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Closing Bell

Closing Bell, January 15, 2003

The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
4:00pm ET

MLB, Expos Release Season-Ticket Package Info For Games In Puerto Rico

EA Today Announces Signings Of Miguel Tejada And Randy Johnson

Fox Sports Makes First Talent Announcements For “54321” Today

Puma Today In Chicago Unveils New MLS Fire Uniforms

NBA Today Announces Partners For NBA All-Star Saturday Night

Articles Of Interest/In Other News/Tonight’s Events/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing


EXPOS TICKET PRICES IN PUERTO RICO TO REACH 85 DOLLARS

MLB and the Expos announced today that season-ticket packages for the team’s games in Puerto Rico will go on sale Saturday, January 18. The addition of 5,000 outfield bleacher seats will increase the capacity of Hiram Bithorn Stadium to 20,000. As a result of the additional seating, more than 51% of the tickets will be priced under $25. Single game tickets range from $10-85 (THE DAILY).

ABC Radio’s Keith Olbermann, on the pricing plans: “It’s a tiny stadium, but nonetheless: the best seats in the house going for 85 bucks, 75, 65 … General admission is 25 dollars. General admission! Oh and by the way, at those prices, a per-ticket service charge is not included. Please enjoy Puerto Rican price gouging” (ABC Radio, 1/15).


TEJADA AND JOHNSON TO ENDORSE MVP BASEBALL 2003

EA announced today that A’s SS Miguel Tejada and D’Backs P Randy Johnson have been signed as the North American spokespersons and cover athletes for MVP Baseball 2003, due to hit retail in March. EA Media Specialist Jennifer Gonzalez said, “While an ad budget has not yet been determined, there are plans to utilize both Tejada and Johnson in TV ads.” Both will appear in print ads (THE DAILY).


MODEL LEEANN TWEEDEN TO CO-HOST FOX SPORTS’ “54321”

Fox Sports today announced that FSN contributor and model Leeann Tweeden, BMXer Kip Williamson and surfer Chad Towersey will serve as co-hosts for the net’s new daily extreme sports show “54321.” The show debuts Monday, January 27, at 5:00pm local time (THE DAILY).



NINE OF TEN MLS TEAMS TO DON NEW UNIFORMS FOR ’03 SEASON

Nine out of ten MLS teams will sport at least one new uniform for the ’03 season, and Puma today unveiled the new home and road uniforms for the Fire. It marks the brand’s first entry into MLS uniform design. Meanwhile, the Rapids join the Burn this season as an Atletica team. Both teams will wear new home and road uniforms. The three Nike teams – the Galaxy, MetroStars and Earthquakes – will also unveil revamped home and road uniforms. All three adidas teams – the Crew, United and Wizards – will unveil either a new home or road uniform. The Revolution, an Umbro team, will not make any changes for the upcoming season (THE DAILY).


BUZZER BEATERS

Sports Illustrated this week features an action shot of Raiders QB Rich Gannon, under the header “Crunch Time … Can Anybody Beat The Raiders?”

Sporting News this week features Rockets C Yao Ming, under the header, “The Future Is Yao.”

The NBA today announced its partners for NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by America Online, to be held in Philips Arena on February 8 at 8:00pm ET. The got milk? Rookie Challenge precedes the event at 4:00pm. Partners and corresponding events are listed below (THE DAILY):

Partner

Event

989 Sports

Skills Challenge

Jeep

All-Star Hoop-It-Up

1 800 CALL ATT

Shootout

Sprite

Rising Stars Slam Dunk

The NBA also announced today that Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and LL Cool J will headline the NBA All-Star Read to Achieve Celebration, a TV special that will be simulcast on 12 different nets on Saturday, February 8 at noon ET (THE DAILY).

The SACRAMENTO BEE reports that tickets for tonight’s Mavericks-Kings game at Arco Arena with a face value of $12 “are going on the ‘secondary market’ for $75 or more.” Courtside seats, which have a face value of $125, “are commanding upward of $500.” Greg Cullen, Owner of ticket broker Preferred Seating: “There’s still considerably more interest in the Lakers games” (SACRAMENTO BEE, 1/15).

The L.A. TIMES reports that WA State Univ. is “reporting it sold only 26,000 of its 32,000-ticket allotment” to the Rose Bowl and is now “left holding the tab for those unused $125 seats, … a bill that could total $750,000.” WA State Univ. Assistant Athletic Dir of Media Relations Rod Commons: “It’s quite a bit. We got hurt by this” (L.A. TIMES, 1/15).

The NFL announced today that LL Cool J will perform live at halftime of the Titans-Raiders AFC Championship game in Oakland. The NFL also announced that Santana & Friends will perform during the Super Bowl XXXVII pregame show (THE DAILY).

Wheaties today announced the release of a new package honoring Jesse Owens that will be available throughout February, which is Black History Month. The package was unveiled on the campus of OH State Univ., Owens’ alma mater (THE DAILY).

Injured WTA player Martina Hingis, on her future: “It is quite possible that that I will never play top-level tennis again, because my feet don’t allow it” (AP, 1/15). Hingis’ foot troubles are the subject of a long-running controversy that includes a lawsuit against Italian sports apparel and footwear company Sergio Tacchini (THE DAILY).

BBC SPORT reports that F1’s ruling body today “announced plans to cut costs and improve racing” after a meeting with team bosses in London. F1 acted “after saying the 10 team principals had failed to come up with concrete proposals despite much discussion” (BBC SPORT, 1/15).


