| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, June 5, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | Details Emerge On Astros Naming Rights Deal With Minute Maid |
| • | More People Waking Up Early To Catch World Cup On ESPN Networks |
| • | Rusty Wallace Phones In His Latest Agreement With PTN Media |
| • | Athens Olympic Organizers Drum Up Financial Support With Pins |
| • | NC AG Roy Cooper Initiates Legal Battle Against Hurricanes Scalpers |
| • | Articles Of Interest/In Other News/Tonight's Events/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
SQUEEZE PLAY: ASTROS TO PLACE MINUTE MAID NAME ON BALLPARK
Astros Owner Drayton McLane Jr. today announced a deal with the Coca-Cola Co. to rename Astros Field, which will now be called Minute Maid Park. An Astros spokesperson said McLane was "very comfortable" with the 28-year deal and added that the agreement was "close to what the owner wanted, which puts it in the $185-million category" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/5). The partnership also includes pouring rights for Coca-Cola products, ongoing advertising and marketing programs and a commitment by Minute Maid to support Houston-based youth baseball programs. McLane said that prior to the Astros' homestand that begins Monday, temporary Minute Maid Park signage will be placed in the ballpark, but "to do the signage the way it should be done and represent Minute Maid and the Coca-Cola company, it will take a period of time. I would imagine it will take two months, but it could be quicker than that" (MLB.com, 6/5).
MORNING WORLD CUP TELECASTS SCORE INCREASES FOR ESPN
ESPN2's six live morning telecasts (May 31-June 3) of the '02 World Cup matches from Korea and Japan have averaged a 0.53 overnight Nielsen rating, up 382% over the 0.11 average rating for the 1:30-9:30am ET period in '01. ESPN's three telecasts are averaging a 0.52 rating (447,000 HHs), a 58% ratings increase and 66% viewership increase. The Italy-Ecuador first round match on Monday at 7:25am ET averaged 582,200 HHs, making it ESPN2's second most-viewed men's World Cup telecast behind Italy-France in the quarterfinals on June 30, 1998 (833,900 HHs) (THE DAILY).
Meanwhile, ESPN2's weekday morning telecasts (May 27-31) averaged an overall 0.36 rating, up 227% over the 0.11 average rating for the 8:00am-noon ET time period for the year thus far. Overall, ESPN is averaging a 0.68 rating (590,000 HHs), and ESPN2 a 0.39 rating (323,000 HHs) (THE DAILY).
RUSTY WALLACE MOBILIZES NEW AGREEMENT WITH PTN MEDIA
PTN Media today announced it has entered into an agreement with NASCAR Winston Cup driver Rusty Wallace to develop branded mobile phones, face plates and mobile content during races. The agreement calls for the creation of Wallace branded mobile phone handsets, phone covers and a subscription service which may include content, games and ring tones (THE DAILY).
ACTION CONTINUES SIGNINGS, EXTENDS DEAL WITH EVERNHAM
Continuing a week of signings, Action Performance Companies today extended their current licensing and marketing contract with Evernham Motorsports through 2012. Separate deals with Robert Yates Racing and Richard Childress Racing were announced earlier this week (THE DAILY).
ATHENS COMMEMORATES 800 DAYS WITH FUNDRAISING PIN
The AP reports that Athens Olympic organizers issued a commemorative pin today to mark 800 days until the '04 Games. The pin, which "features the number 800 and the olive wreath '04 logo, is part of a limited edition series released every 100 days until the Games." Organizers also announced that Athens '04 product sales generated $13.8M, about $2.7M of which will go to '04 organizers (AP, 6/5).
MAGIC JOHNSON, LARRY BROWN LEAD '02 HOF INDUCTEES
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today that Earvin “Magic” Johnson, 76ers coach Larry Brown, Univ. of AZ men's basketball coach Lute Olson and the Harlem Globetrotters lead the class of inductees that comprise the Class of '02. The HOF will christen its new $103M Hall of Fame and Museum on September 28, 2002 (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
The NBA Finals between the Nets-Lakers, which begin tonight in L.A., will be broadcast to 205 different countries and translated into 36 different languages. The telecasts will reach over 2.5 billion people through NBAE's TV, Internet, film and digital technology. In addition, more than 150 int'l media members will attend games both in L.A. and NJ, and 30 int'l telecasters will be on-site to file reports (THE DAILY).
WRAL.com in Raleigh reports that NC AG Roy Cooper took legal action today to "stop ticket companies from advertising the sale of Stanley Cup tickets at unlawfully inflated prices and to require them to return money for illegally selling tickets." Selling tickets for more than $3 above the original price is against NC law (WRAL.com, 6/5).
