Media

UK betting shop operator, Firststake Plc, has appointed Simon Grieve, previously NTL?s marketing director of online and interactive services, to head the group?s new Internet betting service.

English Premier League soccer club Sunderland has reported increased pre-tax profits for the six months to November 30 1999.

Extreme Sports Channel, the adventure and adrenaline sports service, is now available on digital cable in Germany.

The Internet could provide $1 billion in new revenue for Europe's top football clubs within the next 10 years, according to a UEFA newsletter.

Four Italian Serie A soccer clubs have said they did not plan to leave pay-TV group Stream but could sell their stake to co-shareholders Telecom Italia and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for the right price.

International Olympic Committee money man Dick Pound has launched an extraordinary attack on Sydney Games chief Michael Knight, accusing him of consistently underselling the success of his own Olympics.

Australian media group Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) has confirmed its Nine Network has been selected by Indian broadcaster Doordarshan to produce television coverage of international cricket played in India.

Europe?s first ever live online race meeting is to take place this weekend when three races will be beamed live via the web from England.

Vulcan Ventures, headed by Microsoft co- founder Paul Allen, will add The Sporting News to its extensive Internet portfolio, which includes Oxygen Media, ZDTV and DreamWorks.

Rivals.com has closed a $35 million equity investment from SOFTBANK Capital Partners.

INTERVU Inc., a service provider for Internet audio and video delivery solutions, has been selected by Time Warner to provide streaming media services for the Winter Goodwill Games in Lake Placid, New York, February 17-20. INTERVU will deliver video highlights each day of the event to the Goodwill Games Web site located at: www.goodwillgames.com.

WWF Entertainment has signed a new five-year deal with UK satellite and digital channels Sky Sports and Sky One set to generate more than $35m in revenues.

Players from last summer's triumphant U.S. women's World Cup soccer team will form the core of a new professional league to be launched in the spring of 2001, organisers have announced.

The UK?s largest chain of betting shops ? Ladbrokes ? has launched its assault on the online gambling market with two new Internet sites going `live? this week.

Christopher Stokes, formerly of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has joined Sportcal.com as Marketing Director.

David Stern, commissioner of the NBA, and Michael Levy, CEO of CBS SportsLine will keynote a seminar focusing on ``Reinventing Sports in the Age of the Internet '' for the Jupiter Consumer Online Forum, March 1-3, at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in New York City.

The European Commission has shrugged off a threat that Formula One motor racing could leave Europe if the European Union demands changes to the organisation and commercial agreements governing the sport.

BSkyB and Vodafone have signed an Internet deal, which will allow Vodafone customers to gain access to sports results, team news, audio commentary and statistics.