| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday March 18, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Penguins President Tom Rooney Stepping Down As Part Of Reorganization |
| • | CBS Sports Offers No Answer As McManus Is In Round-The-Clock Meetings |
| • | K.C. Champions Tour Stop Today Renamed Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am |
| • | Full90 Sports Today Enters Into Sponsorship Agreement With MLS Galaxy |
| • | 1-800-DENTIST To Sponsor Family Zone At Edison Int’l Field Of Anaheim |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
KEN SAWYER REPLACING TOM ROONEY AS PENGUINS PRESIDENT
The AP reports that Penguins President Tom Rooney is “stepping down as part of a reorganization ordered” by Owner/C Mario Lemieux. Lemieux Group President Ken Sawyer will assume the post and oversee all off-ice duties he and Rooney previously shared. Lemieux has said in recent weeks that he “planned to play a more active role in management and personnel decisions” (AP, 3/18).
CBS SPORTS STILL UNSURE OF CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR TOURNEY
CBS Sports this afternoon had planned to hold a conference call regarding the net’s first- and second-round coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament with CBS Sports President Sean McManus and CBS Sports Senior VP/Programming Mike Aresco. On the call, CBS Sports VP/Communications LeslieAnne Wade announced, “Unfortunately, Sean McManus is in round-the-clock contingency meetings and it is premature to discuss the network’s plans if and when CBS Sports is pre-empted by war coverage. I apologize for not being able to answer your questions and will have no further comments at this time” (THE DAILY).
CNBC’s Scott Wapner reported that White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer today said that the government has “made no recommendation to postpone the tournament” ("Power Lunch,” CNBC, 3/18).
CBS today also announced that Viacom-owned sister net TNN will telecast the NCAA Men’s Tournament Highlights Show on various dates, marking the first time the CBS Sports-produced show will air on TNN. The show will follow live game action on Thursday, March 27 through Sunday, March 30, as well as Saturday, April 5 and Monday, April 7 from 12:30-1:00am ET/PT (THE DAILY).
FORTY-NINE OF 65 TOURNEY TEAMS SPORT NIKE OR JORDAN SHOES
Of the 65 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament teams, 49 sport the Nike swoosh or the Brand Jordan logo, the same number as ‘02, while 33 schools wear Nike uniforms. All four No. 1 seeds – Texas, Kentucky, Arizona and Oklahoma – are Nike partners, the second consecutive year Nike can make that claim. Following Nike, adidas has 13 schools, up from nine last year, with Pittsburgh (No. 2) as its highest seed. Reebok, with two partners, has Memphis (No. 7) as its highest seed, while AND 1 outfits one school, No. 11 Penn. See tomorrow’s edition of The Daily for a complete listing of each tournament team’s outfitter.
CHAMPIONS TOUR CELEBRITY PRO-AM EVENT CHANGES NAME, LOGO
The Bayer Advantage Invitational, a Champions Tour event to be played May 12-18 at The National Golf Club of K.C., today changed its name to the Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am, marking the first year of the pro-am aspect of the event. A new logo was also unveiled. Tournament Chair & Baseball HOF member George Brett will be joined in the Pro-Am by several celebrities, including former VP Dan Quayle, radio and TV personality Rush Limbaugh, Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, Univ. of KS basketball coach Roy Williams and golfer Suzy Whaley. Whaley will use the event as a tune-up for her PGA Tour appearance at the Greater Hartford Open in June (THE DAILY).
FULL90 SPORTS TO SPONSOR MLS GALAXY FOR ’03 SEASON
CA-based soccer equipment company Full90 Sports today announced that it has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the MLS Galaxy for the ’03 season. Under the agreement, Full90 Sports will be featured in-stadium, as well as via Internet and TV exposure. The company will also serve as the presenting sponsor of a Galaxy community program and various MLS youth camps (THE DAILY).
BROWN & BROWN TODAY ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF ESIX
FL-based Brown & Brown today announced the asset acquisition of GA-based Entertainment & Sports Insurance Experts (ESIX), effective January 1, 2003. ESIX, which specializes in providing insurance products and services to individuals and businesses in the professional sports and entertainment industries, will continue to operate under the ESIX name as a stand-alone business unit within Brown & Brown (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
1-800-DENTIST today signed an agreement to sponsor the Family Zone at Edison Int’l Field of Anaheim. In addition to promotional signage at each Angels home game during the ’03 season, the company will sponsor 13 “1-800-DENTIST Family Sundays” (THE DAILY).
