North America

The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the owner and organiser of the Tour de France, is set to announce a marketing partnership with AEG, the organiser of the Amgen Tour of California later today.

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents has approved a 13-year multimedia rights deal between the university’s athletics department and IMG College, worth $112.5 million ($109 million guaranteed).

NBA.com, the website of the National Basketball Association (NBA), has recorded the largest ever-number of hits for a sports website.

ESPN President George Bodenheimer said "the entire pie to sports consumption is growing ... and ESPN is continuing to ride that wave."

Emirates Airline and Breeders’ Cup Limited agreed a sponsorship deal for Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, to become title sponsor of the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

US cable sports network, Versus, extended its deal with the Amaury Sport Organisation for the exclusive US TV rights for the Tour de France, for five years until 2013.

MP & Silva's new office in Miami will oversee the agency’s operations in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Chelsea Football Club teamed up with the sports division of sports and entertainment agency CAA (Creative Artists Agency).

The International Olympic Committee selected Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo as candidate cities for the 2016 Olympic Games. Doha missed out on selection, while Madrid and Tokyo appear the cities to beat in the early running.

NBA team Los Angeles Lakers signed a three-year exclusive sponsorship deal with sportswear retailer Sports Chalet. Under the deal Sports Chalet becomes the ‘Official Sporting Goods Retailer of the Los Angeles Lakers.’ The deal will start next season.

The National Hockey League has signed deals with TSN, for media rights in Canada, and with Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc, for Bud Light to remain the league’s official beer.

The US Supreme Court has refused Major League Baseball’s appeal to overrule the Court of Appeals finding; leaving fantasy leagues free to exploit player data and statistics without licence.

Financial services group, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has signed as a corporate partner of the United States Golf Association (USGA).

American Football’s NFL said it has sold the first 40,000 tickets for its second regular-season match in London in 90 minutes.

The United States looks set to bid against England for the 2018 World Cup with US Soccer President, Sunil Gulati, saying: “We will be making a decision in the next two or three months, but we are looking very seriously at it.I can't think of any reasons why we wouldn't bid for the tournament.”

Microsoft agreed a five-year sponsorship deal with new Major League Soccer (MLS) team, Seattle Sounders FC, worth a reported $20 million.

MTV Networks Music Group, a division of Viacom's MTV Networks, and US network NBC Sports agreed a strategic partnership to expand the Action Sports Tour.

US brewer, the Miller Brewing Company extended its sponsorship deal with American Football franchise, the Dallas Cowboys, for 12 years until 2020.