League Notes
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IndyCar Series Could Have Up To Four Engine
Manufacturers By 2011, Ending Honda's Exclusivity |
IRL President & COO Brian Barnhart "expects up to four engine manufacturers" with the IndyCar Series by 2011. Honda has been the Series' exclusive engine provider since '06. Barnhart added that he "expects changing engine specifications will weaken most of Honda's advantage." One of the changes could be a "return to turbo-charged engines, discontinued after 1996 to increase street-car linkage" (USA TODAY, 6/26).
NAME THAT TUNE: Seattle-based rapper Christopher "Lil Kriz" Beeber and the NBA, ESPN, ABC and TBS yesterday reached a settlement surrounding Beeber's February lawsuit against the league and the nets for copyright infringement. The NBA during the '07 NBA All-Star Game used one of Beeber's songs without his permission, and Beeber sued the league and the nets which broadcast the game. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/26).
IN THE WOODS: SI.com's Jon Wertheim wrote with golf "facing a soon-to-be swoon" in the absence of Tiger Woods, "could it be tennis that has an opportunity for a much needed boon?" But Wertheim wrote the "big difference between" the two sports is that golf is "organized like a business; tennis is a mess." Unless tennis "changes structurally, it's hard to envision anything getting kicked up many notches" (SI.com, 6/23).
KICK BACK: In London, Sandy Macaskill wrote UEFA "will risk worsening their relations with leading English clubs by asking them to consider proposals that could threaten their percentage of future Champions League revenue." UEFA figures released Monday show that English Premier League clubs Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal this season earned a combined US$202.8M from Champions League TV and sponsorship money, with British clubs "securing more than a quarter of the total income." Although the current system is in place until 2012, UEFA will "argue for changes" (London TELEGRAPH, 6/24).
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