MIAMI (Reuters) – Media reports that Tiger Woods is working with his swing coach Hank Haney have leading golfers talking of a possible return to action for the world number one.

The websites of the Golf Channel and Golf Digest have both reported that Woods was seen working with Haney on a driving range in Florida over the weekend, which has led to speculation that his return could be on the horizon.

“It’s certainly going to be interesting to see not just how he plays but just how he handles the whole situation,” Britain’s Rory McIlroy said on Tuesday at the Doral course in Miami, where the WGC-CA Championship will take place this week.

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MIAMI (Reuters) – The NFL has signed a four-year agreement with Verizon Wireless to show live games and highlights on mobile phones in a deal U.S. media reported was worth $720 million.

“We are looking forward to working with Verizon Wireless to deliver our fans the most extensive experience on mobile phones,” said NFL senior vice president of media strategy Brian Rolapp in a statement.

“Our fans have an insatiable appetite for football and we will be able to keep them connected wherever they are on game day but also throughout the year.”

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DUBLIN (Reuters) – Tiger Woods has turned down a $75 million sponsorship offer from Paddy Power, the Irish bookmaker said on Friday, adding it would make an improved offer to the golfer.

The 14-times major champion winner was dumped by sports drink brand Gatorade last week, the third major corporate sponsor to abandon the American since details of his adulterous affairs surfaced late last year. [ID:nN26101638]

The Dublin-based company said its initial offer to Woods, who was estimated to have earned $100 million annually in endorsement deals before taking an indefinite break from golf in December, covered a five-year period.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Formula One will have 12 teams this season, instead of a planned 13, after a late replacement for the USF1 entry was ruled out by the governing body on Wednesday.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that USF1 had “indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – Hall of Famer Michael Jordan has agreed to buy a controlling interest in the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, majority owner Bob Johnson said on Saturday.

“He (Johnson) has signed a definitive agreement to sell the majority interest of Bobcats Sports and Entertainment to Michael Jordan and MJ Basketball Holdings LLC,” a statement said.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C.- (Business Wire) Charlotte’s hometown airline, US Airways, teams up today with the city’s NBA franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, in a new corporate sponsorship agreement. US Airways and the Bobcats will hold an event for the airline’s 6,100 Charlotte-based employees later this week to celebrate the new partnership.

US Airways will sponsor in-game promotions and contests for fans at Bobcats home games. Additionally, the airline will secure promotional scoreboard signage at Time Warner Cable Arena in downtown Charlotte. US Airways will also have client hospitality opportunities at Bobcats home games.

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DALLAS (Reuters) – The NBA could lose around $400 million this year because of the flagging economy and a crippling labour agreement, according to commissioner David Stern.

Stern told a news conference on Saturday that players’ union representatives negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement had been shown figures outlining the NBA’s current economic circumstances.

“And basically what those numbers showed, give or take, was this year we are projecting a league-wide loss of about $400 million,” he said.”

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CHICAGO (Reuters) – NASCAR and the rest of motorsports are getting some good news as sponsorship spending by North American companies is expected to rise 2.1 percent in 2010 after the segment’s first decline in 25 years, a research firm said on Tuesday.

Spending by companies based in North American is expected to rise to $3.37 billion from $3.3 billion last year, according to IEG, a unit of advertising giant WPP Plc that tracks such budgets. That spending fell 6 percent last year.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Sunday’s Super Bowl TV audience set a viewing record for the annual National Football League Championship and eclipsed the 1983 benchmark set by the comedy “M*A*S*H” to become the most watched U.S. telecast, according to early ratings data on Monday.

A record 106.5 million American TV viewers watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday’s game, broadcast on CBS, Nielsen media and CBS said.

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CARLSBAD, Calif., (PRNewswire-FirstCall) – Callaway Golf Company and CBS Sports have reached a unique agreement that establishes the golf equipment manufacturer as a presenting sponsor of the Super Bowl Today pregame show on Sunday, February 7th. The partnership marks the first ever Super Bowl pregame sponsorship struck by a stand-alone golf company.

Occupying rarefied air time that commences less than an hour before kickoff, Callaway Golf® will employ its 5:00 – 5:30 PM EST sponsorship to showcase their 2010 product line, headlined by the company’s new Diablo Edge™ golf clubs. The Diablo Edge line, which includes drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons, arrives at retail on February 15th and has been receiving widespread acclaim, including five Gold Medals in Golf Digest’s February “Hot List” equipment issue, currently on newsstands.

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