international events.

Extreme International has signed a three-year deal content agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment's AXN channel in Spain.

Sports.com is among the first internet companies to be awarded press accreditations by the IOC to report from the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

The XFL may be accused of attracting poor primetime ratings on NBC, but the head of Fox Sports has said that the football league's innovations such as on-field cameras and microphones could have ``major ramifications'' for TV coverage of all other sports.

Alan Sugar's 10-year reign as the owner of Tottenham Hotspur ended on Wednesday when media group ENIC completed its purchase of his 26.9 percent holding, worth around 22 million pounds ($31.84 million).

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder urged the Kirch Group on Wednesday to resume talks with public broadcasters to ensure that the 2002 and 2006 soccer World Cups can be seen on free television in Germany.

English premiership club Tottenham Hotspur Plc said sport and media group ENIC had completed its purchase of former chairman Alan Sugar's 26.9 percent holding, worth around 22 million pounds.

German media group EM.TV & Merchandising has exercised an option to lift its stake in Formula One racing to 75 percent, gaining control over broadcast rights to one of the world's most popular sporting events.

TVNZ Satellite Services is hopeful it will retain the Premier League global satellite carriage contract when the current three-year contract concludes at the end of the 2000-2001 season.

Formula One will still be broadcast live on German free television after Kirch and EM.TV increase their stake in the holding which owns the commercial rights to races, Kirch said on Wednesday.

GlobeCast is to host the Salt Lake City 2002 Broadcast Base at its technical operations centre in the host city.

TVNZ Satellite Services has appointed the ex-BBC and BSkyB specialist Jenny Webb to head its new regional office in Sydney.

Three Australian soccer clubs - believed to be Eastern Pride, Canberra Cosmos and Brisbane Strikers - are understood to have been told they have failed to satisfy the financial criteria set down by Soccer Australia for inclusion in the new National Soccer League next season.