| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Murphy's Videotaped Deposition Continues In Steinberg v. Dunn |
| • | N.Y.'s “Touch Down In New York” Ad Campaign To Launch Sunday |
| • | Garcia To Make Switch To TaylorMade Official Starting Tomorrow |
| • | The Great One To Have His Sweater Retired To Staples Center Rafters Tonight |
| • | ATP To Pay Prize Money In Euros, Not U.S. Dollars, For European Tourneys |
| • | Articles Of Interest/In Other News/Tonight's Events/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
MURPHY THOUGHT NEGATIVE INFO WOULD FORCE SETTLEMENT
The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that former Leigh Steinberg employee Brian Murphy testified that he thought he had enough negative information about Steinberg that any dispute over the departure of former Steinberg employees would be settled rather than go to trial. Murphy's videotaped deposition, which started Tuesday afternoon, took up the entire Wednesday morning session and will continue when court begins after lunch in L.A. For the latest update on the trial, please visit www.sportsbusinessjournal.com.
NFL'S “TOUCH DOWN IN N.Y.” CAMPAIGN TO LAUNCH SUNDAY
N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NFL Exec VP & COO Roger Goodell, Empire State Development Corp. Chair Charles Gargano and others unveiled "Touch Down in New York," an NFL-inspired ad campaign designed to increase tourism to N.Y. The campaign, which includes a 30-second TV spot featuring fans cheering for such N.Y. landmarks as Times Square and Tavern on the Green, is scheduled to launch October 13 during nationally televised NFL games. The $14M campaign is from the Wolf Group (THE DAILY).
GARCIA TO MAKE CLUB AND BALL SWITCH OFFICIAL THIS WEEKEND
BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that during this weekend's Trophee Lancome tournament in Paris, Sergio Garcia will officially "switch to adidas Solomon AG's TaylorMade brand of golf clubs [and] Maxfli brand golf ball." As part of the agreement, Garcia will also wear a hat with an adidas logo and use a golf bag with the TaylorMade logo. Garcia had played Titleists since he turned pro in '99 (BLOOMBERG, 10/9).
KINGS TO RETIRE GRETZKY'S NO. 99 TONIGHT TO THE RAFTERS
The L.A. DAILY NEWS reports the NHL Kings will retire Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 tonight "to the rafters at the Staples Center, where he never played but certainly help build." Kings TV play-by-play announcer Bob Miller "will lead the sellout crowd through all the goals, celebrations and frenzied excitement of a time when the Kings were, well, the Lakers in this town." The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7:38pm PT, and will be televised on FSN in L.A. (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 10/9).
U.S. REPS INTRODUCE ANDRO RECLASSIFICATION BILL
ESPN.com notes that U.S. Reps. Tom Osborne (R-NE) and John Sweeney (R-NY) introduced a bill seeking to reclassify "substances such as [androstenedione] and other pre-hormonal supplements" as controlled substances. The bill calls such "pre-hormonal supplements 'a serious public health issue' with an adverse effect on the integrity of professional and amateur athletic competition." The bill, which has been referred to three House committees, has the support of the U.S. Antidoping Agency, and the NCAA and NFL "have also expressed support" (ESPN.com, 10/9).
BUZZER BEATERS
REUTERS reports that shares of the Boston Celtics rose 147% today, from $16.65 to $28.00, in the "first trading since details of a buyout offer were unveiled last week" (REUTERS, 10/9).
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Cavaliers Execs Display New Colors. |
The Cavaliers announced that their new team colors will be wine and gold (THE DAILY).
The AP reports that the ATP, "in recognition of the Euro's strength and acceptance," will pay prize money for its European tournaments in Euros instead of U.S. dollars starting next year (AP, 10/9).
PGA Tour golfer Charles Howell III today signed an exclusive agreement with golf apparel manufacturer Ahead. Under the deal, Howell will wear an Ahead hat with the Callaway logo on the front and the Ahead logo and "CH3" logo on the back through the entire '03 season (THE DAILY).
The AP reports Joseph Foss, the first commissioner of the American Football League, "was in critical condition" after suffering an aneurysm (AP, 10/9).
