| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday March 27, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Paul Pierce Signs Two-Year Endorsement Deal With The Pepsi Bottling Group |
| • | NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Continues Under Heightened Security |
| • | ESPN HD Today Announces Affil Agreements In Anticipation Of Sunday Debut |
| • | Promotion Of The Week: 76ers Reviving '70's Fad With Pet Rock Giveaway |
| • | Pro Football HOF And Festival Warns Local Businesses Of Scam Artists |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight's Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
PAUL PIERCE TO ENDORSE PEPSI PRODUCTS IN NEW ENGLAND
The Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) today announced that Celtics F Paul Pierce has signed a two-year deal to endorse Pepsi products in the New England region. As part of the agreement, Pierce will make approximately six promotional appearances per year, as well as participate in two sweepstakes. The first, "Take A Celtic To School Day," is a POP sweeps at area Market Baskets for children in grades K-12. The second, "Celtics VIP For A Day," offers the winner the chance to attend a Celtics practice, have lunch with the team, attend a chalk talk session and luxury suite tickets for a game. Radio ads are planned for next season, and a TV campaign is being considered, although no plans have been finalized. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. In November '02, the Celtics entered into a three-deal with PBG (THE DAILY).
METRODOME, ARROWHEAD POND INCREASE SECURITY FOR TOURNEY
The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament continues tonight on CBS with Regional Semifinal action in Minneapolis (Midwest) and Anaheim (West). The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports that an "undisclosed number of uniformed, plainclothes and horse-mounted officers will patrol downtown Minneapolis over the next several days," and streets surrounding the Metrodome will be closed starting about 4:30pm CT (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/27).
The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER reported that Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim "has increased its security staff by 30 percent for the regional, and it has been briefed to watch for suspicious activity." The venue has been identified "as the second-most likely target in case of a terrorist attack in Orange County next to Disneyland" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 3/26).
ESPN HD TO DEBUT IN OVER 22 MILLION HOMES SUNDAY
ESPN HD today announced several affil agreements in anticipation of its Sunday debut. The net will launch on Insight Communications, Cox Communications, the National Cable Television Cooperative, Service Electric Cable TV, Utilacom and Comporium Communications systems, which collectively serve over 22 million subscribers. ESPN HD debuts at 6:30pm ET Sunday with "Baseball Tonight," followed by Rangers-Angels at 8:00pm (THE DAILY).
PROMOTION OF THE WEEK: SIXERS PASS THE ROCK ... THE PET ROCK
As a continuation of their 40th anniversary celebration, the 76ers tomorrow night will revive one of the great fads of the '70's, when the team distributes Pet Rocks to the first 5,000 fans in attendance for the team's 7:00pm ET game against the Warriors. The promotion, conceived by 76ers Exec VP Dave Coskey, includes a basketball-styled version of the Pet Rock, as well as the traditional Pet Rock carrying case and owner's manual, "The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock." All items are emblazoned with the team's anniversary logo.
The 76ers ad sales department enlisted team advertiser Chevrolet, whose truck theme is "Like a Rock," to sponsor the promotion. Aside from the company's logo appearing on the back cover of the owner's manual, Chevrolet will not have any other promotion-specific presence at the First Union Center on game night. The promotion has been supported in the team's standard radio and TV rotation for the past 30 days.
When asked about the impetus for the promotion, Coskey pointed to past promotions with Slinky, Etch A Sketch, View-Master and Matchbox. Coskey: "We've based most of our promotions on a retro theme, from the standpoint that they are things that kids would think are cool, but that adults knew the name and knew the value of."
When asked about the significance of promotions for a team that is averaging 19,474 through 34 home dates this season, Coskey said, "Before we used promotions to entice people to come into the building. Now the most qualified consumers for our product, the ones that we want to be most satisfied with our product, are already in the building. So it's even more important for us to make them happy."
Summing up the event, Coskey said, "It's old, sophomoric humor kind of like when you watch old 'Saturday Night Live' stuff. It's really not today's humor, but you still get a chuckle out of it. We try to have fun."
Do you have an interesting promotion The Daily should know about? If so, please email Joe Oliver at joeo@sportsbusinessdaily.com
BUZZER BEATERS
The AKRON BEACON JOURNAL reports that the Pro Football HOF and the Pro Football HOF Festival are "warning local businesses and individuals that scam artists may be presenting themselves as representatives of the organizations" seeking sponsorship dollars in return for a "money order that can be used to purchase door prizes for a [HOF] activity" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 3/27).
The FINANCIAL TIMES reports that MP3.com Europe "has extended its partnership with Reebok to create an ad campaign" featuring Shakira (FINANCIAL TIMES, 3/27).
