As warning shots, the Atlanta Committee has sent threatening letters to 1,300 advertising and public relations agencies and sports marketers this week.

The question that's always perplexed sports marketers, especially hockey: Can a free ticket to the game create a new fan?

Yet Ms. Wie, 15, is the golfer that sports marketers have their eyes on.

Individual female athletes often gain more attention than women on sports teams, sports marketers said.

Ambush marketing has become a growing concern among sports marketers.

These networking events provide the opportunity for journalists, sports marketers and others with an interest in the Games to meet and talk in an informal setting.

"It's a question of players stepping up in playoff games," said Brandon Steiner, a Manhattan-based sports marketer.

Bleachers were rolled out, and the crowd took the shape of a sports marketer's dream: mostly young men, some of them fighters themselves.

Brandon Steiner (born 1959) is a professional sports marketer, speaker, and author of two books.

The new organization is run by Brian Vandenberg, an athletes' agent and sports marketer from Chicago.