| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, July 15, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | Canadian-Based Magna To Buy 51% Stake In MD Jockey Club For $117M |
| • | WNBA Tips Off All-Star Game Tonight, Promises Stronger Fan Interaction |
| • | In Preparation For All-Star Weekend, NHL Panthers Host Partners Summit |
| • | Set Sail: Two Miller Publishing Sailing Titles Purchased By World Publications |
| • | TV Guide Singles Out XFL Programming As One Of The 50 Worst Shows |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Articles of Interest/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
MAGNA ENTERTAINMENT TO PURCHASE STAKE IN MD RACE TRACKS
Magna Entertainment Inc. today announced it will acquire a 51% stake in the MD Jockey Club (MJC), which includes Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park, as well as a training center in Bowie, MD, and the concessionaire that serves the facilities. Jockey Club Chair and majority Owner Joseph De Francis, and his sister, Karin, will remain at the helm of the MJC, as well as hold 49% of the voting stock in the operation. The agreement values the enterprise at $117M (THE DAILY).
LADIES NIGHT: WNBA ALL-STAR GAME SETS UP SHOP IN MCI CENTER
The WNBA All-Star game will be held tonight at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. The event, scheduled to begin at 7:30pm ET, will be televised live on ESPN. Brian McKnight will sing the national anthem, and R&B songwriter Ashanti will perform during halftime. For the first time, WNBA.com will give fans the chance to vote online for the game's MVP during the second half. In addition, the Web site will host a live cybercast, "E-mail a Photo" and photo galleries, streaming video and the Sears WNBA Breast Health Auction (THE DAILY).
NHL PANTHERS PREP FOR ALL-STAR WEEKEND WITH SUMMIT
The Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL reports that the NHL's "top brass and lead sponsors will converge on South Florida this week" as part of the National Corporate Partners and Prospects Summit, a "marketing event in preparation for next season's NHL All-Star Weekend." This year's sponsors include title sponsor Nextel, as well as Dodge, A-B, Coca-Cola and Sun Microsystems (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 7/15).
WORLD PUBLICATIONS BUYS TWO MILLER SAILING TITLES
MEDIAWEEK reports that Miller Publishing Group pared down the number of its titles today by selling "Cruising World" and "Sailing World" to Winter Park, FL-based World Publications. World also publishes "Garden Design" and "Saveur" magazines. Terms of the deal were not disclosed (MEDIAWEEK.com, 7/15).
“X” NOT FOR EXCELLENT: XFL VOTED THIRD WORST PROGRAM EVER
The July 20 issue of TV Guide, which hits newsstands today, lists the 50 worst shows of all time, with "The Jerry Springer Show" coming in at No. 1. The XFL comes in at No. 3, and TV Guide writes, "A bit American Gladiators, a lot of the WWF and a touch of football: That was the XFL, a nearly $100 million money pit that brought together NBC and wrestling's Vince McMahon in a muscle-bound exercise in poor judgement." View the complete list of 50 programs (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
NBC's coverage of the Tropicana 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race from Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday earned a 5.0/12 overnight Nielsen rating, a 4% increase over last year's 4.8/12. The 5.0 rating outperformed all sports programming over the weekend by at least two full ratings points. Fox's regional MLB coverage on Saturday came in second with a 3.0/8, followed by the final round of the Greater Milwaukee Open on ABC on Sunday with a 2.0/5 (THE DAILY).
PVI and the Cowboys today announced that the virtual advertiser will provide ads for the team's preseason games in '02 and '03. The team's two home preseason games will be broadcast on KTVT-CBS in Dallas (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
ESPN.com's Darren Rovell on the differences between potential Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings for MLB teams.
In an Op-Ed in the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, Brewers BOD member and shareholder Mitchell Fromstein believes the Seligs are committed to MLB in Milwaukee.
The MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL's Tom Haudricourt debates between the Brewers and Tigers being the worst team in MLB.
In the N.Y. TIMES' "Word For Word" section, Alan Schwarz documents some of the "shakier moments" in MLB history.
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS' Valade & Hu on Mavericks C Wang Zhizhi's plans to play for the Warriors' summer squad.
The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH's Tom Timmermann offers a wide-ranging report on "the state of sports."
The DENVER POST's John Meyer profiles USOC CEO Lloyd Ward.
The Baltimore SUN's Sandra McKee profiles Le Mans Series Founder Don Panoz.
The FLORIDA TIMES-UNION's Jeff Elliott on Jacksonville's four major TV networks changing affiliations, programming and scheduling in an effort to attract viewers.
The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION's Matt Kempner on experimental pop-up ads utilized by TNT.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS…
MEDIAWEEK reports that former WNBC-NY President & GM Dennis Swanson today was named to the newly created position of Exec VP & COO of Viacom Television Stations group. Swanson resigned late last week from WNBC (MEDIAWEEK.com, 7/15).
Pfizer today said that it "had agreed to buy U.S. rival Pharmacia Corp. for about $51 billion in stock, in a deal that could trigger more mergers in the global drugs industry" (REUTERS, 7/15).
CNN has signed a deal with "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart to produce a half-hour comedy show to its international audience (AP, 7/15).
The AP reports that 60 to 70-story office buildings, stores, cultural centers and a memorial to the dead "are included in six alternative proposals for the World Trade Center site that will be released on Tuesday." Officials familiar with the proposals said that all six "would replace the 11 million square feet of office and retail space lost in the Sept. 11 attack with a cluster of buildings much shorter than the 110-story twin towers" (AP, 7/15).
THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BEST SELLING NONFICTION
The following presents best selling nonfiction books from the N.Y. Times the week ending July 5, 2002 (N.Y. TIMES).
| THIS
WEEK | | HARDCOVER NONFICTION |
| 1) | | SLANDER, Ann Coulter (Crown) |
| 2) | | YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS, John McEnroe with James Kaplan (Putnam) |
| 3) | | STUPID WHITE MEN, Michael Moore (ReganBooks/HarperCollins) |
| 4) | | JOHN ADAMS, David McCullough (Simon & Schuster) |
| 5) | | THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME, edited by Marlo Thomas (Atria) |
| 6) | | TUXEDO PARK, Jennet Conant (Simon & Schuster) |
| 7) | | A MIND AT A TIME, Mel Levine (Simon & Schuster) |
| 8) | | THE SEXUAL LIFE OF CATHERINE M., Catherine Millet (Grove) |
| 9) | | FIREHOUSE, David Halberstam (Hyperion) |
| 10) | | WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT AMERICA, Dinesh D'Souza (Regnery) |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air the '02 WNBA All-Star Game at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN will air Cardinals-Dodgers at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Johnny Bench at 8:00pm ET.
Deion Sanders, NFL Giants coach Jim Fassel, Cardinals 1B Tino Martinez and CF Jim Edmonds and former NFLer Tony Siragusa will be on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
A&E will present its 1,000th episode with a profile of legendary rock promoter Bill Graham at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" begins its "Born Famous Marathon" with a profile of the O'Neals at 8:00pm ET.
HBO will air "When It Was A Game III" at 8:00pm ET.
Serena Williams and FSN's Tom Arnold will be on CBS' "Late Show" with David Letterman at 11:30pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Dave Matthews Band |
| "The Tonight Show" | Harrison Ford |
| "The Late Late Show" | Paula Abdul |
| "Late Night" | Tina Fey (r) |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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