| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Tiger Woods Makes Switch To Nike Forged Blade Irons |
| • | Nike Posts Net Loss Of $49M After One-Time Accounting Charge |
| • | Hardee's, Lowe's Motor Speedway Today Announce Title Sponsorship Deal |
| • | European Sports Marketing Firm Gains Foothold In U.S. Golf |
| • | Rosie Calls It Quits, Last Issue To Be Released In December |
| • | Articles Of Interest/In Other News/Tonight's Events/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
WORLD'S #1 TO MAKE OFFICIAL SWITCH TO NIKE IRONS TOMORROW
Nike Golf announced today that Tiger Woods will officially begin using Nike Golf's forged blade irons beginning tomorrow at the American Express World Golf Championships in Kilkenny, Ireland (THE DAILY). Woods told the AP, "There's always an element of risk any time you change clubs, any club in the bag. But I think if you try them out, test them enough ... I'm still working on it, and hopefully they'll perform." Commenting on the switch, Nike Global Sports Marketing Dir Kel Devlin said, "It's a process with him. He won a couple of majors and we didn't want him to do anything at that point. But it heated up the last month and a half" (AP, 9/18).
NIKE REPORTS Q1 '02 RESULTS, EARNINGS PER SHARE UP 8%
Nike today reported revenues and earnings for Q1 '03 ended August 31, 2002 and posted a net loss of $49M, or $0.18 per share, due to a one-time charge resulting from new accounting standards. Revenues were $2.8B, up 7% from $2.6B last year. Income before the accounting change was $217M, or $0.81 per share, compared to $204M, or $0.75 per share, last year. Nike shares closed today up $1.35, or 3.24%, at $43.05 (THE DAILY).
HARDEE'S DRIVE THRU TO TAKE ON NEW MEANING AT NC SPEEDWAY
Hardee's and Lowe's Motor Speedway today announced a three-year deal in which Hardee's will title sponsor the inaugural Hardee's 200 Craftsman Truck Series race on May 16, 2003 in Charlotte. The deal includes signage at the speedway, pace truck sponsorship and the renaming of pit road for the event to "Hardee's Drive Thru" (THE DAILY).
CSS STELLAR STRENGTHENS U.S. GOLF PRESENCE WITH ACQUISITIONS
CSS Stellar (CSS), a European sports marketing firm, announced today that it has acquired a minority interest in TX-based Hambric Sports Management (HSM) and 50% of the assets of StandOut Sports and Entertainment (SSE). As part of the HSM deal, Rocky Hambric will become CEO of Stellar Golf, leading the company's efforts in North America and Europe. Most notably, CSS currently represents golfer Bernhard Langer. Through the acquisition, CSS will manage PGA Tour members Justin Leonard, Bob Tway, Steve Flesch and Bob Estes. As part of the SSE partnership, the two companies will combine corporate marketing programs to plan, manage and execute golf marketing efforts (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
ESPN's "Sunday Night Football" Nielsen cable ratings are up 32% after three games (a 9.26 from a 6.99). Additionally, "Sunday NFL Countdown" ratings are up 12% (from 1.75 to 1.96) and postgame "SportsCenter" ratings jumped 31% (from last year's 2.44 to a 3.20). Meanwhile, "Monday Night Countdown" is up 38% (a 1.84 from a 1.33) (THE DAILY).
The Football Network announced today that it has reached an agreement with Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. to produce a syndicated special based on its week of championship games this December (THE DAILY).
FL-based Whizz Rollers, a specialty and decorative paint applicator, has joined Brett Bodine Racing as an associate sponsor of Bodine's #11 Ford for the remainder of the '02 NASCAR Winston Cup season (THE DAILY).
The DESERET NEWS reports that Jazz play-by-play announcer Hot Rod Hundley was arrested Friday night for DUI (DESERET NEWS, 9/18).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE's Josh Peter reviews the first proposal that the LA NFL Stadium Advisory Committee will consider to keep the Saints in New Orleans. The $300M plan is a "massive reengineering" effort that would "transform the 27-year-old Superdome into a state-of-the-art" NFL facility. The report also provides the estimated construction costs, a Superdome amenity comparison to other NFL stadiums and a summary of incremental impacts for a renovated Superdome (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE).
The Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER's Jonathan Cox reports on fantasy football leagues, the "online quest for athletic supremacy consuming armchair quarterbacks in offices and living rooms across the country," and notes that due to the Internet, the game has "expanded from a 35-year-old hobby into a multimillion-dollar industry, attracting more than 10 million fans along the way" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER).
The Newark STAR-LEDGER's Sid Dorfman profiles the efforts of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to reform boxing. Already the "most successful legislative reformer in the history of the pathetic fight game," McCain has a "bill working to create a United States Boxing Administration" that would force the country's various state boxing commissions to "follow a common set of standards" (Newark STAR-LEDGER).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Magic Johnson will host a 4:30pm ET conference call to discuss his September 27 enshrinement into the Basketball HOF (THE DAILY).
Meanwhile, the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD reports that Johnson will be play for the Canberra Cannons in an early November exhibition against MI State Univ. (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 9/19).
IN OTHER NEWS……
The AP reports that Rosie O'Donnell today "abruptly quit her namesake magazine … citing a deteriorating relationship with the magazine's publisher Gruner + Jahr." The last issue will be in December (AP, 9/18).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of September 9-15. Also provided are Nielsen ratings averages season-to-date for the nets' primetime coverage (USA TODAY, 9/18).
| TOP TEN PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 9 - 15 |
| RK | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | NFL Football | ABC | Mon | 12.8/23 | 19.1 |
| 2) | NFL Showcase | ABC | Mon | 10.9/18 | 17.1 |
| 3) | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 9.4/14 | 14.2 |
| 4) | CSI | CBS | Mon | 9.7/16 | 13.8 |
| 5) | CSI | CBS | Thu | 9.4/16 | 13.9 |
| 6) | 9/11 | CBS | Wed | 8.0/13 | 12.2 |
| 7) | Becker | CBS | Mon | 8.0/12 | 11.9 |
| 8) | 60 Minutes | CBS | Sun | 7.9/13 | 11.3 |
| 9) | Dateline | NBC | Tue | 7.8/13 | 11.0 |
| 10) | 9/11 | ABC | Wed | 7.5/13 | 10.9 |
| NIELSEN AVERAGES SEASON-TO-DATE |
| | | | |
| | NBC | 8.2 | | |
| | | | |
| | CBS | 7.8 | | |
| | | | |
| | ABC | 6.0 | | |
| | | | |
| | Fox | 5.4 | | |
| | | | |
| | UPN | 2.6 | | |
| | | | |
| | WB | 2.3 | | |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air Yankees-Devil Rays at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Phillies-Braves at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN will air Giants-Dodgers at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Angels-A's at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Johnny Unitas at 8:00pm ET as part of a 9-hour tribute to Unitas beginning at 3:00pm ET.
D'backs P Curt Schilling and Bills QB Drew Bledsoe will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
Nick Buoniconti, race car driver Danica Patrick, Giants OF Kenny Lofton, Chargers WR Curtis Conway and FSN NFL Insider John Czarnecki are scheduled to appear on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
A&E's "Biography" will profile Joe Namath at 8:00pm ET.
E! offers three premieres tonight as "TV Tales" debuts Bernie Mac at 7:30pm ET and Golden Girls at 8:00pm ET. "Revealed" features Susan Sarandon at 10:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Freddie Prinze, Jr. (r) |
| "The Tonight Show" | Lucy Liu |
| "The Late Late Show" | Vlade Divac |
| "Late Night" | Harrison Ford (r) |
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