| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Friday, February 15, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | Salt Lake City Winter Games: Ratings, Schedules & Channel Surfing |
| • | Canadian Figure Skaters Sale & Pelletier Also Awarded Gold Medal |
| • | Olympic Sponsors Enjoying Increases In Web Traffic |
| • | Busch Series Announces New Sponsors For '02 Season |
| • | Critics Weigh In: “John Q,” “Hart's War” and “Crossroads” |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/In Other News/Articles of Interest/Channel Surfing |
Editor's Note: The Closing Bell will not publish on Monday, February 18 in observance of President's Day. We will return on Tuesday, February 19.
THE SALT LAKE CITY WINTER GAMES, DAY 8: RATINGS & EVENTS
NBC's seven-day primetime nightly Nielsen average stands at a 19.2/31, a 14% increase over CBS' Nagano seven-day average of 16.8/20 (THE DAILY).
OLYMPIC CHANNEL SURFING
FRIDAY
CNBC will air Men's Ice Hockey at 6:00pm ET.
NBC will air Figure Skating, Men's Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined and Snowboarding at 8:00pm ET.
MSNBC will air Men's Ice Hockey at midnight ET.
SATURDAY
NBC will air Biathlon, Curling, Women's Ice Hockey and Speed Skating at 1:00pm ET.
CNBC will air Curling and Men's & Women's Ice Hockey at 6:30pm ET.
NBC will air Alpine Skiing, Bobsledding, Freestyle Skiing and Speed Skating at 8:00pm ET.
NBC will air Men's Ice Hockey at midnight ET.
SUNDAY
CNBC will air Curling and Men's Ice Hockey at 6:00pm ET.
NBC will air Alpine Skiing, Bobsledding, Cross-Country Skiing, Figure Skating and Speed Skating at 7:00pm ET.
CANADIANS TO SHARE GOLD MEDAL WITH RUSSIAN SKATERS
REUTERS reports that Canadian figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier "will be awarded a gold medal in the pairs." Meanwhile, French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne has been suspended from the Winter Olympics for "misconduct following her decision to vote for the Russian duo" (REUTERS, 2/15).
OLYMPICS DRIVE STEADY TRAFFIC TO SPONSOR WEB SITES
OPUS sponsor Chevrolet "posted an 88 percent increase in 70,700 average daily visitors to its [Web] site for the week ended Feb. 10," while OPUS partner Qwest scored a 54% increase in visitors to its Web site for a daily average of 84,000. Average daily visitors to OPUS sponsor MONSTER.com increased 16% to 988,000 (REUTERS, 2/14).
In other Olympic news, the FINANCIAL TIMES reports that "ticket-scalpers are having a miserable Olympics. … No one is buying – at least not at prices to justify the scalpers' being in Utah." One scalper paid $800 for a ticket to the Opening Ceremony "in the expectation that he could get much more by selling it on, but the best offer he received" was $350 (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/15).
Who do you think is having the best Olympics so far? Cast your vote at The Daily Poll.
Click on the buttons below for additional Olympic links:
BUSCH SERIES ANNOUNCES NEW SPONSORS FOR '02
Twelve sponsors have come aboard or elevated their status to the primary capacity for the NASCAR Busch Series. The new primary sponsor group consists of Stacker2 for the No. 48 Chevrolet, Supercuts for the No. 12 Chevrolet, Siemens for the No. 23 Pontiac, Rent-A-Wreck for the No. 49 Ford, Civil Air Patrol for the No. 46 Chevrolet, AP Performance for the No. 19 Chevrolet, Thomas Pacconi Classics for the No. 47 Pontiac, Pep Boys for the No. 63 Chevrolet, Panasonic for the No. 67 Pontiac and Keystone Light for the No. 95 Ford. Innovative Motorsports President & CEO George deBidart is fielding the entries of three of the new sponsors: Stacker2, Thomas Pacconi and Mike's Hard Lemonade, which will be the primary sponsor for a partial NASCAR Busch Series season for CART driver Christian Fittipaldi (THE DAILY).
NEXT STEP IN ADVERTISING? PRODUCTS MAY INFILTRATE SHOWS
The ORLANDO SENTINEL reports that, at a conference yesterday sponsored by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, discussions suggested that advertisers are "concerned that the money they are spending is being wasted. TiVo and similar devices allow TV viewers to skip ads when they record shows," which "sparked much of the talk about putting products directly into shows." But Ad Age editor Scott Donaton said that he "thinks advertisers will push product integration too far and turn off consumers" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/15).
REPORT: ENGLAND'S SOCCER CLUBS FAIL TO UTILIZE THE WEB
NETIMPERATIVE.com reports that a new report by e-business solutions group Snow Valley states England's leading soccer clubs are "failing to push their high profile brands adequately on the internet," and that "many of the big name Premiership sides aren't utilizing the web properly to develop their brand." Snow Valley business development manager Andrew Douglas: "What interested us most though wasn't the quality of the individual services. It's the fact that hardly any of the clubs seems to be developing and targeting services as part of a bigger, cohesive strategy" (NETIMPERATIVE.com, 2/15).
BUZZER BEATERS
The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports that National Golf Properties, a real estate investment trust that specializes in golf courses and resorts, "has reached a preliminary deal to merge with American Golf Corp., which leases and operates many of National Golf's courses" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/15).
The AP reports that Mike Tyson's application to box in TX "was denied Friday, the latest setback in the former heavyweight champion's attempt to get a sanctioned bout against Lennox Lewis" (AP, 2/15).
