| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, January 24, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | Smith Barrels Through New Orleans With Bevy Of Super Bowl Assignments |
| • | IMG To Represent USOC's Sponsorship Opportunities Through '08 |
| • | Attorney Marvin Demoff Brings Extensive NFL Client List To Neuberger |
| • | ECHL Everblades Put Their Tickets Where Their Mouths Are |
| • | John Saunders Receives Unenviable Task Of Replacing The Late Dick Schaap |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Articles Of Interest/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
EMMITT SMITH FILLS SUPER BOWL WEEKEND WITH ASSIGNMENTS
By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large, The Sports Business Daily
Even without the Cowboys participating in this year's Super Bowl, RB Emmitt Smith will still get plenty of TV exposure. The second-leading rusher in NFL history has signed to do a number of ESPN broadcasting assignments in New Orleans during Super Bowl Week. Smith will appear as an analyst on "SportsCenter," make an appearance on ESPN's "Unscripted," do a stint on "NFL Countdown" and schmooze affiliates and advertisers for ESPN. Advantage Marketing, Dallas, handles Smith's marketing deals (THE DAILY).
USOC ENTRUSTS IMG WITH OLYMPIC SPONSORSHIPS THROUGH '08
The USOC today announced that IMG will continue to represent the USOC and U.S. Olympic teams for sponsorship opportunities through '08. The exclusive arrangement will include the sale of sponsorships for teams competing in the '06 Winter Games and the '08 Summer Games, as well as all domestic sales activities (THE DAILY).
NEUBERGER BERMAN DRAFTS DEMOFF – AND HIS NFL CLIENT LIST
As reported in The Daily today, sports attorney Marvin Demoff, who counts former Broncos QB John Elway as a client, was drafted Wednesday to run Neuberger Berman's money management division devoted to professional athletes. CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS reports that the addition of Demoff "significantly beefs up the NFL client list" at Manhattan-based Neuberger. The new division was launched three years ago and "counts golfers and tennis players, among others, as its clients" (CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS, 1/24).
LOSS TONIGHT COULD PROVE COSTLY FOR ECHL EVERBLADES
The Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS reports that, in what could be one of the team's "costliest promotions ever," the ECHL Florida Everblades "will exchange a free ticket to the Feb. 5 or Feb. 12 game for one from tonight's contest, if they lose to" the ECHL Pee Dee Pride. The Everblades have been "averaging about 500 less fans a game this season," numbers that are "similar to what the ECHL is experiencing with all of its teams" (Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS, 1/24).
MAKEOVER IN THE WORKS FOR 33 THE SPORTS AUTHORITY OUTLETS
BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that The Sports Authority "plans to remodel 33 stores this year as part of its goal to revamp all 198 outlets in the next three years to boost sales." CEO Martin Hanaka: "A lot of stores are old and tired. The performance of those stores has dropped" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/24).
BUZZER BEATERS
ESPN/ABC Sports studio host John Saunders has been named host of ESPN Magazine's "The Sports Reporters," ESPN's Sunday morning roundtable discussion of major issues and events in sports. Saunders, who has filled in as the show's host since September, replaces Dick Schaap, who passed away in December and hosted the show from '89 through '01 (THE DAILY).
Tiger Woods has been named honorary chair of the '02 Buick Scramble. Woods will be featured in tournament marketing and advertising materials and will participate in the awards ceremony at the National Finals at Walt Disney World on October 6th (THE DAILY).
The AP reports that Athens hoteliers "denied a claim by the [IOC] that there were not sufficient accommodations" for the '04 Summer Games. Athens '04 organizers have "so far booked 13,000 hotel rooms and 3,000 rooms on cruise ships to be docked in nearby Piraeus" (AP, 1/24).
The DETROIT FREE PRESS reports that Battle Creek, MI, resident Randy Rial "will get one chance to make a field goal worth $1 million in the Hershey's Million Dollar Kick contest" during the February 3 Super Bowl pregame show in New Orleans (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 1/24).
Skip Barber Racing School will add Le Circuit Mont Tremblant in St. Jovite, Quebec, to its lineup of top racetracks in North America. Beginning in the spring of '02, Skip Barber will operate various programs, including the Skip Barber Three Day Racing School, at the former Grand Prix venue (THE DAILY).
F1-LIVE.com reports that Ferrari test drivers Luca Badoer and Luciano Burti "will take part in a commercial for European Telecommunications Company Vodafone, the Italian outfits' new sponsor for the upcoming 2002 championship season" (F1-LIVE.com, 1/24).
Cingular Wireless has successfully reached the halfway point of its four-year goal of raising $40M for the Special Olympics by '03 after it raised more than $20.4M in two years. Cingular presented the funds during the opening ceremonies to the '02 [OH] State Winter Games at Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Wednesday (THE DAILY).
