Sports BIZ News

Sprint to Feature Live NFL Games on Mobile Phones
(Business Week) - Sprint and the National Football League (NFL) are giving Sprint wireless subscribers access to live NFL game coverage on their mobile phones. Coverage will include red zone drives and other key moments of all games televised on NFL Network in 2007. The coverage will be provided by NFL Network which will produce a three-hour studio-based show that will be streamed live on NFL.com and via wireless exclusively to Sprint subscribers. Highlights of that coverage include live game action when a team enters the red zone, during scheduled time slots at the :15 and :45 marks, and at other critical moments in a game. The show also features replays, in-game highlights and analysis from that night's action, and the halftime show featuring host Rich Eisen and analysts Steve Mariucci, Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders.

PNC Bank Sponsors Nationals Premium Seats
(Washington Business Journal) - The Washington Nationals have signed PNC Bank to a seven-year contract to put its name on a batch of premium seats and hospitality space at their new ballpark opening next spring. The deal, whose financial value team marketer Tod Rosensweig would not disclose, gives the Pittsburgh-based bank naming rights for about 1,300 Diamond Seats behind home plate and the indoor/outdoor club on the first suite level above those seats. The bank also has all the ballpark's ATMs. The PNC Diamond Seats are in the 15 rows behind the $300 Presidential Seats, the only seats at Nationals Park with a higher price tag. The 500 Presidential Seats include access to a gourmet buffet inside a separate restaurant.

(GameZone) - NBA Ballers Franchise Coming to Next Generation Consoles in Spring 2008
Midway Games Inc., a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer, today announced NBA Ballers: Chosen One as the next installment in its top selling NBA Ballers franchise. The fast-paced one-on-one and two-on-two action returns as players can select from more than 65 NBA superstars to be the next "Chosen One". NBA Ballers: Chosen One is scheduled to ship for the Xbox 360™ and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system in Spring 2008. "NBA Ballers: Chosen One will allow players to live the life of an NBA superstar," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. "Featuring new competitive combo and super-move systems, the NBA Ballers Franchise returns with the amazing realistic graphics for which the franchise is known as players take part in the ultimate challenge to become the next 'Chosen One."