A LIGHTER BUZZ

In an admittedly unscientific ESPN-commissioned survey of 18-65-year-old Americans, 83% of respondents said they would rather watch the Super Bowl than “make whoopee” (THE DAILY).

A survey of 500 Americans, conducted by online marketing research firm InsightExpress, revealed that two out of every five people who will watch the Super Bowl, will tune in for the commercials. On those not planning to watch the game, three out of four cited their lack of interest in football. Furthermore, the survey found that dining out at a restaurant that will not carry the game tops non-fan’s list of entertainment options on Super Sunday (THE DAILY).


TONIGHT’S EVENTS

ESPN’s Peter Gammons will host the “Hot Stove/Cool Music” benefit for the Jimmy Fund at the Paradise Club in Boston at 7:15pm ET. The evening of live rock music combined with sports talk will include an appearance by Trauser, which features Red Sox GM Theo Epstein on guitar (THE DAILY).


CHANNEL SURFING

ESPN will air NCAA men’s basketball, Virginia-Duke at 7:00pm ET. North Carolina coach Matt Doherty will serve as a guest analyst during ESPN’s “Chalk Talk Live” segment throughout the evening.

ESPN will air Mavericks-Kings at 9:00pm ET.

ESPN2 will air NCAA men’s basketball, Cincinnati-Saint Louis at 7:00pm ET, and Wyoming-Kansas at 9:00pm ET.

ESPN2 will air the Australian Open at 11:00pm ET.

ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Martina Navratilova at 8:00pm ET.

Boxer Oscar de la Hoya, Browns WR Dennis Northcutt, Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Mike Brey and ABC’s Ahmad Rashad are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”

CNN’s “Crossfire” will examine the dispute between the NFL and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority at 7:00pm ET.

NBA announcer Marv Albert will be on CBS’ “Late Show” with David Letterman at 11:35pm ET.

A&E’s “Biography” will profile Ray Liotta at 8:00pm ET.

E!’s “True Hollywood Story” will profile the movie Dirty Dancing at 8:00pm ET.

E!’s “Revealed” will feature Leonardo DiCaprio at 10:00pm ET.

Fox will air “Man vs. Beast” at 8:00pm ET, which will feature U.S. 100-meter sprinter Shawn Crawford racing a giraffe and zebra. U.S. Olympian Carl Lewis serves as a commentator.

VH1 will air “100 Greatest … Moments That Rocked TV: 60-41” at 10:00pm ET.

The Travel Channel’s “World’s Best” will feature the top ten Las Vegas casinos at 9:00pm ET.


HEADLINERS

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

“Late Show” Sandra Bullock
“The Tonight Show” Denzel Washington
“The Late Late Show” Arsenio Hall
“Late Night” Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Marla Matzer Rose writes that the Sundance Film Festival’s “reputation as a Rocky Mountain Hollywood has made [it] the place to be for many corporate marketers.” Companies such as AT&T, Zenith and American Express “return every year, investing often hundreds of thousands of dollars in becoming official sponsors,” while many other companies come “not as official sponsors but to catch some of the stardust from the 11-day fest” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER).

The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES’ Richard Roeper pays a visit to the work in progress that is Soldier Field, admitting that he “was pleasantly surprised at the potential,” as there will be a “far greater percentage of seats with decent sight lines” and a view of the downtown skyline above the north end zone (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES).

CBS SPORTSLINE’s Rick Horrow writes that the NFL heads toward Super Bowl XXXVII mindful of three major business challenges:

(1)   “Extending the ‘business stability/labor peace’ revenue-sharing model, building a solid foundation for future growth”
(2)   “Maintaining the positive ‘television ratings/ad spending’ cycle, producing enhanced and increased revenue”
(3)   “Sustaining and expanding the NFL fan base beyond the short-term controversies in key demographic areas” (CBS SPORTSLINE).

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


TODAY’S TEASER…

There is one word that changes from singular to plural by inserting a “c.” What is it?


IN OTHER NEWS…

The AP reports that the Supreme Court today “upheld a law that retroactively extends copyright protection for songs, books and cartoon characters.” The 7-to-2 ruling was a “victory for Walt Disney and other companies, but a blow to Internet publishers and others who wanted to make old books available online and use the likenesses of a Mickey Mouse cartoon and other old creations without paying high royalties” (AP, 1/15).

The BOSTON GLOBE reports that Univ. of MA President William Bulger this morning “collapsed during a funeral Mass for the late Boston Globe sportswriter Will McDonough.” Bulger, who was an honorary pallbearer, reportedly is doing fine (BOSTON.com, 1/15).


THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS

The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of January 6-12 (USA TODAY, 1/15).

RK
PROGRAM
NET
DAY
RAT/SHR
VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS)
1)
CSI
CBS
Thu
15.5/24
25.5
2)
NFC Playoff
Fox
Sat
14.8/25
24.9
3)
Friends
NBC
Thu
15.2/24
23.7
4)
ER
NBC
Thu
13.7/23
21.5
5)
Everybody Loves Raymond
CBS
Mon
12.5/18
19.7
6)
Law & Order
NBC
Wed
13.2/22
19.6
7)
Joe Millionaire
Fox
Mon
11.1/16
18.6
8)
60 Minutes
CBS
Sun
12.1/18
17.6
9)
CSI: Miami
CBS
Mon
11.6/19
17.5
10)
The Bachelorette
ABC
Wed
11.2/17
17.4


…TODAY’S ANSWER

Die becomes dice.


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

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