• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, June 8, 2006

The New York Times is beefing up its coverage of this year's World Cup soccer tournament with an online section devoted to the games, the company announced Wednesday.

The section, available at nytimes.com/worldcup, includes video clips, game commentary, and a blog authored by Roger Cohen, an editor at the New York Times Co.'s International Herald Tribune. The initiative marks the first time NYTimes.com has live-blogged a sports game; in the past, writers for the paper have blogged events such as the 2004 U.S. presidential election, music festivals, and last month, the television upfront.

NYTimes.com isn't the only Web site to devote resources to this year's World Cup games, which run from Friday to July 9. Yahoo also recently struck a deal with the Federation Internationale de Football Association and Infront Sports & Media (which markets broadcast rights to the games) to offer free video highlights of the games. Among other offerings, the Yahoo package will include clips of all the goals from all 64 games.

And in a related move, Adidas is sponsoring a branded soccer page on MySpace, developed by Carat Fusion, which offers visitors wallpapers and videos, as well as the chance to register to win World Cup tickets.