"Out" Editor-in-Chief Brendan Lemon, who gained fame last year in writing about his homosexual relationship with a well-known MLB player for an East Coast team, tells the N.Y. OBSERVER that the two "have parted ways as a couple." Meanwhile, in the October issue of "Out," the "unnamed player writes about the 'deep-sea degree of pressure' surrounding a decision to come out." Lemon: "What's remarkable about this is that he wrote it himself. … We're still close. But we're not any sort of item" (N.Y. OBSERVER, 10/7).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The NAPLES DAILY NEWS' Tom Rife profiles CART President & CEO Chris Pook, who will "pit his predominantly road/street course program against the oval-only IRL any time, any place." Pook, who claims that CART does not compete with the IRL, said, "People tend to think we do. We don't. We're in the business of pretty intense racing which requires you to change gears, brake, accelerate, turn left and turn right – and use your head on a fulltime basis" (NAPLES DAILY NEWS).
The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE's Dejan Kovacevic reports on pockets of fan dissatisfaction with new safety netting installed this season at NHL arenas. Penguins VP/Communications & Marketing Tom McMillan said, "We're all going through a period of adjustment on this - the fans, the teams and the league itself" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Mystics F Chamique Holdsclaw will appear at a screening of the breast cancer survivor documentary "Fighting for Our Future" at the Washington Hospital Center-Cancer Institute tonight from 6:30-7:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS…
DAILY VARIETY reports that "Menace II Society" screenwriter Tyger Williams has been signed by New Line Cinema "for his take on the National Women's Football League." The film is to be produced by Sarah Risher "via her Chick Flicks banner" (DAILY VARIETY, 10/9).
The AP reports that driver "Eric Martin was killed Wednesday in a crash at Lowe's Motor Speedway during practice" for the ARCA EasyCare 150 (AP, 10/9).
ADAGE.com reported that Sears, Roebuck & Co. names former eToys and PepsiCo exec Janine Bousquette to "a newly created top marketing position" of Exec VP and Chief Customer & Marketing Officer (ADAGE.com, 10/7).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten prime time shows for the week of September 30-October 6. Also provided are Nielsen ratings averages season-to-date for the nets' primetime coverage (USA TODAY, 10/9).
| RK | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | Friends | NBC | Thu | 17.6/28 | 28.9 |
| 2) | CSI | CBS | Thu | 17.4/26 | 28.5 |
| 3) | ER | NBC | Thu | 15.9/26 | 25.1 |
| 4) | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 14.3/21 | 22.0 |
| 5) | Survivor: Thailand | CBS | Thu | 12.5/20 | 21.5 |
| 6) | Will & Grace | NBC | Thu | 13.2/20 | 20.6 |
| 7) | CSI: Miami | CBS | Mon | 13.2/22 | 19.8 |
| 8) | Law & Order | NBC | Wed | 13.1/22 | 19.1 |
| 9) | Scrubs | NBC | Thu | 11.8/18 | 18.9 |
| 10) | Still Standing | CBS | Mon | 12.0/18 | 18.1 |
| |
| NET | VIEWERS |
| CBS | 13.6 |
| NBC | 13.0 |
| ABC | 9.7 |
| Fox | 7.6 |
| UPN | 4.8 |
| WB | 4.2 |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
Fox will air NLCS Game One, Giants-Cardinals, and FSN will air ALCS Game Two, Angels-Twins, at 8:00pm ET. In some markets, the network assignments will be reversed.
ESPN will air Rangers-Hurricanes or Stars-Avalanche, at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Coyotes-Kings at 10:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Jim Plunkett at 8:00pm ET.
Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NBA HOFer Magic Johnson and actor Steve Schirripa are scheduled to appear on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
A&E "Biography" will profile Tim McGraw at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "Revealed" features Jamie Lee Curtis at 10:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Charles Barkley |
| "The Tonight Show" | Jamie Lee Curtis |
| "The Late Late Show" | Terry Bradshaw |
| "Late Night" | George Stephanopoulos |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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