| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday, August 6, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | ESPN's “Sunday Night Baseball” Telecasts Up 15%; ESPN2 Games Up 25% |
| • | Nashville City Council To Discuss New Name For Adelphia Coliseum Tonight |
| • | Team Sports CEO William Miller Resigns Today Over Differences With BOD |
| • | UK Football League's Chair And CEO Both Resign After ITV Digital Debacle |
| • | adidas Inks Warriors Draft Pick Mike Dunleavy To Endorsement Deal |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Tonight's Events/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
ESPN TELECASTS OF “SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL” SHOW GROWTH
ESPN announced today that Nielsen ratings for its "Sunday Night Baseball" telecasts are up 15% from '01, from a 1.77 to a 2.03. The corresponding household impressions are up 21%, from an average of 1,451,000 HHs to 1,753,000. This past Sunday night's Cardinals-Braves game received a 3.07 (2,638,000 HHs), making it the highest-rated and most-watched regular-season MLB game on ESPN in more than two years. Meanwhile, ESPN2's MLB ratings are up 25% this season, from a 0.51 to a 0.64, with household impressions up 37%, from 394,000 to 538,000 (THE DAILY).
NAME-VILLE, TN: COUNCIL TO CONSIDER COLISEUM TITLE SWITCH
The Nashville TENNESSEAN reports that City Council member Ludye Wallace will propose a name change for the stadium formerly known as Adelphia Coliseum at tonight's Metro Council meeting. Wallace: ''To me, it seemed logical and normal and acceptable that … whenever there's a lack of a sponsor, we call it the Nashville Coliseum or Coliseum at Nashville." Wallace added, "It would be good exposure for our city. I don't think we should continue to advertise Adelphia" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/6).
TSE CEO WILLIAM MILLER THROWS IN TOWEL OVER BOD CONFLICTS
William Miller has resigned as CEO of Team Sports Entertainment (TSE) and TSE's subsidiary TRAC – a new stock car racing series set to debut in '03 – due to differences with the BOD over the company's direction. Miller retains his right to purchase the Atlanta TRAC team. He currently owns 3.9 million shares of common stock of the company as well as additional stock options and warrants. Miller was named CEO in January (THE DAILY).
UK FOOTBALL LEAGUE LOSES TWO LEADERS IN HARRIS, BURNS
The London GUARDIAN reports that both Football League Chair Keith Harris and CEO David Burns quit today, "succumbing to mounting pressure" from the league and "paying the ultimate price for the ITV Digital fiasco that has left dozens of clubs on the brink of bankruptcy" (London GUARDIAN, 8/6).
IN THE PILOT SEAT: JETS ESTABLISH TICKET EXCHANGE
LiquidSeats has signed a multiyear agreement with the Jets to provide an online ticket marketplace service at the team's Web site. LiquidSeats' StubHub product will power the Jets StubHub ticket exchange, which will enable season ticket holders to sell tickets for face value directly to members of the team's season ticket holder waitlist (THE DAILY).
CBS SPORTS ROLLS OUT NFL BROADCAST TEAMS FOR '02-03 SEASON
CBS Sports officially announced today its complete roster of broadcast teams for its 43rd year of NFL coverage. The network's season will begin on September 8 at noon ET with the first installment of "The NFL Today," hosted by Jim Nantz and featuring Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason and Deion Sanders. CBS' roster includes:
| Play-By-Play | Analyst | Reporter |
| Greg Gumbel | Phil Simms | Armen Keteyian |
| Dick Enberg | Dan Dierdorf | Bonnie Bernstein |
| Kevin Harlan | Randy Cross | Beasley Reece |
| Gus Johnson | Brent Jones | |
| Ian Eagle | Solomon Wilcots | |
| Don Criqui | Steve Tasker | |
| Bill Macate or Craig Bolerjack | Craig James | |
| Tim Brando | Spencer Tillman | |
| |
BUZZER BEATERS
adidas announced today that it has signed an endorsement deal with Warriors F Mike Dunleavy, the third pick overall in June's NBA draft (THE DAILY).
The CFL announced today that it has reached an agreement with Discount Car & Truck Rentals to make it the official car rental company of the league through the '03 Grey Cup. The agreement will include the "Discount CFL Canadian Player of the Week," an in-game feature to air during Wendy's Friday Night CFL Football broadcasts on TSN (THE DAILY).
The AP reports that the Big East Conference has reached an agreement with the upstart National College Sports Network that "gives the 24-hour cable network rights to broadcast conference championships in 19 sports" (AP, 8/6).
Yahoo Sports today announced the re-launch of Yahoo Golf's site, powered by GolfServ. The section will provide news and information on tour events, players and courses, as well as instructional content and at-event editorial coverage (THE DAILY).
The Bills will be featured tomorrow morning on CNBC's "Squawk Box." The segment is scheduled to air at approximately 7:30am ET (THE DAILY).
Student Sports has signed a one-year deal with MSNBC.com to be the Web site's official high school sports provider. There is no money involved in the deal, but instead a commitment to seek revenue sources, including possible subscriptions (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The WASHINGTON TIMES' Bob Cohn writes on the "end of expansion" at the professional level, calling it "terrific news" (WASHINGTON TIMES).
The PALM BEACH POST's Jorge Milian writes that lobbying for the Heisman Trophy is "as much a part of college football as games on Saturday afternoon" (PALM BEACH POST).
The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER's Marc Narducci profiles Phillies Chief Communications Officer Sharon Swainson, the "voice to the public" for the team's new ballpark (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS….
The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that "one year after … changes were implemented" at CNN's Headline News, the company "reworked its look again." It "expanded the portion of the screen where it shows news video and anchors, [and] added audible tones and red letters to highlight breaking news. And it mostly did away with unreadable weather maps in favor of simple text" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/6).
General Motors said today that it "will begin expensing its stock options granted to employees beginning in 2003," making GM the latest company to "change its accounting practices following several high-profile bookkeeping scandals" (REUTERS, 8/6).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Miramax, HBO and LivePlanet "are launching a second Project Greenlight online screenwriting contest" with new rules. This time, the contest "will be open to both writers and directors, with a winner in each category teaming to make the winning project for Miramax" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/6).
THE DAILY STAT: LYCOS' MOST-SEARCHED ATHLETES
The following are the most-searched athletes by Lycos search engine users for the week ending August 3 (Lycos).
| RK | | ATHLETE |
| 1) | | Anna Kournikova |
| 2) | | David Beckham |
| 3) | | Allen Iverson |
| 4) | | Lance Armstrong |
| 5) | | Ian Thorpe |
| 6) | | Michael Jordan |
| 7) | | Martina Hingis |
| 8) | | Tiger Woods |
| 9) | | Derek Jeter |
| 10) | | Tatiana Gregorieva |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
Bulls F Jalen Rose and Foreigner will be on ESPN's "Mohr Sports" at 5:00pm ET.
Jack Ford, Michael Kay, Dan LeBatard and Michele Tafoya will be on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters II" at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Archie Moore at 8:00pm ET.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and broadcaster Stu Lantz will discuss Chick Hearn on FSN's "The Last Word."
A&E's "Biography" will profile Martin Lawrence at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile LaToya Jackson at 8:00pm ET.
Former Vikings WR Cris Carter will be on CBS' "Late Late Show" with Craig Kilborn.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Ted Koppel (r) |
| "The Tonight Show" | Clint Eastwood |
| "The Late Late Show" | Vin Diesel |
| "Late Night" | Fred Savage |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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