Financial services group Nationwide has pounced on soccer with both feet. It will sponsor the England team for $25 million for four years. The group's sponsorship of the Football League will be extended for two years for $15 million, and it has also announced sponsorship of the Scottish national team at $13 million for four years. Nationwide will also sponsor the amateur Football Conference for an unspecified amount.
LONG LIVE THE KING: Don King is seeking to become the first non-Briton to be licensed to promote fights in the United Kingdom after settling his legal battle with former partner Frank Warren. It looks as if Prince Naseem Hamed, the fighter over whom King and Warren fell out, will be going back to work under Barry Hearn's Matchroom banner.
EYES ON F1: Toyota wants to join the Formula One circuit, probably in 2003. Andre de Cortanze, who heads Toyota's efforts in the Le Mans 24-hour race, has been tapped to manage the preparations for F1. Toyota is believed to be planning to make both engines and chassis, following the lead of rival Honda, already preparing for a factory return to F1 next year.
JOINING HANDS: Merge or perish, warns the chairman of Manchester-area English Division Two soccer club Oldham Athletic. He has proposed a merger of his club and two others, all located within 10 miles of each other. The others are Bury in Division One and Rochdale in Division Three.
Chairman Ian Stott of Oldham has suggested building a new 16,000-seat stadium near Oldham's current facility as home for the new team. But Football League rules require any merger of teams to go into the division of the lower club, so for Bury it would mean a big drop from One to Three.
TARGETING BRAZIL: International Management Group and a leading Brazilian sports agency are well along the road to set up a company designed to acquire Brazilian properties, including football clubs. IMG and Traffic are already working together and have been talking about a joint venture for about six months.
SOCCER HOTEL: Soccer club Manchester United's new hotel, scheduled to open this month next to Old Trafford stadium, will be branded as a Quality Inn.
19TH COURSE: Golf course operator Clubhaus has purchased the Tutzing Golf Course in Munich for $3.6 million. The group now owns and operates 19 courses, including three others in Germany — in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart.
SHARING SPACE: Two more rugby union clubs are hoping to share facilities with soccer clubs. Division One London Irish has approached Chelsea of the soccer Premier League. In Birmingham, Division Two rugby's Moseley is talking to West Bromwich Albion about moving in. There are now four cases of rugby-soccer cohabitation.
— Jay Stuart
