The deal runs from 2007 to 2014 and follows similar agreements with Adidas-Salomon AG, the world's second-largest sporting-goods maker, and Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, world soccer's ruling body FIFA said on its Web site today.

"FIFA has a spectacular reach around the world," Sony Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei said in the statement. "It's this unique attribute that convinced us to commit to this global sponsorship."

Next year's World Cup will be staged in Germany, while the 2010 event will be held in South Africa. The 2014 showpiece will be hosted by a South American country. Sony may use the two events to boost sales outside the U.S., Japan and Europe, which together accounted for 82 percent of its $20.9 billion of revenue in the three months through December.

from Bloomberg