The Pakistan Cricket Board signed an agreement with Pepsi Cola Int'l. for the main title sponsorship rights for the upcoming series between Pakistan and West Indies, and the series against Australia in September '02 (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The Fight Night for Kids Foundation will host the third annual "Fight Night" in Charlotte, NC, beginning at 6:00pm ET. The black tie event features a live auction, live music and five professional boxing bouts, two of which are sanctioned by the WBC. Guests include Joe Frazier, Angelo Dundee, FSN commentator Ken Rodriguez and boxing announcer Jimmy Lennon, Jr. (THE DAILY).
Mystics coach Marianne Stanley will meet and speak with local youth recreational basketball coaches about the Jr. WNBA and Jr. NBA programs at the MCI Center at 5:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS…..
Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan told Congress today that he "saw encouraging signs that the country's first recession in a decade could soon end," and admitted that he had "made a mistake in sounding too pessimistic two weeks ago" (AP, 1/24).
McDonald's said today that Q4 net income "fell 40 percent, its fifth straight quarterly decline, as the fast-food giant took charges for U.S. restructuring while declining sales in Asia and Latin America offset some recovery in Europe." Net earnings fell to $271.9M, or 21 cents a share, from $452M, or 34 cents, a year earlier (REUTERS, 1/24).
Tribune Co. and Dow Jones & Co. reported steep declines in Q4 earnings as the "worst advertising market in recent memory took its toll on major newspaper publishers Thursday." Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, "posted earnings of $29.2 million, or 34 cents per share, down more than 60 percent from a year ago, excluding charges from the relocation of its headquarters in the World Financial Center following the Sept. 11 attacks" (REUTERS, 1/24).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
In the third installment of his four-part series analyzing the L.A. sports media, the L.A. DAILY NEWS' Tom Hoffarth lists the best and worst of TV and radio game analysts.
The Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL's Omar Kelly on the Univ. of Miami men's basketball team's growing fan base.
The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES' Ron Rapoport on Washington Post reporter Michael Leahy's "full time" beat covering Michael Jordan.
The DENVER POST's Marc Spears on the differences between Nuggets Owner Stan Kroenke and Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
THE DAILY STATS: NIELSEN RATINGS & BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of January 14-20 (USA TODAY, 1/24):
| RK | | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | | Friends | NBC | Thu | 17.5/27 | 29.2 |
| 2) | | AFC Divisional Playoffs | CBS | Sat | 17.4/29 | 28.7 |
| 3) | | ER | NBC | Thu | 16.8/27 | 26.1 |
| 4) | | CSI | CBS | Thu | 14.9/22 | 24.1 |
| 5) | | Golden Globe Awards | NBC | Sun | 14.9/23 | 23.5 |
| 6) | | Law & Order | NBC | Wed | 14.0/24 | 21.2 |
| 7) | | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 13.4/20 | 21.1 |
| 8) | | Will & Grace (8:30pm) | NBC | Thu | 12.8/19 | 20.3 |
| 9) | | The West Wing | NBC | Wed | 12.5/19 | 19.1 |
| 10) | | JAG | CBS | Tue | 11.8/18 | 18.1 |
| |
|
| | NETWORK AVERAGES
SEASON TO DATE | |
| | NET | | AVERAGE | |
| | CBS | | 8.3 | |
| | NBC | | 8.0 | |
| | ABC | | 6.9 | |
| | Fox | | 6.0 | |
| | UPN | | 2.8 | |
| | WB | | 2.5 | |
| |
The following lists Billboard Magazine's top-selling CDs for the week ending January 17 (BILLBOARD, 2/2):
| RK | | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | | Drive | Alan Jackson | Arista Nashville |
| 2) | | Weathered | Creed | Wind-up |
| 3) | | [Hybrid Theory] | Linkin Park | Warner Bros. |
| 4) | | Silver Side Up | Nickelback | Roadrunner |
| 5) | | Word of Mouf | Ludacris | Disturbing Tha Peace |
| 6) | | Pain is Love | Ja Rule | Murder Inc. |
| 7) | | Stillmatic | Nas | Ill Will |
| 8) | | 8701 | Usher | Arista |
| 9) | | M!ssundaztood | Pink | Arista |
| 10) | | A Day Without Rain | Enya | Reprise |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air men's college basketball: Michigan-Ohio St. at 7:00pm ET, and Duke-Boston College at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Penguins-Islanders at 8:00pm ET.
TNT will air Jazz-Kings at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air the '02 Australian Open, Men's Second Semifinal at 10:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Bill Walton at 8:00pm ET.
Raptors G Vince Carter will be on ESPN's "Unscripted."
Carter, 49ers WR J.J. Stokes and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be on FSN's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period."
Eagles CBs Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
NBA Commissioner David Stern and Pilson Communications President Neal Pilson will be on CNBC's "Business Center" at 6:00pm ET.
Eagles S Tim Hauck will be on Comcast SportsNet's "Spotlight."
HBO will air "Inside The NFL" at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Tom Cruise (r) |
| "The Tonight Show" | Michelle Pfeiffer |
| "The Late Late Show" | Michael Michele |
| "Late Night" | Laura Prepon |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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