USA

The Pittsfield Mets minor league baseball franchise is to build a $12 million new ballpark in Pittsfield, Massachusetts with New York State money.

Dr. Richard Luker, founder of the ESPN Sports Poll presented new research at the Interactive Sports 2000 conference in Los Angeles that suggests the internet sports market is "a market place still waiting for people to come through its doors".

Orlando Predators Entertainment(OPE), owners of the Predators Arena Football franchise and 8% stake-holder in the Arena Football League, has reported a year end profit of $215,355 compared to a loss of $884,341 for the year ended 1998. The company reported total revenues of $5,105,969 compared to $3,719,329 in 1998.

Leigh Steinberg, Chairman and C.E.O. of Assante Sports Management Group has announced that Assante Corporation, a leading provider of integrated wealth and life management services, has acquired one of North America's top hockey representation firms, M.D. Gillis & Associates Ltd.

The Salt Lake City Organising Committee for the winter Olympics has signed up its 33rd corporate partner for the 2002 Games in a $20m (#12.7m) sponsorship deal.

A proposal put forward to raise funds for a new Florida baseball stadium by taxing cruise ship tourists has been blasted by two of the biggest cruise liner companies.

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch has said he wants more experienced players to improve the standard of soccer at the Sydney Games, a move that could spark a new row with Europe's top clubs.

Bluetorch, the cross-media network for extreme sports, is to produce and take the title sponsorship of the largest surfing event in North America.

Kim Jung Hoon, the son of a South Korean member of the International Olympic Committee, has been indicted on US federal fraud charges, becoming the second person to face criminal charges stemming from the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics bribery scandal according to a report in the New York Times.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch has agreed to be quizzed by the US Justice Department as part of its probe into the Salt Lake City scandal.

The Washington Redskins plan to name Steve Baldacci their team president within the next several days, according to a report in the Washington Post.

An investment banking firm in New York is in the final stages of purchasing Major League Soccer outfit DC United's operating rights, according to a report in the Washington Post.

The president and other officials of the International Boxing Federation have been indicted for bribery, charged with selling rankings to boxers over the past 14 years for as much as $100,000.

E*TRADE Group, a global leader in electronic personal financial services, has signed an agreement with the NFL to sponsor the Super Bowl XXXIV Half-time Show.

International Olympic Committee chief Juan Antonio Samaranch presided over an historic weekend of change in Switzerland's Olympic capital but now faces a tougher test of his powers of influence.

Washington Redskins officials have rejected proposals to build a roof over Fedex Field on cost grounds, according to the Washington Post. "It was one of the things that was looked at while looking at ways to improve things at the stadium [but] it's not going to happen," spokesman Karl Swanson said. Snyder was considering making a bid to host the Super Bowl in 2012 in conjunction with the Baltimore-Washington region's bid to host the summer Olympic Games that year, according to people familiar with the deliberations.