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Closing Bell

Closing Bell, November 25, 2002

The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, November 25, 2002
4:00pm ET

Vikings Reject Univ. Of MN Proposal Two Days Before Self-Imposed Deadline

Fox Posts Highest NFL Overnight Nielsen Rating In Over Four Years

CART Drops Rockingham 500 From Next Season’s Schedule

“Una Noche Con Los Dolphins” To Target Miami’s Hispanic Community

PGA Tour And Nationwide Tour Release ’03 Schedules Today

Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Articles of Interest/In Other News/Channel Surfing


VIKINGS REJECT PROPOSED UNIV. OF MN STADIUM SITE

The Vikings today rejected a plan for a proposed joint-use football stadium with the Univ. of MN, and the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports that the rejection comes “two days before a self-imposed deadline for the two sides to reach an agreement.” In a letter to school officials, Vikings Exec VP Mike Kelly said a pre-design study showed that the on-campus site “is too confined and isolated to satisfy both the requirements of modern NFL football and the needs of the University and its constituents.” But Kelly also said that the team remains “committed to working with the school in the future and that the team still plans to pursue stadium financing during the 2003 legislative session” (STARTRIBUNE.com, 11/25).


PACKERS-BUCS REGISTERS HIGHEST RATING IN OVER FOUR YEARS

Sunday's Packers-Bucs game on Fox, which was delivered to 87% of the country, earned a 17.2/31 overnight Nielsen rating, the highest overnight rating for a national game on Fox in over four years. The doubleheader average was a 14.2/27.  The first window of NFL coverage averaged an 11.1/23.  "Fox NFL Sunday" earned a 4.1/10. Meanwhile, CBS' NFL coverage on Sunday averaged a 10.7/21, and “The NFL Today” earned a 2.8/7 (THE DAILY).


CART CURRENTLY WITHOUT A EUROPEAN RACE FOR ’03 SEASON

The AP reports that CART today “dropped the Rockingham 500 from next season's calendar … leaving the troubled open-wheel series without any races in Europe” in ‘03. CART, however, “hopes to announce shortly that it will hold at least two races in Europe next year.” Possible venues include Estoril, Portugal; Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium; Brands Hatch, England; and Jerez, Spain (AP, 11/25).


DOLPHINS TO HOST EVENT AIMED AT HISPANIC COMMUNITY

The Dolphins and ESPN Deportes will host “Una Noche Con Los Dolphins” tonight from 6:30-10:00pm ET at Pro Player Stadium as part of the team’s effort to reach out to the Hispanic community. The event, which is expected to attract approximately 500 people, includes a football skills clinic, a stadium tour and a Football 101 class. All activities will be conducted in Spanish (THE DAILY).


SHAQUILLE O’NEAL HEADLINES UPN’S “JOCKS & A FOX MONDAY”

Lakers C Shaquille O’Neal will appear along with teammates Brian Shaw and Tracy Murray in tonight’s episode of “The Parkers” at 8:00pm ET as part of UPN’s “Jocks & A Fox Monday.” Furthermore, FSN's Michael Irvin will appear on "One On One" at 8:30pm, while FSN's John Salley will appear on "Girlfriends" at 9:00pm (THE DAILY).


BUZZER BEATERS

The Baltimore SUN reports that the Ravens have promoted Senior VP/Football Operations Ozzie Newsome to GM & Exec VP. Newsome is the first African-American in the NFL with GM as part of his title. Financial terms of the five-year contract were not disclosed (Baltimore SUN, 11/25).

The PGA Tour today announced a schedule of 48 official events for the ’03 season that will offer approximately $225M in prize money, and the Nationwide Tour announced a schedule of 30 tournaments with total purses exceeding $14M (THE DAILY).

In its November 30 issue, which hits newsstands today, TV GUIDE ranks ESPN as the hottest basic cable network, followed by Nickelodeon, USA Network, Food Network and Fox News Channel (THE DAILY).

SPEED.TV.com reports that F1 Chair Bernie Ecclestone’s “digital dream is officially over.” After making several contradictory statements last week, Ecclestone confirmed that the “entire program will be abandoned” (SPEED.TV.com, 11/25).

Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, after the team named 28-year-old Theo Esptein as their GM, making him the youngest GM in MLB history: “This is no longer your father's Oldsmobile, so to speak. The Red Sox are yearning to do new and innovative things, to work with new approaches, new people, and to push the envelope, so to speak, for baseball. Make no mistake, we are willing to try new ideas, new approaches" (BOSTON.com, 11/25).

Media company, The Football Network, which is currently producing programming for several media outlets, today announced an agreement to present a minimum of ten Southern Conference college football games next season (THE DAILY).

The Timberwolves announced that they will offer “99 Cent Nights” during home games throughout the ’02-03 season, under which all fans in attendance will receive a free bowl of chili at participating Wendy’s location if the team scores more than 99 points and wins the game (THE DAILY).

BRANDWEEK reports that a new video game “Rocky,” based on the ’76 Sylvester Stallone-penned film, “will be supported by TV spots … breaking during NFL games over Thanksgiving weekend.” The spots are via Brainchild Creative, S.F. (BRANDWEEK, 11/25).


TONIGHT’S EVENTS

Angels manager Mike Scioscia, LF Garret Anderson and P Troy Percival are among those expected to attend the premiere screening of the official ‘02 World Series home video at the House of Blues in Anaheim at 6:30pm PT. The VHS has an approximate running time of 100 minutes, and the DVD has 25 minutes of bonus coverage (THE DAILY).

