| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | CART's Team Green Loses Sponsor, As B&W Tobacco Ends Racing Program |
| • | Will They Stay Or Will They Go? – Expos Uncertain As Final Games Approach |
| • | Details Expected Today For New Ad Campaign Designed To Sell Sabres Tickets |
| • | Olympic Swimmer Jenny Thompson Files Lawsuit Over Endorsement Contract |
| • | ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones To Open Preseason In Vienna, Austria |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Tonight's Events/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
ANDRETTI LOSES HIS KOOL: B&W TO DROP MOTORSPORTS PROGRAM
Although Michael Andretti is set to purchase CART's Team Green and move the operation to the IRL next season, KY-based Brown & Williamson Tobacco, which has leveraged its KOOL brand on two Team Green cars since '97, will not remain in the Andretti fold. The tobacco company announced today that it will discontinue its motorsports sponsorship program at the end of this season. Brown & Williamson Divisional VP Ludo Cremers said, "The brand has evolved and the fit with motor racing has become less optimal, making it increasingly difficult to achieve an acceptable business return on our motorsports investment" (THE DAILY).
EXPOS PLAN ACTIVITIES FOR POSSIBLE FINAL GAMES IN MONTREAL
The Montreal GAZETTE reports the Expos have "a lot of activities planned to encourage fans" to come to the final six home games of '02, which begin tonight against the Marlins and Reds. Prior to Thursday's game, the team will honor former Expos OF Tim Raines. An old-timers game is scheduled before Saturday night's game, and Sunday will be Fan Appreciation Day (Montreal GAZETTE, 9/24).
Meanwhile, the CP reports that MLB is "not expected to announce where the team will play until after the season ends," which forces an "anxious decision" for Expos fans. Expos Exec VP/Business Affairs Claude Delorme: "Will people buy less [tickets] because there's a high possibility the team will be back, or will they buy more because they feel it's the last game and they want to be part of Montreal history? Ideally, you'd like to know already if the team's coming back, but unfortunately, we're not in that position" (CP, 9/24).
I LOVE NEW YORK, NEW AD CAMPAIGN TO SELL SABRES TICKETS
The BUFFALO NEWS reports that Empire State Development Corp. Chair Charles Gargano "is expected in town today to provide details" of a new $250,000 advertising campaign "designed to boost" Sabres' ticket sales. Camera crews will be in Buffalo this week to film the 60-second ad, which "reportedly will feature current and former Sabres players, local business leaders, police officers, firefighters and kids." The ad is "scheduled to run for three weeks, starting next Tuesday," in an expanded Western NY area, including Rochester and southern Ontario, during sporting events. The ad will feature the "I Love New York" music (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/24).
HINGIS' LAWSUIT DISMISSED IN NY DUE TO SIMILAR SUIT IN ITALY
The AP reports that a NY judge has dismissed a $40M lawsuit that WTA Tour player Martina Hingis filed against Sergio Tacchini "whose shoes allegedly injured her feet." State Supreme Court Justice Sherry Klein Heitler ruled that NY is the "wrong place to try the case since a similar lawsuit" by Hingis against the company is pending in Milan, Italy (AP, 9/24).
OLYMPIC SWIMMER CLAIMS $280,000 OWED IN ENDORSEMENT FEES
The AP reports that U.S. Olympic swimmer Jenny Thompson has filed a lawsuit against two men, "claiming one of them owes her $280,000 for an endorsement deal." The two men named in the suit are entrepreneur Matt Freese and real estate developer Ralph Cutillo, who is recently deceased. Thompson signed an endorsement contract with Freese's marketing company, Envion Int'l, in June '98, and automatically extended it through '05 by competing in the '00 Olympics. The suit claims that Cutillo may have become "responsible for the contract when he bought Envion last year" (AP, 9/24).
BUZZER BEATERS
NFL.com continues its guest columnist series this week with thoughts from PGA Tour golfer Phil Mickelson, a lifelong Chargers fan (THE DAILY).
NFL Films today officially opened its new 200,000-square-foot film and TV studio complex at Bishops Gate Corporate Campus in Mt. Laurel, NJ (THE DAILY).
