NEW YORK (Reuters) – Diversified consumer products company Fortune Brands Inc said it was selling its Cobra brand of golf equipment to German sportswear maker Puma AG to focus on its existing golf brands but said the deal would lower its 2010 earnings slightly.

Fortune Brands, which also sells spirits such as Jim Beam and Canadian Club whiskey, said the sale would include the brand, inventory, intellectual property and endorsement contracts, and that all staff dedicated to Cobra will become Puma employees after the deal closes.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – German fans flocked to stadiums to set a Bundesliga attendance record for the first half of the season, the German soccer league (DFL) said on Thursday.

The 153 matches had an average attendance of 42,115 fans, a five percent rise on the same period last season, it said.

“The Bundesliga remains a magnet for fans,” said DFL managing director Christian Mueller in a statement.

“With more than 42,000 spectators per game, the Bundesliga remains the strongest league in the world in terms of spectators.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – Seven-times Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has agreed a one-year deal to come out of retirement and drive for Mercedes in 2010, Bild newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said the 40-year-old German, who won his titles with Benetton and Ferrari and retired at the end of 2006, signed the deal at the team’s offices in Brackley, England, after a month of talks.

Schumacher will earn 7 million euros ($10 million), according to media reports, in what would be an all-German line-up.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – Dieter Hoeness has been appointed managing director of VfL Wolfsburg in a bid to turn the tide during a troubled season for the Bundesliga champions, the club said on Monday.

Hoeness, younger brother of Bayern Munich president Uli, spent 13 years as Hertha Berlin manager before leaving in June.

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LONDON (Reuters) – German driver Timo Glock is convinced compatriot Michael Schumacher will make a Formula One comeback with Mercedes next season and is looking forward to racing against him.

“There’s still a lot of speculation but at the end he’s just a crazy race driver, I would say, and wants to come back,” the former Toyota driver told reporters at the launch of his new Virgin Racing team on Tuesday.

“I think it’s just not enough for him to just drive go-kart races or the Race of Champions at the end of the year. The flame is just still there, still burning in him and it’s great for Formula One if he is coming back.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – Bayern Munich’s Uli Hoeness ended his successful 30-year career as club manager on Friday to replace Franz Beckenbauer as president.

Hoeness, a former Bayern player in the 1970s who also won the 1972 European championship and 1974 World Cup with Germany, was elected at the club’s annual general meeting in Munich amid roaring applause.

Beckenbauer, captain of the hugely successful Bayern and Germany teams in the 1970s and who also coached Germany to their 1990 World Cup victory, becomes honorary president in a move announced a year ago.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – German car maker Audi has bought a 9.09 percent stake in Bayern Munich in a deal worth 90 million euros ($135.8 million), the club said on Thursday.

Volkswagen’s premium brand Audi, with headquarters in the Bavarian town of Ingolstadt north of Munich, has been a partner of the Bundesliga club since 2002 as exclusive car sponsor.

“With the direct financial participation in the club, the two successful premium brands move even closer,” said Audi board chairman Rupert Stadler.

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Bayern Munich and Deutsche Telekom AG have signed the second biggest shirt deal beating Manchester United and Liverpool.

Europe’s leading telecommunications company has extended its commitment as main and shirt sponsor of Germany’s most successful club by a further three years until 2013, the companies announced at an event on Tuesday at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The deal is valued at $112 million.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – German first and second division clubs on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favour of keeping a rule that stops investors acquiring majority control.

The president of Bundesliga club Hanover 96, Martin Kind, had fielded a proposal to relax the 50+1 rule, claiming that would make German soccer more attractive to investors who are wary of pumping in money without having control of a club.

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