Sponsorship & Marketing

UPS will launch its five-year agreement to become the official express delivery company of NASCAR at this Sunday's Daytona 500.

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.

KMC Telecom is to sponsor Joe Falk's No. 91 LJ Racing Chevrolet driven by Indiana driver Andy Hillenberg. It is the telecommunications company?s first sponsorship of a Daytona 500 race car. KMC will sport its logo and company colors on national television as events get underway this week at Daytona International Speedway.

Multi-million dollar sponsors signing up for the Olympics now have a "morals" opt-out clause in their contracts allowing them to walk away from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) if it goes off the rails.

Quokka Sports, the digital sports entertainment company, and Terra Networks, Telefonica's Internet subsidiary, have signed a partnership agreement that will allow Quokka to expand the reach of its digital sports programming.

UK-based KHP Consulting has signed deals with two major names in the motorsports industry.

The Flora London Marathon has appointed Timex (UK Time) as the new `official timekeeper? of this year?s event.

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

Andrew Sippel has been promoted to publisher and vice president of the sports publication ESPN The Magazine.

SportsPrize Entertainment, a sports-based entertainment and e-commerce Internet company, has appointed Douglas Scales as Vice President of Marketing.

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.

Persistence Software has signed a sponsorship agreement with USA Water Polo (USWP).

U.S. insurance group John Hancock has agreed to renew its Olympic sponsorship for a further four years, despite its president's forceful criticism last year of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Sales of athletic shoes are declining because sports are losing their appeal for many young people, according to the Zandl Group, a New York City-based trends research firm.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. has signed to become the Official Supplier of Home Appliances for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and the 2000, 2002 and 2004 US Olympic Teams.

Research undertaken by Sport England has revealed that spending on sports-related activities in England has increased from #8.8bn in 1995 to #11bn in 1998.