| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, December 16, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Sportvision, Ignite Sports Today Announce Merger, $10M Investment Infusion |
| • | TOROC President Valentino Castellani Promises Developments In New Year |
| • | Ripken Baseball Today Announces Consulting And Design Subsidiary |
| • | Commonwealth Games Canada Selects Hamilton As '10 Canadian Bid City |
| • | NFL Today Announces Record Number Of Online Pro Bowl Fan Ballots |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Articles of Interest/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
INVESTORS TO PROVIDE $10M TO SUPPORT INTEGRATED MARKETING
Sports technology companies, N.Y.-based Sportvision and Chicago-based Ignite Sports, today announced a merger that will package the company's broadcast and Internet products. Investors in Sportvision and Ignite Sports will provide $10M in new financing to support the merged company's integrated marketing activities, development of interactive TV technologies and continued growth of its core business. The company will be operated under the Sportvision banner and will be based in Chicago, with offices in N.Y. and Mountain View, CA. Sportvision co-Founder & Chair Bill Squadron will serve as company Chair, while Ignite Sports CEO & Founder Hank Adams will serve as CEO (THE DAILY).
'03 FOCUS ON COMMUNICATIONS, MARKETING AND CONSTRUCTION
Torino Organizing Committee (TOROC) President Valentino Castellani today said that the "new year will bring major developments in communications, marketing and construction," noting that February '03 will "bring the launch of a communications plan which has a goal of promoting the 2006 Olympics as 'Italy's Games.'" Castellani also noted that TOROC will "publicly announce six sponsorships that have already been negotiated," and that construction will be well under way for the bobsled and luge run, the ski jump and the Olympic Village near Torino's center (AROUND THE RINGS, 12/16).
RIPKEN MANAGEMENT & DESIGN TO ASSIST PRO BASEBALL SUITORS
Ripken Baseball, the MD-based sports management firm led by Cal Ripken Jr., announced today that it has formed a consulting and design subsidiary, Ripken Management & Design, to "offer management consulting and design services to groups looking to develop pro baseball franchises." Among the services offered by Ripken Management & Design are sales and marketing consulting, ballpark design services and economic impact and feasibility studies conducted by MD-based Turnkey Sports (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/16).
HAMILTON UP AGAINST SINGAPORE, NEW DELHI FOR '10 GAMES
The CP reports that the Commonwealth Games Canada bid review committee unanimously selected Hamilton as the Canadian bid city for the '10 Commonwealth Games. Hamilton, which beat out Halifax, "will now be up against Singapore and New Delhi." The int'l Commonwealth Games Federation will make a decision on the host city between October 29-November 2, 2003 (CP, 12/16).
BILLS WIN "FAN FRIENDLIEST" AWARD; SABRES OPEN TICKET KIOSK
The Bills today announced that the team has been awarded the '02 NFL Sports Fan's Quality Award as "Fan Friendliest" team by the FL-based Sports Fans of America Association. Teams were judged based on entertainment and fan activities, improvement efforts on and off the field, fan issue and community relations (THE DAILY).
Also in Buffalo, the Sabres today announced that the team has "added a suburban location in [its] quest to pump up slumping ticket sales." The team opened a ticket sales kiosk at the Boulevard Mall in Amherst that will be open until 9:00pm ET on Christmas Eve. Sabres' ticket sales "are off more than 20[%] this season compared to last" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/16).
BUZZER BEATERS
The NFL announced that a record 51,677,578 online fan ballots were submitted for the '03 Pro Bowl. Packers QB Brett Favre led all players with 930,270 votes. Players and coaches are scheduled to vote today and tomorrow, and the teams will be announced December 19 on ESPN (THE DAILY).
After purchasing an opponent-record 175 tickets November 16 when the Celtics were in Chicago, Celtics F and Windy City native Antoine Walker "could be pushing 200 when all is said and bought" for tonight's game at the United Center (BOSTON HERALD, 12/16).
YES announced today that it will show a high school basketball tournament featuring 17-year-old LeBron James from February 6-9, 2003. The Prime Time Shootout at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ, will include 16 of the top 25 teams in the nation, including Oak Hill Academy and James' team, St. Vincent-St. Mary of Akron, OH (AP, 12/16).
Skiing magazine today announced the launch of an interactive skiing club, Skiing Magazine Vertical Team, which allows skiers and snowboarders to create personal logs. The logs can be sorted individually or by team, as well as by country, state and resort (THE DAILY).
FLW Outdoors today announced that Lipton Sides has signed on as a sponsor of its various fishing tournaments for the '03 season. As part of the agreement, Lipton Sides will have a presence at the tournaments' Family Fun Zone and will enter a Lipton Sides-decorated Ranger boat in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour (THE DAILY).
