Closing Bell, March 10, 2003

VOLKSWAGEN TO BE TEVA MOUNTAIN GAMES PRESENTING SPONSOR

Untraditional Marketing, operators of the Teva Mountain Games, today announced that Volkswagen of America and SI Adventure have signed multiyear contracts to serve as the event’s presenting sponsor and official media partner, respectively.  At the event, SI Adventure will host Gear Town, an interactive demo and expo area, and Volkswagen will showcase its vehicles including the new Touareg SUV.  The event, which features ten sports as well as a mountain photography competition and live music, will be held in Vail, CO, from June 4-8 (THE DAILY).

ANC, BRITTEN CONTINUE RELATIONSHIP WITH FORMAL AGREEMENT

LED signage system manufacturer ANC Sports Enterprises today entered into a marketing partnership with banner and sign supplier Britten Media.  The two companies have worked together for six years, as Britten has been the supplier of the rotational signage banners for ANC since its inception in ’97.  Under the partnership, ANC will expand its product line to static signage products such as light pole banners, field wall signage, tunnel covers, flags and media backdrops.  ANC will also serve as Britten’s exclusive rep of static signage for all pro sports teams and venues (THE DAILY).

ACC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME EXPECTED TO BREAK RECORD

The ACC women’s basketball tournament concludes tonight as Duke Univ. faces the Univ. of NC, and the Greensboro NEWS & RECORD reports that the tournament “is on the mark to break all sorts of attendance records, including the closest thing the league has ever had to a sellout.”  As of yesterday afternoon, the league had sold about 9,000 tickets to tonight’s game at the Greensboro Coliseum, and “hundreds more are expected to buy tickets tonight at the box office.”  Attendance for last year’s championship between the same schools was 9,204 (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 3/10).

CART DROPS WI RACE AFTER FAILURE TO MAKE PAYMENTS

The AP reports that The Grand Prix of Road America, scheduled for August 3 in Elkhart Lake, WI, today was “dropped from the 2003 Champ Car schedule because CART said it did not comply with the sanctioning agreement.”  CART sued the track in February, “contending it had not received the final installment of the sanctioning fee for last year’s race or the first payment” for this year’s race.  According to the suit, the sanctioning fee for this year’s race was $1.75M (AP, 3/10).

SABRES DEAL TWO TOP PLAYERS AS GOLISANO TALKS CONTINUE

While efforts to sell the team to B. Thomas Golisano continue, the Sabres today traded captain & C Stu Barnes to the Stars and RW Rob Ray to the Senators.  BUFFALO BUSINESS FIRST notes that Ray is “one of the franchise’s most popular players in history.”  Furthermore, Ray is “ valued in the Buffalo community for his work with charitable agencies and causes” such as the Make-A-Wish foundation, Roswell Park Cancer Institute & Children’s Hospital and the March of Dimes (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/10).

BUZZER BEATERS

The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS reports MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said that the Giants’ chances of landing an All-Star Game “are better than good,” and he hopes to “announce the sites for 2005-07 – and possibly ’08 – in the next few weeks.”  The White Sox and Astros will host the next two All-Star Games (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/10).

In an attempt to continue to build its profile in the U.S., The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today launched “Team RBS,” featuring Jack Nicklaus, Charles Howell III and Luke Donald.  The trio will appear in print and TV ad campaigns under the current RBS ad theme of “Less Talk” (THE DAILY).

PBS series “Independent Lens” will broadcast a sports film in both April and May: “Chiefs,” which follows the WY Indian High School basketball team on April 1, and “Heart of the Sea,” which profiles Hawaiian female surfing pioneer Rell Sunn on May 6 (THE DAILY).

The Bucs today announced that DT Warren Sapp has donated $25,000 to the FL Citrus Sports Foundation to build a new computer lab for the organization’s annual summer camp (THE DAILY).