The VAIL DAILY reports that Vail Resorts "thawed its purse strings Thursday, more than four months after announcing a company-wide wage freeze." The 3% wage raise "will apply to 75 percent or more of Vail Resorts' 14,000 employees, who are spread among its four ski resorts, one summer resort and newly acquired hotel properties" (VAIL DAILY, 2/15).
The Cleveland Crunch and the MISL are honoring 75 area organization leaders this weekend for their contributions to the sport of indoor soccer (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, 2/15).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The CHICAGO TRIBUNE's Ed Sherman on Wilson's balanced golf ball, the Staff True.
The Tacoma NEWS-TRIBUNE's Art Popham on the Mariners' "terrific" TV ads.
The INDIANAPOLIS STAR's Marc Allan on the local NBC affil's overkill on the Olympics.
The VILLAGE VOICE's Stu Hackel on the NHL's Olympic dilemma.
GOLF WORLD's Sirak & Russell on the Acushnet-Nitro golf ball lawsuit.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
WEEKEND EVENTS
Friday
The GA Tech Yellow Jackets' new ballpark will be unveiled at 3:00pm ET when the school's baseball team hosts TN Tech in the opener of a three-game weekend series. Commemorative baseballs will be given to the first 1,000 fans on Friday, and commemorative bats will be given to the first 1,000 fans on Saturday (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/15).
The 76ers and the Philadelphia Tribune will honor Economic Development Administrator Bilal Abdul Qayyum with the "Community Service All-Star Award" prior to the team's home game against the Jazz (THE DAILY).
Saturday
Lakers C Shaquille O'Neal will be animated for the show "Static Shock," to air on Kids WB! at 8:30am ET.
Men's Canadian hockey team captain Mario Lemieux will participate in a press conference at 11:15am MT to talk about some of the products he is wearing at the Games, including his Nike Quest skates, which will be auctioned off on eBay with proceeds going to the Mario Lemieux Foundation (THE DAILY).
As part of MISL's All-Star Weekend, the MISL All-Star skills competition, which will include a juggle relay, speed dribble and more, will begin at 12:30pm ET at the Cleveland Metroplex (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, 2/15).
MLB will conduct a one-day Rookie Career Development Program in the Dominican Republic at the Hotel Santo Domingo (THE DAILY).
Sunday
The MISL All-Star game will be held at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, OH (THE DAILY).
Xerox, in association with the USOC, will sponsor a Breakfast with the Olympians in Salt Lake City to honor American Olympians (THE DAILY).
The Clippers and Mitsubishi Motors will host the first Junior Clippers Clinic at Rosecrans Rtecreation Center at 1:30pm PT (THE DAILY).
The Senior PGA Tour will debut "The Learning Center," a series of instructional segments, at the Verizon Classic in Tampa, FL (THE DAILY).
CRITICS WEIGH IN: “JOHN Q,” “HART'S WAR” & “CROSSROADS”
Denzel Washington fights for health care, Bruce Willis fights for freedom, and Britney Spears fights to keep her clothes on … this week at the movies:
| Movie
|
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| John Q | Hart’s War | Crossroads |
| Chicago Sun-Times | | | |
|
| L.A. Times | | | |
|
| N.Y. Times | | | |
|
| USA Today | | | |
|
| Washington Post | | | |
CHANNEL SURFING
FRIDAY
ESPN will air men's college basketball, Southern Miss.- Cincinnati, at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Friday Night Fights at 9:00pm ET.
SATURDAY
| College Basketball
|
| Game | Network | Time |
| GA Tech-St. Louis | ABC (regional) | 1:00pm ET |
| Temple-UMass | ABC (regional) | 1:00pm ET |
| Illinois-Seton Hall | CBS (regional) | 1:00pm ET |
| Kentucky-Georgia | CBS (regional) | 1:00pm ET |
| Austin Peay-TN Tech | ESPN | 2:00pm ET |
| AZ St.-UCLA | ABC (regional) | 3:30pm ET |
| Marquette-Louisville | ABC (regional) | 3:30pm ET |
| Ohio-Marshall | ESPN | 4:00pm ET |
| Northwestern-Penn St. | ESPN2 | 4:00pm ET |
| Arizona-USC | ABC (West Coast only) | 6:00pm ET |
| Michigan St.-Purdue | ESPN | 7:00pm ET |
| St. Joseph's-Xavier | ESPN2 | 8:00pm ET |
| Pittsburgh-W. VA | ESPN | 9:00pm ET |
| Pepperdine-Gonzaga | ESPN2 | 10:00pm ET |
ESPN will air IROC, Race 1 at noon ET.
TNT will air NASCAR EAS/GNC Live Well 300 at 1:00pm ET.
CNBC will air the Senior PGA Tour's Verizon Classic at 2:00pm ET.
CBS will air the PGA Tour's Nissan Open, Third Round, at 3:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air women's college basketball, Texas-Baylor, at 6:00pm ET.
SUNDAY
ESPN's "OTL" will examine the trend of body tattooing at 10:30am ET.
NBC will air NASCAR Winston Cup Daytona 500 at 12:30pm ET.
CBS will air men's college basketball, Duke-Maryland, at 1:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air women's college basketball, Wisconsin-TX Tech, at 2:00pm ET.
CNBC will air the Senior PGA Tour's Verizon Classic at 2:00pm ET.
CBS will air the PGA Tour's Nissan Open, Third Round, at 3:00pm ET.
ABC will air regional coverage of men's college basketball, Syracuse-Notre Dame or Texas-Missouri, at 3:30pm ET.
NBC will air Lakers-Trail Blazers at 4:30pm ET.
ESPN will air the NFL Expansion Draft special at 6:00pm ET.
ESPN will air "The Season: Behind Bars – Part II" at 8:00pm ET.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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