Media

The Finnish Football Association has sold the UK rights for the World Cup qualifier between Finland and England to the Digital Broadcasting Company - paving the way for the first pay-per-view broadcast of an England international soccer match.

Alan Pascoe, group chairman of sports consultancy Fast Track, has recruited Marc Hope, sponsorship manager of the London Dome?s New Millennium Experience Company as head of business development.

Speedo International is making a real splash at German trade fair ISPO in Munich with the launch of Fastskin.com.

The Sears, Roebuck and Co-owned Craftsmen tool brand has extended its status as the ?Official Tools of NASCAR ? until 2005.

NTL has agreed to partner Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Private Equity to acquire France Telecom?s 49.9% stake in Noos, France?s leading broadband company. The move should create a powerful new player in competition for sports content in France.

Costa Rica has set itself up as the offshore gambling capital of the world with large quantities of US cash entering the country in the lead up to the start of the American football season

Brazilian soccer club Corinthians has launched a new official club web site ? to form part of the PSN.com network.

The Sydney Games organising committee (SOCOG) is trying to put a positive spin on things following a ticket delivery public relations exercise went awry.

A deal between Fox Sports International and English terrestrial broadcaster, Channel 5 is bringing the Argentine Football League to British screens for the first time.

Australia has said it was caught in the cross-fire of a row over foreign television access to news events rather than sporting competitions at the Sydney Olympic Games but would work towards a settlement. For the full story see the FEATURES section of SportBusiness.com.

A New York/New Jersey-based team will be one of eight scheduled teams to kick off the inaugural season-of the XFL, the new professional football league jointly owned by World Wrestling Federation Entertainment and NBC.

Pressure on organisers of the Sydney Olympics to lift its ban on foreign television media from Homebush during the Games is mounting after the US joined the European Union in calls to refer the issue to the World Trade Organisation.

IBM Inc is facing an ambush of its Olympic internet rights from APN Digital, the online offshoot of Australian radio and publishing group APN News & Media Limited.

The International Olympic Committee has dismissed complaints about restrictions on foreign television access to the Sydney Olympics as "a storm in a tea cup".

Money-losing Teleglobe Inc. has said it will end its sponsorship agreement with Formula One auto racing team British American Racing (BAR) at the end of the current season.

Coca-Cola, one of the biggest names in sports sponsorship, is in talks with some of Formula One's top teams, believed to include Benetton and Jordan, with the aim of entering F1 racing sponsorship for the first time.