News in brief from The Sports Business Daily

SPONSORSHIP AND MARKETING

MONSTER'S BALL: Monster selected Octagon Consulting as its sports marketing agency. The Massachusetts-based employment site has invested heavily in sports marketing, with sponsorships including the U.S. Olympic Committee, NCAA and NASCAR, and has bought ads on the Super Bowl every year since 1998. Octagon is believed to be Monster's first sports marketing agency.

PHELPS RENEWS SPEEDO DEAL: Speedo extended

Swimmer Michael Phelps (center) with Joe Gromek (left) and Roger Williams of Warnaco, marketer of Speedo

its endorsement deal with 18-year-old swimmer Michael Phelps through 2009. The agreement includes a $1 million bonus if Phelps wins a gold medal in either the 2004 or 2008 Olympics. Phelps is repped by Octagon's Peter Carlisle. Sources told The (Baltimore) Sun that the multimillion-dollar deal could be the most lucrative swimsuit endorsement contract ever.

SPORTS MEDIA

FOX SAYS PROMOS NOT EFFECTIVE: At the annual breakfast sponsored by the International Radio and Television Society Foundation in New York last week, Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman acknowledged that the heavy promotion that Fox gave its new prime-time series during the MLB playoffs didn't work. Berman said, "I'm not sure the people who watched baseball were the same people who watch 'Joe Millionaire.'" Meanwhile, Fox canceled its heavily promoted series, "Skin."

ALL ANDY, ALL THE TIME: Daily Variety reported that "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" producer Craig Shepherd is featuring Andy Roddick in "The Tour," a series of 13 one-hour programs taken from multiple hours of footage. Shepherd began pitching networks last week.

LEAGUES & GOVERNING BODIES

STERN GOES GLOBAL: Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Japan during the NBA's opening weekend, Commissioner David Stern said, "There is a reasonable chance based upon the development of conditions that we'll see an NBA team or teams in Europe by the end of the decade."

COLOGNE LANDS FRANCHISE: NFL Europe awarded a franchise to

Cologne coach Peter Vaas (left), Cologne Mayor Fritz Schramma and NFLE’s Jim Connelly

Cologne, Germany. The team will play at 50,000-seat Rhein-Energy-Stadion. The announcement comes after the Barcelona Dragons recently folded.

FRANCHISES

POLICY SELLS STAKE IN BROWNS: Cleveland Browns CEO Carmen Policy sold his 10 percent ownership stake in the team but will remain in his current role through 2008, as part of a deal reached with owner Randy Lerner. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the deal puts 100 percent ownership of the Browns in the Lerner family. Policy said the move will have no effect on the operation of the team.

NAMES IN THE NEWS

HE FEELS GREAT! It was a busy week for former Philadelphia 76ers President Pat Croce, who will reportedly star in a new syndicated TV show called "Pat Croce: Moving In," in which he will help people deal with life issues. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that Croce will serve as NBC's judo and tae kwon do analyst at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

KNIGHT MOVES: Nike Chairman and CEO Phil Knight attended last Wednesday night's Cleveland Cavaliers-Denver Nuggets game, the first regular-season matchup between Nike endorsers LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Knight sat next to rapper Jay-Z, a Reebok endorser. During the broadcast, ESPN's Stuart Scott interviewed Jay-Z and noted the rapper was wearing Nike King James shoes. Jay-Z replied, "I don't really got on King James. Don't say that because I got a deal with Reebok right now."

For these stories and more, visit our sister publication, The Sports Business Daily, at www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.