Media

CEO of Jaguar Racing and US motor sport legend Bobby Rahal are among a growing list of senior sports industry executives to speak at SportBusiness2001: The Main Event, to take place 18-20 April at the QEII Conference Centre in London, UK.

Europe's biggest media group Bertelsmann AG has opened the way for a possible stock market listing through a share swap deal to take control of Europe's largest television group RTL, the Luxembourg-based owners of Munich-based sports marketing group, UFA Sports.

U.S. network NBC has denied that it was trying to exert pressure to put back the times of events at the 2004 Athens Olympics because of prime time television at home.

The Arena Football League's sales and marketing entity Arena Football League Properties (AFLP) has named Marc Lowitz as vice president of Broadcast, New Media and Business Affairs.

Former French great Eric Cantona has launched a scathing attack on European soccer `s commercial "mafia".

Fuji Xerox has brought some welcome relief to troubled Swiss marketing giant ISL by becoming an official partner of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Digital Sport, the website operator, is in discussions with Sports Network Group, the UK-based boxing promoters owned by Frank Warren, to take a stake in the company.

Motor racing supremo Bernie Ecclestone has defaulted on the $360million payment to the Federation Internationale de l?automobile (FIA) for purchase of long-term broadcasting and other commercial rights to Formula One, according to a report in the Financial Times

Cablevision Systems Corporation and Princeton Video Image (PVI) have formed a strategic alliance that should fuel a dramatic expansion of the PVI business.

Manchester United chairman Roland Smith is to remain at the club until March 2002, the English Premier League champions have said.

The XFL, pro-football presented the way World Wrestling Federation founder Vince McMahon thinks it should be, scored big in the ratings but drew sniggers from critics for its debut NBC broadcast. For the full story see the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

The Williams tennis sisters Venus and Serena have won their cases to evict cyber-squatters from contested domain names, arbitrators have ruled.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, one of Australia?s greatest sporting venues, has purchased "Event Business Management Software" (EBMS) from St Louis, Missouri?based Ungerboeck Systems, Inc (USI).

Sport, media and Leisure group, Enic has pulled out of its proposed takeover of Gibraltar-based bookmaker Victor Chandler.

Sky, one of the two direct-to-home services available in Latin America, has finally launched its service in Argentina.

XFL made a solid ratings start at the weekend despite some technical glitches in the coverage.

American Anita DeFrantz has officially declared she will be a candidate to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch as president of the International Olympic Committee, according to local media reports.

The management of troubled EM.TV - which part owns SLEC, Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One holding company - is deeply split over a rescue deal with media group Kirch and a supervisory board meeting on Sunday brought no breakthrough, a source familiar with the situation has said.