The Red Sox and Boston Living Center will host the 15th annual Celebration of Life dinner, which is held for men and women who suffer from isolation as a result of contracting HIV, from 6:00-10:00pm ET at the Hynes Convention Center (BOSTON HERALD, 11/21).


TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The L.A. TIMES’ Patrick McGreevy writes, “A city study of potential sites for a pro football stadium is running months behind schedule and is focusing on three downtown locations that present both new and familiar problems: the Coliseum, the Staples Center area and a rail yard near Union Station” (L.A. TIMES).

The WASHINGTON TIMES’ Eric Fisher writes that the work of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s recently created marketing task force “will not be easy [as] attendance fell 6.1[%] this year, last month's TV ratings for the Anaheim-San Francisco World Series were the worst ever and MLB's fan base continues to age more rapidly than those for the other three major professional leagues” (WASHINGTON TIMES).

The BUFFALO NEWS’ Bucky Gleason writes that prospective Sabres co-Owners Mark Hamister and Todd Bermansubtracted emotion and added common sense” during the bidding process, ultimately deciding that that they were able to “keep the franchise viable, competitive – and let's not forget, profitable – for the unforeseen future” (BUFFALO NEWS).

See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.


IN OTHER NEWS…

BRANDWEEK reports that while Pepsi “had said in May that they were considering re-upping” Britney Spears’ contract, a source said, “I do not believe they renewed their contract.” Spears has been the centerpiece of the “Joy of Pepsi” campaign, via BBDO, N.Y. for the past two years (BRANDWEEK, 11/25).

The DENVER POST reported that Crested Butte’s new ads “point fingers at [its] biggest competitors and showcase the only asset the big resorts can't buy: character.” One ad shows a “pair of Crested Beauties in a wet-T-shirt contest, noting that the soggy dress code wouldn't pass muster in Vail,” while another shows a “bikini-topped biker pedaling to a party with a box of Corona with the text across the page reading ‘This is not Vail’” (DENVER POST, 11/24).


TODAY’S DAILY STAT: THE YAHOO SPORTS BUZZ INDEX

The following presents The Yahoo Sports Buzz Index for this past Saturday. The buzz score represents the percentage of all users searching on Yahoo for a particular subject. For example, a buzz score of 500 translates to 0.5% of users. The number in parenthesis represents the number of weeks listed on the chart. For buzz movers, the number displayed is the percentage increase in the subject’s buzz score from the previous day (YAHOO.com):

BUZZ LEADERS
BUZZ MOVERS
RK
SEARCH
SCORE
 
RK
SEARCH
1-DAY-MOVE
1)
NFL (436)
60
 
1)
Steve Young
307.46%
2)
NBA (436)
59
 
2)
Miami Hurricanes
117.04%
3)
NASCAR (436)
27
 
3)
Jelena Dokic
116.36%
4)
Allen Iverson (90)
18
 
4)
LPGA
102.51%
5)
NCAA Football (67)
17
 
5)
Charles Barkley
93.05%
6)
Ultimate Fighting Championship (8)
14
 
6)
Yao Ming
70.49%
7)
NHL (44)
13
 
7)
Pittsburgh Panthers
46.66%
8)
Michael Jordan (55)
12
 
8)
Troy Aikman
45.36%
9)
Dallas Cowboys (169)
11
 
9)
Colorado Avalanche
41.76%
10)
David Beckham (122)
10
 
10)
Anaheim Angels
41.75%
11)
Los Angeles Lakers (36)
10
 
11)
Houston Rockets
39.09%
12)
Green Bay Packers (86)
9
 
12)
Ultimate Fighting Championship
35.54%
13)
Cleveland Indians (18)
9
 
13)
Billy Edelin
34.37%
14)
Dallas Mavericks (13)
9
 
14)
Augusta National
30.93%
15)
Anna Kournikova (222)
8
 
15)
Fernando Vargas
29.10%
16)
Ohio State Football (5)
8
 
16)
Philadelphia Phillies
28.97%
17)
Pittsburgh Steelers (86)
8
 
17)
Western Hockey League
28.18%
18)
MLB (4)
8
 
18)
Boston Bruins
26.74%
19)
Yao Ming (4)
7
 
19)
FC Barcelona
26.40%
20)
Oakland Raiders (86)
7
 
20)
Canadian Baseball League
26.14%

CHANNEL SURFING

ESPN will air “Monday Night Countdown” at 7:30pm ET.

ABC will air “MNF,” Eagles-49ers, at 9:00pm ET.

ESPN will air NCAA men’s basketball, Arizona State-Kentucky in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, at 9:00pm ET.

ESPN2 will air NCAA men’s basketball, UMass-Indiana in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, at 5:00pm ET, Davidson-Duke at 7:00pm ET and Utah-Gonzaga in the EA Sports Maui Invitational at 11:30pm ET.

ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Bob Knight at 8:00pm ET and Anna Kournikova at 8:30pm ET.

Univ. of OK men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, actor Ice Cube, “Blind Date” host Roger Lodge and pool trick expert Mike Massey are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period.”

A&E continues its “TVography” series with a profile Carol Burnett at 8:00pm ET.

E!’s “True Hollywood Story” will profile The Brat Pack at 8:00pm ET.


HEADLINERS

Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:

“Late Show” Lisa Kudrow
“The Tonight Show” Naomi Watts
“The Late Late Show” Ice Cube
“Late Night” Alan Cumming (r)

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com

The Closing Bell provides an afternoon recap of the latest news and headlines each Monday through Friday at approximately 4:00pm ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert to the Closing Bell, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.

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