| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, January 9, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Senators Obtain Interim Financing Today To Continue Operations |
| • | CART Today Announces Return To England For Third Consecutive Year |
| • | AHL Awards '04 All-Star Classic To City Of Grand Rapids And Griffins |
| • | ESPN Today Announces Australian Open Programming Schedule |
| • | German Net Premiere World To Broadcast Two Live NBA Games Per Week |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/In Other News/Articles Of Interest/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
SENATORS CHAIR ROD BRYDEN TO HOLD 4:00PM NEWS CONFERENCE
Senators Chair Rod Bryden will hold a 4:00pm ET news conference at the Corel Centre to discuss the team's filing for bankruptcy protection today, and the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that "a judge ordered that the team can continue operating until February 10." In the interim, PricewaterhouseCoopers will seek a buyer for the team. Judge James Chadkick said, "If the team was placed in bankruptcy at this time, everybody would lose." The Senators will be given US$8.8M in interim financing provided by FleetBoston Financial Corp. and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (GLOBEANDMAIL.ca, 1/9).
CART TO RACE AT ENGLAND'S BRANDS HATCH CIRCUIT IN MAY
CART today announced that a race at England's Brands Hatch circuit has been added to the '03 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford schedule. The May 5 event will mark the third consecutive year that CART has raced in England, after two years at Rockingham Motor Speedway. It is the first Champ Car race at Brands Hatch since '78 (THE DAILY). The AP reports that CART tomorrow will announce the venue for a May 11 race in Germany (AP, 1/9).
GRIFFINS SEASON-TICKET PACKAGES TO INCLUDE ALL-STAR CLASSIC
AHL President & CEO Dave Andrews today announced that the Grand Rapids Griffins and the city of Grand Rapids have been awarded the '04 AHL All-Star Classic. The announcement was made at Van Andel Arena, which opened in '96 and seats nearly 11,000 for hockey. The logo for the event was also unveiled (THE DAILY). The GRAND RAPIDS PRESS reports while no date has yet been selected for the two-day event, it "will be included in Griffins season-ticket packages" (GRAND RAPIDS PRESS, 1/9).
ESPN TO OFFER 77.5 HOURS OF AUSTRALIAN OPEN COVERAGE
ESPN today announced that it will air 77.5 hours of '03 Australian Open coverage, a 12% increase over last year's 68 hours. The 43 hours of planned live coverage is the most ever for the net. Coverage begins January 12 on ESPN2, and ends with live coverage of the men's final on January 25. ESPN also announced that Mary Carillo rejoins the net for event telecasts, and Chris Fowler has been added as an on-site host – a first for ESPN's Australian Open coverage (THE DAILY).
ESPN also released the ESPN HD schedule for '03, including MLB, NBA, NHL, women's NCAA basketball and the College World Series. The first telecast is a March 30 Rangers-Angels game, the MLB season-opener (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
The NBA announced new TV agreements with seven telecasters in Germany: Premiere World, DSF, ProSieben, Sat.1, ARD, ZDF and RTL. Premiere World will broadcast two live games each week, including the NBA All-Star Game and NBA Finals (THE DAILY).
Ticket packages for the '03 NHL All-Star Weekend made available today at the Office Depot Center in Sunrise, FL, sold out within the first hour of availability (THE DAILY).
The Elias Sports Bureau "is becoming the official statistician of Major League Soccer, which joins baseball, the NFL, NBA and NHL as its clients" (AP, 1/9).
National Amusements today announced a partnership with the NFL, CBS Sports and PepsiCo to host a sweepstakes that offers Showcase Cinemas patrons the chance to win a trip to the AFC Championship Game. 
Promoted via a custom-made promotional trailer, on-screen slides, lobby signs and movie guides, the campaign also features a 90-second trailer that can be seen before most feature films at Showcase Cinemas (THE DAILY).
NEWS BLUEZETTE reports FSN personality Lisa Dergan will be this year's St. Pauli Girl. Dergan will "embark on a 'media tour' that will coincide with an online sweepstakes," with prizes that include a trip to the St. Pauli Girl photo shoot in CA and a weekend in Las Vegas, making it hard for her to "find time for journalism." St. Pauli Girl spokesperson Steve Matela comments, "After her year reign, she will probably end up with a major market anchor position at a Fox station" (NEWSBLUES.com, 1/9).
THE YAO TRACKER
Is there a "Yao bounce" at the gate? The Closing Bell tracks each NBA team's average attendance at the time of their home game against the Rockets, and their attendance against the Yao-led Rockets. As you can see, Yao has had a slight impact, as the Rockets road average of 16,772 skews slightly higher than the league average of 16,373. Of note, the Rockets' average attendance through 18 home games is 13,046 (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The L.A. TIMES' Helene Elliott writes that the Senators "have done everything right on the ice and have played by the tough rules for survival of Canadian teams in the NHL, but still they can't make a go of it in the country that invented the game and considers itself hockey's guardian" (L.A. TIMES).