Olympic Gold Medalist Jim Shea, NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bucks G Ray Allen and five members of the MLB HOF will play in the '02 RadioShack All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, to be held Sunday, July 7 in Milwaukee (THE DAILY).
An estimated crowd of between 1,500 and 2,000 attended the "Best Buy Viewing Party" at Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH, to watch the U.S. World Cup team's victory over Portugal this morning. Fans began lining up outside the stadium at 1:30am ET (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
CBS SportsLine's Rick Horrow on the community impact of developing new sports facilities in downtown areas.
FORBES' Paul Maidment reviews FIFA's corporate sponsors and their World Cup strategies.
The ORLANDO SENTINEL's Barry Flynn on Disney's plan to issue a "rewards" credit card.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Jim Shea will be the featured speaker at the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce's Annual Sports Banquet. The event begins at 7:00pm ET at the Johnstown (NY) Holiday Inn (THE DAILY).
The Dolphins will provide live audio and video of the kickoff banquet at the Signature Grand in Davie beginning at 8:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
Actor Matt Damon will participate in a live chat on NBA.com during halftime of the NBA Finals Game One to answer questions and promote his latest film, "The Bourne Identity" (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS…
Sprite and Creative Artists Agency today announced the formation of the Sprite Liquid Mix music festival, a 15-city summer tour that will begin in mid-August and feature co-headliners Jay-Z and 311, along with Hoobastank, Nappy Roots and N.E.R.D. (THE DAILY).
A group of former Enron workers said a tentative agreement "has been worked out to provide additional severance payments averaging $7,000 to 4,200 Enron Corp. employees fired in December," but a labor union source said that members were "holding out for more" (REUTERS, 6/5).
REUTERS reports that "angry shareholders" urged Reliant Energy Chair & CEO Steve Letbetter to resign today, saying the company had "deteriorated rapidly under his leadership" (REUTERS, 6/5).
The OR Court of Appeals today "reinstated a $79.5 million punitive damage award against Philip Morris in a lawsuit brought by relatives of a man who died after smoking Marlboros for four decades." The award had been reduced to $32M by a trial judge "on grounds that it was excessive" (AP, 6/5).
Eminem's latest release, "The Eminem Show," sold 1.3 million albums in its first full week in stores, the "biggest single-week sales total of the year [that] easily allowed Eminem to retain his hold at the No. 1 spot for a second week in a row" (AP, 6/5).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of May 27 - June 2. Also provided are Nielsen ratings averages season to date for the nets' primetime coverage (USA Today, 6/5).
| TOP TEN PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS FOR MAY 27 – JUNE 2
|
| RK | | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | | NBA Playoffs | NBC | Sun | 14.4/24 | 23.8 |
| 2) | | CSI | CBS | Thu | 11.6/19 | 17.2 |
| 3) | | NBA Playoffs | NBC | Fri | 11.1/22 | 16.6 |
| 4) | | NBA Playoffs | NBC | Tue | 9.9/17 | 14.6 |
| 5) | | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 9.4/15 | 14.4 |
| 6) | | Becker | CBS | Mon | 8.4/13 | 12.5 |
| 7) | | Miss Universe Pageant | CBS | Wed | 8.1/13 | 11.3 |
| 8) | | 60 Minutes | CBS | Sun | 7.9/15 | 11.3 |
| 9) | | PrimeTime Thursday | ABC | Thu | 7.7/13 | 10.6 |
| 10) | | Friends | NBC | Thu | 7.6/15 | 10.7 |
| |
| NIELSEN AVERAGES SEASON-TO-DATE |
| | | NBC | | 8.7 | |
| | |
| | | CBS | | 8.0 | |
| | |
| | | ABC | | 6.2 | |
| | |
| | | Fox | | 5.6 | |
| | |
| | | UPN | | 2.7 | |
| | |
| | | WB | | 2.5 | |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air Mets-Braves at 7:00pm ET
ESPN2 will air Cardinals-Reds at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air a Finals edition of "Inside the NBA" at 8:00pm ET from the Staples Center.
NBC will air NBA Finals, Nets-Lakers, at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Casey Stengel at 8:00pm ET.
FSN's "The Last Word" will discuss Tyson-Lewis.
49ers head coach Steve Mariucci will be on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
A&E's "Biography" will profile "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh at 8:00pm ET.
Bob Costas will be on NBC's "Last Call" with Carson Daly.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Chris Rock |
| "The Tonight Show" | Adam Sandler |
| "The Late Late Show" | Jack Black |
| "Late Night" | Jason Priestley |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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