FIFA today announced that the governing body and Head of Competitions Guido Tognoni mutually agreed to terminate the latter's employment contract, effective immediately (THE DAILY).
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that Mavericks G Nick Van Exel "has elected to discontinue the show he was doing with KTCK-AM after the swirl of controversy last week when he made a disparaging remark about President Bush" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/27).
BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that America' Cup winner Switzerland has "chosen eight European sites as possible hosts for its defense." The sites are Naples, Porto Cervo and Elba, Italy; Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Marseille, France (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 3/27).
The CP reports that four-time World Champion figure skater Kurt Browning is joining the Biography Channel as a regular host beginning April 14 (CP, 3/27).
The Pacers today signed ESPN analyst Tim Hardaway to a contract for the remainder of the season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ESPN has no plans to replace Hardaway for the duration of the season (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
America's Athletes With Disabilities will host its 2nd Annual "Goddess Night" fundraiser at the Regent Wall Street in N.Y. at 6:30pm ET. The event will celebrate the personal achievements of people with disabilities (THE DAILY).
The Hawks will host "Full Court Fest," a charity fundraiser for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the Hawks Foundation, beginning at 6:30pm ET at Philips Arena (THE DAILY).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN2 will air the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship at 5:00pm ET.
ESPN will air "The Sports Reporters II" at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN will air Bruins-Flyers or Kings-Avalanche at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air the World Figure Skating Championships at 7:00pm ET, with ABC picking up coverage at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Roy Campanella at 8:00pm ET.
TNT will air T'Wolves-Magic at 7:00pm ET and Rockets-Spurs at 9:30pm ET.
WCPO-ABC in Cincinnati will air "Great American Expectations," a behind-the-scenes look at Great American Ball Park at 8:00pm ET.
Actor Chris Rock will be the 1,000th guest tonight on FSN's "BDSSP." NCWO Chair Martha Burk and Wizards G Jerry Stackhouse also are scheduled to appear on the show.
CBS "The NFL Today" analyst Deion Sanders will be on NBC's "Last Call" with Carson Daly at 1:30am ET.
A&E's "Biography" will profile Dave Thomas at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile the game show Family Feud at 8:00pm ET.
The following chart details CBS' NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament coverage:
| NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament | Network | Time |
| Kentucky-Wisconsin | CBS | 7:10pm ET |
| Arizona-Notre Dame | CBS | 7:27pm ET |
| Pittsburgh-Marquette | CBS | 9:40pm ET |
| Kansas-Duke | CBS | 9:57pm ET |
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "Late Show" | Matthew McConaughey (r) |
| "The Tonight Show" | James Woods |
| "The Late Late Show" | Michael Clarke Duncan (r) |
| "Late Night" | Robert Duvall |
| "Jimmy Kimmel Live" | The Amazing Kreskin |
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
ESPN.com's John Clayton wrote, "The era of the $10 million a year quarterback has arrived and it's not going away. … That might seem normal in baseball and basketball, but its implication could cause more grinding in NFL front offices as they look ahead. … Having $10 million quarterbacks will be the next 500-pound gorilla in this salary-cap era" (ESPN.com).
The CINCINNATI ENQUIRER's Shannon Russell profiles Reds Dir of Promotions & Entertainment Amy Schneider, whose position was created to "manage the new ballpark's grand-scale marketing vision." With Opening Day rapidly approaching, Schneider and her co-workers "have been logging 12-hour days since January to make sure everyone visiting the park makes the most of their entertainment dollars" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER).
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY'S TEASER…
Sports & Entertainment: Of the teams remaining in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, at which school's gymnasium were scenes from "Hoosiers" filmed?
IN OTHER NEWS…
The DENVER POST reports that Telluride ski-area owner Hideo Morita is "fishing for investors – possibly a buyer – for the San Miguel County ski hill he has owned since 1999" as he is "rebalancing" his assets (DENVER POST, 3/27).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists Billboard Magazine's top-selling CDs for the week ending March 23 (BILLBOARD.com, 3/27):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | Get Rich Or Die Tryin' | 50 Cent | Shady/Aftermath |
| 2) | Come Away With Me | Norah Jones | Blue Note |
| 3) | Chocolate Factory | R. Kelly | Jive |
| 4) | Chicago | Soundtrack | Epic |
| 5) | Fallen | Evanescence | Wind-up |
| 6) | Cocky | Kid Rock | Lava |
| 7) | Home | Dixie Chicks | Monument/Columbia |
| 8) | Street Dreams | Fabolous | Desert Storm/Elektra |
| 9) | Dutty Rock | Sean Paul | VP/Atlantic |
| 10) | 8 Mile | Soundtrack | Shady |
…TODAY'S ANSWER
Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University was used in the filming.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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