May 2007

Baseball
Japan's Pacific League has created Pacific League Marketing, a joint licensing company focused primarily on digital media and wireless content as part of a broader effort to prop up the wavering economic fortunes of the Japanese Baseball League. Loosely modeled after MLB Advanced Media and MLB Properties, the 6 teams in the league have combined to make an initial investment of about $500,000. With the exception of the Yomiuri Giants, most Japanese baseball teams have operated at a loss throughout the years. (Sports Business Journal, 5/28/07)

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Basketball
The National Basketball Players Association has struck a business development deal with International Trust & Investment Corp.'s Citic Guoan Group, China's largest state-run investment company, to develop business opportunities for active and retired NBA players in China. (Sportbusiness.com, 5/10/07)

Tapping Chinese basketball star Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets as an equity partner, 24 Hour Fitness plans to open 20-30 workout facilities in the next five years throughout China. (Sports Business Journal, 5/20/07)

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Football
The NFL has agreed to a deal with Titan Media, the largest and most widely read sports newspaper in China, to increase the coverage of the NFL and American football. (Sportbusiness.com, 5/3/07)

The Arena Football League will face expiration of the patent for its game system, including its rules, netting and goal post configuration, on 9/30/07. The Arena Football Game System made the AFL the only sports league in history to play in a patent-protected game. (Sports Business Journal, 5/28/07)

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Other Sports
IMG announced its acquisition of Collegiate Licensing, the largest collegiate trademark licensing agency in the US, in a deal marking IMG's first foray into college sports, which the company believes has high-growth marketing potential, particularly overseas. (Wall Street Journal, 5/1/07)

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China
Avon reported that 1Q net income nearly tripled as the company saw strong international sales, particularly in China and Russia. Asian-Pacific sales soared 44% in China, reflecting further expansion of the company's direct-selling business, which contributed more than 50% of region's quarterly revenue. (Wall Street Journal, 5/2/07)

In a historic prelude to the Beijing Olympics, China will be represented in its first Rose Parade float in conjunction with Avery Dennison, a company based in Pasadena, California. (Los Angeles Times, 5/19/07)

Televisa, the Mexican TV network, announced a deal with the Chinese government to make Chinese versions of its most successful programming, including its soap operas, or novellas, which are already dubbed into more than 50 languages. (Los Angeles Times, 5/31/07)