Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts has partnered with AOL Sports to market and promote "EA Sports GameShow," the company's new online sports trivia game. Under the agreement, AOL Sports now features GameShow as part of the content available to the 10.9 million unique visitors who visit the site monthly.

Los Angeles - CraveOnline, a male-focused network of entertainment sites, announced on Monday that it has acquired two hockey-related sites, HockeysFuture.com and HFBoards.com.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) said on Thursday that it will release its "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09" game on Aug. 26. Developed in Orlando, Fla. by EA Tiburon, the title will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP and Wii systems. The game is the top-selling golf title of all time.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) said on Friday it has signed former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre as the cover athlete for its "Madden NFL 09" game, scheduled for release across North America on Aug. 12. Over the past 20 years, the Madden NFL franchise has sold more than 70 million copies, and since 2002 has been the top selling sports game each year in North America.

Dulles, Va. - AOL has paid an undisclosed sum to acquire New Jersey-based fantasy sports site Fleaflicker, which powers The Washington Post's fantasy football leagues, TechCrunch reported.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts said on Wednesday that it has signed former Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan as the cover athlete for the PlayStation 3 version of its "NCAA Football 09" game, scheduled for release in North America on July 15. The packaging for each of the title's console platforms will feature a different cover athlete, including former Arkansas All-American Darren McFadden on the Xbox 360.

Foxboro, Mass. - Play Hard Sports, a developer and publisher of casual online sports games, on Wednesday announced its launch and a $5 million first round of financing, led by New Enterprise Associates.

New York - CBS (NYSE: CBS) said on Monday that its March Madness On Demand video player drew 4.7 million total unique viewers, and streamed 4.9 million total hours of live video during the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The number of unique users was up 164% over last year's 1.8 million, but 2008 was the first year that CBS offered all 63 games of the tournament live online, and without local blackouts.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) announced on Thursday a three-year video and advertising partnership with MLB Advanced Media, that will see out-of-market MLB games streamed live and on-demand on Yahoo Sports.

Dulles, Va. - AOL (NYSE: TWX) said on Tuesday that it will begin offering short-form online video content from Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN.com through its AOL Video and AOL Sports sites, marking the first time ESPN has syndicated its content through an Internet portal. Through the deal, ESPN will offer highlights from games and major sporting events, as well as video clips from its original programming, through an embedded video player.

Emeryville, Calif. - Yardbarker, an online sports community and branded vertical ad network, announced on Thursday that it has raised $6 million in its second round of funding, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Tokyo - Japanese video game publisher Capcom announced that it will acquire fellow game developer K2, creators of the "Tenchu" series.

Burlington, Mass. - Cognos, an IBM company that provides business intelligence and performance management software, announced on Friday that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has selected IBM Cognos software to help analyze player performance statistics. The software will provide hundreds of agents with "self-service" views and reports and "will also enable the agents to perform ad hoc analysis on different scenarios with nearly immediate answers." "Our analysis of player performance is as complex and dynamic as the work of high-powered business analysts in Fortune 500 companies, and we need to use the same robust, flexible interface to achieve reliable results," said Doyle Pryor, assistant general counsel of the MLBPA.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts said on Thursday that its "Madden NFL 09" will be available in retail stores in North America on August 12, including a special collector's edition in celebration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. The special edition will include full versions of both "Madden NFL 09" and the new "NFL Head Coach 09," classic Madden gameplay and a library of bonus video content.

Los Angeles - Men's lifestyle destination CraveOnline.com has acquired basketball site HoopsVibe.com for an undisclosed sum.

New York - Fantasy Sports Ventures (FSV), the parent company of the FantasyPlayers.com Network, announced that has acquired HoopsHype.com, an independent basketball content site.

New York - WePlay, an online community for youth sports, has secured $1.87 in Series A-1 funding, from investors including Pequot Private Equity, Creative Artists Agency and Major League Baseball, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing.

Arlington, Va. - With the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament set to officially tip off on Thursday, a new study has found that sports fans are using the Internet at greater rates than ever before to watch games and follow their favorite teams.

Manhattan Beach, Calif. - MaxxAthlete, an online social network and Internet broadcast network for youth sports, has raised $3 million of a $5 million first round of venture capital financing, from unnamed investors, VentureWire reports.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) said on Wednesday that former University of Arkansas running back and two-time All-American Darren McFadden will appear on the front cover of its NCAA Football 09 title for the Xbox 360, scheduled for release on July 15. Three other cover athletes from different regions of the country will appear on the front of the game for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP systems.