ESPN.com's Darren Rovell explains "the intricacies of the future business challenges facing the cash-strapped" Senators (ESPN.com).
Meanwhile, the Montreal GAZETTE's Don MacDonald admits that while "experts agree that something has to be done to put Canadian pro sports teams on a more solid footing, … there's a wide divergence of views over what to do and whether taxpayer money should be part of the equation" (Montreal GAZETTE).
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The Royals will hold auditions at the Metro North Mall in K.C. beginning at 6:30pm CT for children ages 5-12 wishing to participate in the team's '03 ad campaign. The commercials will be filmed at the team's new spring training complex in Surprise, AZ (THE DAILY).
MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Team Minnesota will play a hockey game against former Gov. Wendell Anderson's Minnesota Old Timers at the Wakota Ice Arena in South St. Paul, beginning at 8:00pm CT. Playing for Team Minnesota are USA Olympic Women's Ice Hockey silver medalist Courtney Kennedy, USA Women's Ice Hockey team member Laura Sliminski and Univ. of MN Ice Hockey team member Megan Milbert (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/8).
IN OTHER NEWS…….
St. Louis-based HOK "ranked as the largest architectural firm in the United States in a ranking published by World Architecture magazine." HOK was ranked the second-largest firm in the world, behind Japan-based Nikken Sekkei (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/9).
AD AGE reported that "Live From Tomorrow," the "young-skewing live variety/news/entertainment show slotted to be perhaps the first prime time-broadcast network show without commercials, is nearing a deal with the WB." Pepsi and Visa USA have signed marketing deals with the show (AD AGE, 1/8).
ELECTRONIC MEDIA reported that the second edition of Fox's "American Idol," set to debut January 21, has named its sponsors. AT&T Wireless "has signed on as an exclusive presenting sponsor." Old Navy and Clairol's Herbal Essences "are also on board as new advertising partners." Ford Motor Co. and Coca-Cola are returning sponsors. Sponsorship packages include product placements and interstitials (ELECTRONIC MEDIA, 1/8).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists Billboard Magazine's top-selling CDs for the week ending January 2 (BILLBOARD.com, 1/9):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | 8 Mile | Soundtrack | Shady |
| 2) | Come Away With Me | Norah Jones | Blue Note |
| 3) | Let Go | Avril Lavigne | Arista |
| 4) | Home | Dixie Chicks | Monument/Columbia |
| 5) | Stripped | Christine Aguilera | RCA |
| 6) | This Is Me…Then | Jennifer Lopez | Epic |
| 7) | Justified | Justin Timberlake | Jive |
| 8) | Up! | Shania Twain | Mercury (Nashville) |
| 9) | I Care 4 U | Aaliyah | Blackground/Universal |
| 10) | Now 11 | Various Artists | Universal/EMI/Zomba/Sony |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air the PGA Tour's Mercedes Championship at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA Basketball, Ohio State-Michigan State at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Mighty Ducks-Avalanche at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Brett Favre at 8:00pm ET.
Bucs WR Keyshawn Johnson, Dolphins DE Jason Taylor, Saints OT Kyle Turley, Raiders CB Charles Woodson and "Spawn" creator Todd McFarlane are scheduled to appear on FSN's "BDSSP."
Comedian Steve Harvey will be on TNT's "Listen Up! Charles Barkley with Ernie Johnson" at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air Kings-Nets at 7:30pm ET and Spurs-Trail Blazers at 10:00pm ET.
HBO's "Inside The NFL" will feature an interview with Cowboys coach Bill Parcells at 8:00pm ET.
Jets QB Chad Pennington will be on MSG's "Angles" at 10:30pm ET.
CNBC airs "The Big Heist … How AOL Took Time Warner" at 9:00pm ET. The program features interviews with Viacom Chair & CEO Summer Redstone, News Corp. Chair & CEO Rupert Murdoch, USA Interactive & Vivendi Universal Entertainment Chair & CEO Barry Diller and Walt Disney Chair & CEO Michael Eisner.
A&E's "Biography" will profile Ron Howard at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile Saved By The Bell at 8:00pm ET.
Discovery Channel will air "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science" at 9:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "Late Show" | Renee Zellweger |
| "The Tonight Show" | Adam Sandler (r) |
| "The Late Late Show" | Ashton Kutcher |
| "Late Night" | Anthony Hopkins (r) |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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