CBSNEWS.com reports that extreme motocross rider Carey Hart "is hinting that he might be headed down the aisle with pop singer Pink." Hart: "That's where it's going to lead to" (CBSNEWS.com, 12/16).
AD DOLLARS ARE SPARSE, BUT…
- The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reported that the food court at Philadelphia Int'l Airport still has a photo of Rangers C Eric Lindros and Flyers LW John LeClair as the "welcoming advertisement for visitors thinking of going to a hockey game" while in town. The problem is that Lindros hasn't played for the Flyers for two years, and LeClair is currently "shelved for three months" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 12/15).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The Heat will give fortune cookies to the first 8,000 fans in attendance for tonight's 7:30pm ET game against the Rockets, to honor Yao Ming's first appearance in Miami. Fortunes include free tickets to an upcoming game, free Heat merchandise, ticket location upgrades for tonight's game and two-for-one ticket vouchers (THE DAILY).
Nets C Dikembe Mutombo, via his foundation, will showcase the award-winning artwork of his brother Tshitenge Mutombo at the NBA Store in N.Y. from 8:00-11:00pm ET (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The WASHINGTON POST's Paul Schwartzman looks back at US Airways Arena, originally named the Capital Centre, which was razed yesterday, and writes that while the arena "never inspired great affection, … [it] was the site of moments powerful enough to transcend its otherwise bland surroundings" (WASHINGTON POST).
The N.Y. TIMES' George Vecsey argues that college sports in the U.S. "need to start over," and admits that people "know all about the corruption, the phony admission standards, the payoffs, the boosters that permeate college sports" (N.Y. TIMES).
The WASHINGTON POST's Heath & Shapiro examine the relationship between the NFLPA and ownership, writing that "the lack of guaranteed contracts, recent sparks over fines for helmet-to-helmet hits and use of over-the-counter drugs that have been banned by the league has some players beginning to question whether the relationship is too friendly" (WASHINGTON POST).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS…
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT notes that aspiring politician Alec Baldwin has suggested putting a new Yankee Stadium on the Ground Zero site as a memorial to 9/11 victims. Baldwin: "It's the most interesting thing I have heard." Baldwin calls it "a mix of the commemorative and the practical," and says that every game "could begin with a moment of silence and that survivors and members of the NYPD and the FDNY could get discounted tickets" (U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, 12/16).
THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BEST SELLING NONFICTION
The following presents the best selling nonfiction books from the N.Y. Times for the week ending December 7 (N.Y. TIMES):
| THIS
WEEK | HARDCOVER NONFICTION |
| 1) | BUSH AT WAR, Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster) |
| 2) | PORTRAIT OF A KILLER, Patricia Cornwell (Putnam) |
| 3) | LEADERSHIP, Rudolph W. Giuliani with Ken Kurson (Miramax/Hyperion) |
| 4) | A LONG WAY FROM HOME, Tom Brokaw (Random House) |
| 5) | JOURNALS, Kurt Cobain (Riverhead) |
| 6) | THE SEA HUNTERS II, Clive Cussler and Craig Dirgo (Putnam) |
| 7) | MY LOSING SEASON, Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) |
| 8) | ABRAHAM, Bruce Feiler (Morrow) |
| 9) | THE CONQUERORS, Michael Beschloss (Simon & Schuster) |
| 10) | SANDY KOUFAX, Jane Leavy (HarperCollins) |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air "Monday Night Countdown" at 7:30pm ET.
ABC will air "MNF," Patriots-Titans, at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air the making of the '03 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders swimsuit calendar at 8:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Paul Hornung at 11:00pm ET.
Univ. Of Southern CA QB and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and Olympians Greg Louganis, Bruce Jenner, Bart Connor, Nadia Comaneci, Rulon Gardner, Mitch Gaylord, Lenny Krayzelburg, Kerri Strug, Janet Evans, Evelyn Ashford and Edwin Moses are scheduled to appear on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
The Golf Channel with air its "Best of Golf Talk Live" for the '02 year at 8:00pm ET.
FSN West 2's season-finale of "Carl's Jr. Sports Roundtable" will feature Lakers Exec VP/Business Operations Jeanie Buss, AEG President Tim Leiweke and AFL Avengers Owner Casey Wasserman among its guests at 9:00pm PT.
A&E's "TVography" series continues with a profile of Don Knotts at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile Ginger Lynn at 8:00pm ET.
VH1 tonight will premiere "I Love the '80s," a 10-hour series that runs through Friday. Each episode will chronicle the people, music, movies, TV shows, products, fashions, fads, trends and major events that highlighted each year of the decade. Tonight: "1980" at 9:00pm ET, and "1981" at 10:00pm.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "Late Show" | Catherine Zeta-Jones |
| "The Tonight Show" | Elijah Wood |
| "The Late Late Show" | Patrick Stewart |
| "Late Night" | Dave Chappelle (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.