The NBA today announced that NBA TV will air its first “Int’l Game of the Week” on Saturday at 1:00pm ET with Euroleague’s FC Barcelona versus Alba Berlin (THE DAILY).
The Suns today announced that the team has signed a multi-year deal with the National Academy of Sports Medicine to become the team’s exclusive training partner (THE DAILY).
Wizards of the Coast, in conjunction with Hasbro Consumer Products Worldwide, and K2 today signed a licensing agreement that allows K2 to utilize “Magic: The Gathering” card art on its K2 and Ride snowboards (THE DAILY).
Sega today officially announced the release of “Sega Sports World Series Baseball 2K3,” which features an ESPN telecast-style presentation and retro uniforms (THE DAILY).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
WWE today announced that the Miller Lite Catfight Girls will make an appearance at WrestleMania XIX, live from Safeco Field March 30 at 5:00pm PT (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
NY Gov. George Pataki will present Expos VP & GM Omar Minaya with the Premio Orgullo (Pride Award) at the Hispanic Federation’s Ninth Annual Benefit Gala at the Waldorf-Astoria in N.Y., beginning at 6:00pm ET (THE DAILY).
Bills Owner Ralph Wilson and his wife Mary will attend a cocktail reception called, “Tuesday Night Football,” at the Strong Museum in Rochester from 5:30-7:30pm ET. The event is in conjunction with the museum’s interactive “Football: The Exhibit,” which runs through May (THE DAILY).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air NCAA men’s basketball: Texas Southern-UNC Asheville in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at 7:00pm ET and DePaul-North Carolina in the NIT at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA men’s basketball: Georgetown-Tennessee in the first round of the NIT at 7:00pm ET.
Vikings OT Bryant McKinnie, A’s P Mark Mulder, Univ. of FL men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan and actress Vivica A. Fox are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
HBO’s “Real Sports” with Bryant Gumbel will examine the USOC and the impact of the Augusta National controversy at 10:00pm ET. NBA referee Bob Delaney and former NBAer Darryl Dawkins will also be featured.
WWE wrestler Chris Jericho will be on CBS’ “The Late Late Show” with Craig Kilborn at 12:35am ET.
A&E’s “Biography” will profile Faye Dunaway at 8:00pm ET.
Actor Tom Dressen will guest host CBS’ “Late Show” at 11:35pm ET as David Letterman continues to recover from a case of the shingles.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Kiefer Sutherland |
| “The Tonight Show” | Dana Carvey (r) |
| “The Late Late Show” | Vivica A. Fox |
| “Late Night” | Julianne Moore (r) |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Geri Halliwell |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The CINCINNATI ENQUIRER’s John Erardi examines Reds COO John Allen’s role as the point man in the design of Great American Ball Park. When the ballpark “opens officially in just two weeks, fans will see a place that clearly bears Allen’s fingerprints” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER).
USA TODAY’s McCarthy & Hiestand profile several groups planning protests both in support of and against NCWO Chair Martha Burk’s protest of Augusta National Golf Club, writing, “This is the age of Reality TV, where everybody gets his or her 15 minutes of fame. And in Augusta’s battle of the sexes, people are choosing sides and organizing picket lines” for The Masters (USA TODAY).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports & Entertainment: Which of the following NCAA men’s basketball coaches did not appear as himself in “He Got Game” trying to recruit “Jesus Shuttlesworth,” played by Sonics G Ray Allen?
A. Rick Pitino
B. Jim Calhoun
C. Roy Williams
D. Lute Olson
IN OTHER NEWS……
BRANDWEEK.com reports that a U.S. unit of News Corp. plans to “raise $1.35[B] through a bond convertible into shares of BskyB” in an effort to raise funds to buy DirecTV (BRANDWEEK.com, 3/18).
THE DAILY STAT: NBA'S HIGHEST PAID PLAYERS
The following are the highest-paid players by position in the NBA, according to David Dupree (USA TODAY, 3/18).
| POS | NAME | TEAM | SALARY |
| PG | Scottie Pippen | Trail Blazers | $19,727,524 |
| SG | Allan Houston | Knicks | $14,343,750 |
| C | Shaquille O'Neal | Lakers | $23,571,428 |
| PF | Juwan Howard | Nuggets | $20,152,000 |
| SF | Kevin Garnett | Timberwolves | $25,200,000 |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
UConn coach Jim Calhoun did not appear in “He Got Game.”
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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