WWE officially announced today that Safeco Field will host WrestleMania XIX on March 20, 2003 (THE DAILY).
Comcast-Spectacor today announced that it has expanded its partnership with Temple Univ. to serve as a full-service marketing agency for Temple athletics, including football and men's and women's basketball. Comcast-Spectacor will assist Temple in media buying, sponsorship sales, promotional appearances and opportunities, group sales, media production and publicity (THE DAILY).
The Univ. of CT and Cingular Wireless today announced a five-year sponsorship agreement that designates Cingular as the official wireless provider of UConn athletics (THE DAILY).
The ECHL today announced its composite '02 preseason schedule which features the Cincinnati Cyclones, a Sharks affil, playing three games in Austria and one game in Italy. While in Austria, the Cyclones will compete for the Austria-America Cup, which will be awarded to the round-robin winner. The Vienna Capitals, defending Austrian League champion Villach and Innsbruck will also compete (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The BOSTON GLOBE reports that the New England Women's Fund will hold its fifth annual Women's Sports Award reception at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. IOC VP Anita DeFrantz will receive the Billie Jean King Pioneer Award, while WBZ-CBS' Alice Cook will receive the Media Award (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/24). To view the full itinerary, click here.
The Clippers will host Clippers Fan Fest at Pacific Park from 6:00-8:00pm PT. F Corey Maggette, G Quentin Richardson, C Sean Rooks and assistant coach Dennis Johnson are scheduled to appear (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The GRAND RAPIDS PRESS' Garrison Wells writes that if "NBC is able to do with the AFL what it has done for other sporting events, revenues will soar, players will gain star power and … host cities [will] even get on the map." Wells: "Who would know Green Bay if it weren't for the Packers?" (GRAND RAPIDS PRESS).
The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES' Carol Slezak wonders if Title IX is "the greatest thing ever to happen to young athletes or it is the worst?" Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics "faces a huge challenge" as they can't "possible make everyone happy," and may "not make anyone happy" as they examine the future of the legislation (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES).
The Santa Rosa (CA) PRESS DEMOCRAT's Bob Norberg reports on the "15 million participants" who play fantasy football and writes, "On any given Sunday, millions of armchair quarterbacks live out their dreams to build, coach and manage their own football teams in what may be the perfect marriage of sports and the Internet" (Santa Rosa PRESS DEMOCRAT).
The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE's Dave Molinari reports on the 60 consecutive regular-season sellouts for the AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and writes that even though the team "has had mixed results on the ice," finishing 27 games below .500 last season, "it has been an unqualified success at the box office." Indeed, the franchise "produced a profit – believed to be between $1[M] and $2[M] – for its parent club last season" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS….
The PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS reports that American Airlines "has decided to cut the fee for in-flight headsets" from $5 to $2, beginning November 1 (PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS, 9/24).
THE DAILY STAT: LYCOS MOST-SEARCHED AUTO RACERS
The following are the most-searched auto racers on Lycos search engines for the past two weeks (Lycos).
| RK | | AUTO RACER |
| 1) | | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
| 2) | | Jeff Gordon |
| 3) | | Tony Stewart |
| 4) | | Michael Schumacher |
| 5) | | Rusty Wallace |
| 6) | | Jacques Villeneuve |
| 7) | | David Coulthard |
| 8) | | Sterling Marlin |
| 9) | | Steve Park |
| 10) | | Mark Martin |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air "The Focus Group" at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN will air "Beg, Borrow & Deal" at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN's "Off Course with Jack Wagner," airing at 9:00pm ET, will feature Rams RB Marshall Faulk.
Jack Ford, Dan LeBatard, Chris Fowler and Charley Steiner will be on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters II" at 9:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Joe Namath at 8:00pm ET.
Patriots WR Troy Brown and Twins OFs Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
76ers coach Larry Brown, Saints WR Joe Horn, former MLBer Rex Hudler and LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis will be on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
A&E's "Biography" will profile Prince Harry at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile Andy Dick at 9:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Jack Hanna |
| "The Tonight Show" | Pete Sampras |
| "The Late Late Show" | Damon Wayans |
| "Late Night" | Marisa Tomei |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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