The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, September 20, 2001
4:00pm ET
| • | YankeeNets Hire Long-Time TV Exec John Filippelli For YES Network |
| • | NFL Still Hopeful Of Working Out Deal With NADA |
| • | ESPN Magazine Goes For Different Cover Look |
| • | Penske Branches Out Into Different Form Of Racing |
| • | NBA Decides To Cancel Foreign Exhibitions |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Channel Surfing |
YANKEENETS HIRE FILIPPELLI FOR TV PRODUCTION
YankeeNets announced today that it has hired ABC Sports Senior VP/Production John Filippelli to oversee production at its regional sports network – the YES Network. Filippelli has also worked for Fox Sports and NBC and has overseen production of telecasts including "Monday Night Football," the World Series and the British Open. The 50-year-old Filippelli has won six Emmy awards in his 26-year career (THE DAILY).
NFL STILL HOPES TO PLAY SUPER BOWL IN NEW ORLEANS
ESPN.com reports that the NFL has not "abandoned hope that they will be able to convince the [National Automobile Dealers Association] to make a switch, thus enabling the league to maintain a full 12-team playoff format and nudge the Super Bowl back a week." NADA Exec Dir David Hyatt has told the league that his group could not change the dates of its convention. The NFL is uncertain how much it "will have to sweeten the pot in an effort to have NADA move its dates." However, owners believe "the cost of dealing with NADA will be substantially less than the $60 million-$80 million the league would have to rebate the networks if the wildcard round of the playoffs is scuttled" (ESPN.com, 9/20).
ESPN MAGAZINE DOES FIRST ALL-TEXT COVER
The cover of the October 1st issue of ESPN The Magazine – which hit newsstands yesterday – features the magazine’s first all-text cover. The text reads: "These were the days when heroism and villainy were redefined. This was the week when sports went dark, when its spotlight swung around to the firefighters who ran up the stairs, the police and EMS crews who braved the showers of destruction, the laborers who sifted thought the debris of a cataclysm to find the evidence of someone’s life. The cliched description we so freely bestow on our athletes – words like courageous, tireless, inspirational – have taken on deeper meanings" (THE DAILY).
PENSKE AUTO CENTERS FORMS ALLIANCE WITH BREEDERS’ CUP
Penske Auto Centers announced today that it has formed a strategic marketing alliance with the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, the NTRA and Breeders’ Cup Limited. The deal creates the $1M Penske Auto Centers Breeders’ Cup Sprint and makes Penske the exclusive automative service provider of the NTRA (THE DAILY).
WAL-MART FLW TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CANCELED
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour championship, originally scheduled for September 12th-15th in NY before being postponed due to the terrorist attacks, has been canceled. The $450,000 purse will be divided among the 100 contestants. The Championship was scheduled to be aired on ESPN in October and will be replaced by the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit Championship, that will be held in Green Bay, WI, October 3rd-6th (THE DAILY).
NBA OPTS NOT TO VENTURE OUTSIDE OF U.S. BY CANCELING GAMES
The NBA today "canceled all six of its preseason games scheduled outside the United States and Canada because of last week's terrorist attacks." Eliminated were games in Cologne, Germany, Pasaro, Italy, Tokyo and Mexico City (AP/YAHOO, 9/20).
BUZZER BEATERS
The USGA announced today that Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY, has officially been selected as the site of the ‘06 U.S. Open. The event will take place June 15-18 (REUTERS/YAHOO.com, 9/20)….The L.A. TIMES’ Mark Heisler writes, "Behind the scenes, [Michael] Jordan is assuring confidantes in Chicago and Washington that he’s returning, even asking some for advice about the right way to announce it" (L.A. TIMES, 9/20)….CBS SportsLine announced today the addition of Jay Glazer to its writing staff. Glazer will work the NFL beat (THE DAILY)…. The AP reports, "Citing their heroism, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson donated more than $130,000 worth of football tickets to local police, fire and emergency medical technicians on Thursday" (AP, 9/20).
IN OTHER NEWS
REUTERS reports that stocks "clung to big losses in early afternoon trade on Thursday as fresh company warnings of layoffs and deteriorating profits after last week's terror attacks stoked fears of more damage to the economy" (REUTERS, 9/20).
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan told Congress today "that the attacks will damage the economy in the short-term by making Americans fearful of the future but won't dampen bright long-term prospects" (REUTERS, 9/20).
FedEx CFO Alan Graf said today, "We've had no layoffs in the Express operation to this point, and we're going to do everything we can in our power to prevent that. Because we believe that the industry will continue to grow, it would be detrimental at this point to have layoffs and then rehire at a later date" (REUTERS, 9/20).
THE DAILY STATS
| Top Sports Sites in August 2001
|
| Source: Jupiter Media Metrix |
| | Sites – Web Only | Unique Visitors Home/Work (000s) |
| | Sports Category | 25,636 |
|
| 1 | ESPN* | 7,185 |
| 2 | SPORTSLINE.COM SITES* | 5,218 |
| 3 | NFL INTERNET GROUP* | 4,999 |
| 4 | MLB.COM | 4,578 |
| 5 | CNNSI.COM* | 3,136 |
| 6 | NASCAR.COM | 2,436 |
| 7 | FANSONLY.COM | 2,063 |
| 8 | SPORTINGNEWS.COM | 1,879 |
| 9 | SANDBOX.COM | 1,148 |
| 10 | NBA.COM | 1,077 |
| 11 | THE ACTIVE NETWORK* | 932 |
| 12 | FOXSPORTS.COM | 879 |
| 13 | NHL NETWORK THE* | 827 |
| 14 | GORP.COM | 547 |
| 15 | THESPORTSAUTHORITY.COM | 479 |
| 16 | PGA.COM | 468 |
| 17 | WWFDIVAS.COM | 424 |
| 18 | PGACHAMPIONSHIP.COM | 422 |
| 19 | WNBA.COM | 420 |
| 20 | SIKIDS.COM | 399 |
Measurement Definitions:
* Represents an aggregation of commonly owned/branded domain names.
Unique Visitors: The number of total users who visited the reported Web site or online property at least once in the given month. All unique visitors are unduplicated (only counted once).
Sample Size: More than 60,000 individuals throughout the U.S. participate in the Media Metrix sample. |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN began coverage of the PGA Tour’s Marconi Pennsylvania Classic at 3:00pm ET.
The "Fox Family Game of the Week" features Astros-Giants, which began at 3:30pm ET.
TBS will air Braves-Phillies at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN’s "College Gameday" begins at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN will air the South Carolina-Mississippi St. college football game at 7:30pm ET.
Terry Bradshaw will be on "The Last Word" as well as "The Late Late Show."
ESPN Classic’s "SportsCentury" will profile Bill Mazeroski.
A&E’s "Biography" continues "Godfather Week" with a profile of Joe Bonanno.
The final episode of CBS’ "Big Brother 2" airs at 9:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Walter Cronkite |
| "The Tonight Show" | LeeLee Sobieski |
| "The Late Late Show" | Terry Bradshaw |
| "Late Night" | John Stamos |
| "Larry King Live" | Panel of U.S. Senators |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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