Sponsorship & Marketing

British football and other sports clubs look set to cash in on their booming popularity by offering a wide range of affinity credit cards and insurance and savings policies, a research report has predicted.

The US Olympic Committee has hired Hernando Madronero a former associate of new CEO Norm Blake at two insurance companies, as the USOC?s director of international relations.

Attendance at Saturday's UK Grand National rose more than 20 percent despite a heavy security presence.

On the day that News Corps and Vivendi have proposed a joint shareholding of their digital businesses, European media big-hitters Bertelsmann, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and Pearson (PTV) have agreed to merge CLT-UFA, Europe's leading commercial television and radio broadcaster, with Pearson Television, the independent television production company.

Fuxito.com, the soccer lifestyle site, has launched a Spanish version of their interactive site.

American Express and General Motors Buick have extended their sponsorship deals with the US WNBA.

Hong Kong-based giant screen specialists Lighthouse Technologies has acquired Pixelite from Avesco plc, creating the world's most broadly-based giant screen sales and installation operation with offices across the globe.

A study on trends in English football by the German research company, Sport + Markt, has revealed 19.5m

American General, a leading US financial services organisation, and the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) have signed a multi-year marketing partnership, making American General a sponsor of the WNBA.

Pepsi will be the soft drink of choice for three Chicago sports franchises. Agreements with the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks, and United Center begin September 1, 2000. An agreement with the Chicago White Sox begins November 1, 2000.

The Eurobet Arrows F3000 team has been officially launched at the Arrows F1 Team's Leafield, Oxfordshire headquarters.

Michelin will provide Jaguar with tyres next season when the French company returns to Formula One after a 16-year absence.

Argentine buyout fund The Exxel Group is going to launch an Internet soccer portal in the near future.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union, whose All Blacks team is one of the world?s best recognised sports brands, has appointed Media Content Sports Media Advisors as television and media rights consultants.

French customs officials have seized more than 77,800 pairs of counterfeit Adidas, Fila and Sprandi sports shoes in a shipment from China at the French port of Le Havre.

Nike Inc. and Metastream Corp., a provider of marketing visualization solutions for the Web, have signed a viewer distribution agreement.