International Sports

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) said it has agreed sponsorship agreements worth about $709 million, more than 90% of its overall target of $760 million. The figures were released as part of VANOC's latest quarterly report, which also showedd that operating expenses are climbing as venue-construction costs decline. The 2010 Winter Olympics run from 2/12-28/10 in Vancouver, Canada and its surrounding areas. (SportBusiness.com, 3/17/08)

China Business

Youku.com, the China-based video-sharing website, has teamed with social networking site MySpace in hopes of becoming China’s version of YouTube. Launched in December 2006, Youku sees over 100 million daily video views, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. (Digital Media Wire, 3/14/08)

India Entertainment

According to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Indian entertainment sector amounted to $215 million in the nine months from March to December 2007, compared with a mere $44 million 2006. The previous highest year for FDI was 2000-01 with $81.5 million. In recent months, Western entertainment conglomerates have been very active in this area, including Disney's enlarged stake in UTV Software Communications, Viacom's co-investment with the TV 18 Group, Turner Entertainment's commitment to a joint venture with Alva Bros, and most recently NBC Universal's stake in NDTV. (VarietyAsiaOnline.com, 3/14/08)

China Business

According to research from Beijing-based BDA, based on data from the China Internet Network Information Center, China had 210 million internet users at the end of 2007, compared to Nielsen/NetRatings findings of 216 million in the US. BDA said that, based on the pace of growth in China, and now that the first quarter of 2008 is nearly finished, it is safe to assume the country has surpassed the U.S. in total internet users. (Digital Media Wire, 3/13/08)

India Entertainment

In a significant move which is a first for a Bollywood label, Eros International has reached an agreement to have its movie titles distributed in Wal-Mart's 27 Canadian stores. Over time, Eros will make available a large number of titles from its catalogue of over 1300 titles as well as its 30-40 new releases every year and they will be distributed throughout Wal-Mart's entire Canadian network. (VarietyAsiaOnline.com, 3/11/08)

Japan Baseball

A new independent baseball league in Japan is taking shape with four clubs expected to be established ahead of its inauguration scheduled for 2009. The organizers of the new league, located in the Kansai western Japan region, said its inaugural season will have one team each in Wakayama and Osaka prefectures and two in Hyogo with a plan to expand it to eight teams in the future. The Wakayama-based Kyshu Rangers were founded last December ahead of the establishment of the three others slated for April. Each team will have 20 players on its roster and play 72 games in a season. Annual salaries for the players have been set at a uniform 1.8 million yen with bonus payments being considered depending on the league's business performance. Currently, there are two independent professional baseball leagues in Japan. The Shikoku-Kyushu Island League features teams in the two islands in western and southwestern Japan while the BC League accommodates clubs in the Hokuriku area as well as in Nagano and Gunma prefectures. (JapanBall.com, 3/8/08)

Asia Business

Acer, the Taiwanese computer company, overtook Dell to become the world's second largest notebook-computer maker, behind only Hewlett-Packard, after acquiring Gateway last fall. HP controls 20% of the global market, with Acer at 16% and Dell at 14%. Chinese company Lenovo is ranked fourth. (Los Angeles Times, 3/5/08)

Six Flags, the world's largest theme park company, announced it would develop a thrill park in Dubai, UAE as part of a massive entertainment and amusement complex to be known as Dubailand, a 3-billion square foot project that will include restaurants, htoels, Universal Studios Dubailand and DreamWorks Animation Park, and is scheduled for groundbreaking in 2009. This is the first project for Six Flags to be developed outside of the North America. (Los Angeles Times, 3/5/08)