CHANNEL SURFING

ESPN will air NCAA men’s basketball, Manhattan-Fairfield in the MAAC Championship at 7:00pm ET, Southern Illinois-Creighton in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at 9:00pm ET and San Diego-Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Championship at midnight ET.

ESPN2 will air NCAA men’s basketball, Drexel-UNC Wilmington in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship at 7:00pm ET.

ESPN2 will air NCAA women’s basketball, Ohio State-Purdue in the Big Ten Conference Championship at 9:00pm ET.

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

Former Walt Disney Golf Classic Tournament Dir Charles Davis and former tennis player Ivan Lendl will be on The Golf Channel’s “19^th Hole” at 7:00pm ET.

Bravo will air “Page to Screen: Field of Dreams” at 8:00pm ET.

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

E! will air “Child Stars of the 80’s” at 8:00pm ET.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg will guest host CBS’ “Late Show” at 11:35pm ET as David Letterman continues to recover from a case of shingles.

HEADLINERS

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

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The S.F. CHRONICLE’s C.W. Nevius writes of NASCAR’s growing popularity and calls it “the whitest sport in America.  The drivers are white, the pit crews are white and it has become a cliché to note that at most races, Confederate flags outnumber African American fans” (S.F. CHRONICLE).

In a special to the L.A. TIMES, World Anti-Doping Agency Chair Dick Pound and USA Track & Field CEO Craig Masback debate U.S. drug testing policies.  Pound’s point: “Stonewalling has become the new American Way, with ethics and credibility the primary casualties.”  Masback’s counterpoint: “The U.S., rightfully held to a higher standard, continues to be at the forefront in rooting out drug cheats” (L.A. TIMES).

The WASHINGTON POST’s Mark Maske writes of the Redskins’ free-agent shopping spree last week, “Questions have been raised about whether the Redskins sacrificed a defense ranked fifth in the NFL in the their zeal to improve their offense.  But agents, Redskins officials and the players involved in the transactions all agreed that the Redskins were successful in one aspect: They drew up a list of players they wanted, decided to try to get them quickly – and got many of them” (WASHINGTON POST).

The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE’s Janet Rae Brooks writes, “Turin yearns to shed its image as the country’s gray auto-making capital – the Detroit of Italy – and blossom instead into a tourist draw to rival Rome, Florence and Venice.”  TOROC CEO Paolo Rato: “We are expecting after the Games a substantial increase in tourism.  People don’t know what or where Torino is.  They think it’s an industrial city with chimneys” (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE).

In a sports section Cover Story, USA TODAY’s Mike Dodd writes, “Physicians in several U.S. states are dealing with a malpractice crisis in health care today.  But those who treat multimillionaire pro athletes are particularly nervous because the potential damages in a lawsuit against them could be astronomical. … The medical world in pro sports is tiptoeing through uncertain times, with money issues threatening to compromise the quality of care given finely tuned athletes” (USA TODAY).

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

TODAY’S TEASER…

Sports: Name the five teams that have already secured automatic bids to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

IN OTHER NEWS…

DAILY VARIETY reports that the median age of TNT’s average viewer “has risen from 42.6 to 45.4 in primetime, and from 43.8 to 45.0 in total day.”  Similarly, TBS’s median age “has also crept up, from 41.6 to 42.4 in primetime and 40.1 to 41.2 in total day” (DAILY VARIETY, 3/10).

BRANDWEEK reports that Trista Rehn of “The Bachelorette” and Evan Marriott of “Joe Millionaire” will appear in KFC ads with Jason Alexander.  The 30-second spots, via BBDO, N.Y., which will tout KFC’s new Honey BBQ Boneless Wings and Honey BBQ Sauce, will run from March 17-April 27.  Spending was not revealed (BRANDWEEK, 3/10).

THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION

The following presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending March 1 (NYTIMES.com, 3/10):

…TODAY’S ANSWER

The five teams that have already secured bids are Troy State, UNC-Asheville, Austin Peay, East Tennessee State and Penn.

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

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