| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, April 10, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
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| • | Sale Of Sabres To Golisano Approved Today By Bankruptcy Judge, NHL BOG |
| • | IOC Coordination Commission Today Concludes Inspection Of Athens |
| • | Shares Of Fox Entertainment Group Tumble On Criticism Of DirecTV Deal |
| • | NCWO Chair Martha Burk Today Addresses Media And Public In Atlanta |
| • | FIFA World Youth Championships 2003 To Remain In United Arab Emirates |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
BETTMAN EXPECTS SABRES SALE TO CLOSE WITHIN TEN DAYS
The AP reports that U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael Kaplan today approved the sale of the Sabres to B. Thomas Golisano. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, in Buffalo for the NCAA Frozen Four, is expected to address the media later today. As part of the deal, Golisano assumes control of HSBC Arena and the NLL Buffalo Bandits (AP, 4/10). Bettman released the following statement: “The Court approved this transaction today, the [BOG] has also approved it, and the anticipation is that the sale of the Sabres will close within 10 days” (THE DAILY).
COMMISSION CHAIR SAYS ALL REMAINING PROJECTS ARE FEASIBLE
The IOC today announced that the Coordination Commission completed its three-day inspection of Athens, which included meetings with ATHOC and the Greek government. The Commission told organizers that they needed to sustain the sense of urgency and coordinated efforts that have led to progress over recent months, and that preparations must now move from operational planning to actual delivery. Security issues were also discussed during workshops (THE DAILY).
IOC Coordination Commission Chair Denis Oswald: “I am happy to say that everything which was planned in these 500 days is still feasible. There are no projects where we can say: They are no longer feasible because we don’t have the remaining time” (AP, 4/10).
SHARES OF FOX LOSE 17% AS ANALYSTS CRITICIZE DIRECTV DEAL
REUTERS reports that shares of Fox Entertainment Group, which holds the U.S. entertainment assets of News Corp., today “plunged to their lowest level in nearly six months, … as analysts criticized the structure of the takeover of DirecTV.” The structure “saddles Fox with an additional $4.5[B] of debt. The unit will also issue 74 million new shares to News Corp. as part of the transfer, which further pressures its shares” (REUTERS, 4/10). As of presstime, shares of Fox were down $4.66, or 17%, to $22.59.
BURK REITERATES THAT COMPANIES MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
NCWO Chair Martha Burk hosted a press conference today in Atlanta, during which she said, “When private clubs do not conduct themselves as private, when they derive enormous profits and benefits from the public and when they strive to gain support from the public and endear themselves through their activities, then they must be held accountable to the values of the public.” Burk added, “Augusta National’s member stakeholders are the [CEOs, COOs and Chairs] of other for-profit corporations,” noting IBM, Microsoft, GE, AT&T, Coors, Exxon-Mobil, Ford, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, American Express and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (THE DAILY).
Sports Illustrated golf writer Rick Lipsey and Golf for Women Contributing Editor Marcia Chambers discussed the Augusta National controversy on CNBC’s “Open Exchange” with Tyler Mathisen in the 2:45pm ET block (THE DAILY).
Meanwhile, the first round of The Masters was postponed until Friday due to heavy rain (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
Racing Champions Ertl Corporation today announced that it has changed its company name to RC2 Corporation, effective yesterday. The company began trading today under a new NASDAQ symbol, RCRC (THE DAILY).
FIFA today announced that the FIFA World Youth Championships 2003, which was postponed due to the war in Iraq, has been rescheduled for November 27-December 19 and will be played as scheduled in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament was originally scheduled to be played March 25-April 16 (THE DAILY).
The London GUARDIAN reports that France today was named the host country for ’07 rugby World Cup, beating England by an 18-3 vote. The event will be held September 7-October 20, 2007 (London GUARDIAN, 4/10).
MLS today announced that former MLSer John Harkes will co-host Fox Sports World’s weekly highlight show “MLS Wrap,” which debuts Saturday at midnight ET. Sean Wheelock will join Harkes on the show (THE DAILY).
The Stanley Cup visited Fort Dix today where NHL employee Fernando Ramirez and his unit 442nd MP Company are mobilizing for Iraq. More than 500 service men and women gathered to see the Cup and have their pictures taken with it (THE DAILY).
Churchill Downs today announced an online contest entitled the “Kentucky Derby $5 Million Pay Day” that will reward the winner with $5M for correctly guessing the exact order of finish for the race, which will be run May 3 (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
YES Chair & CEO Leo Hindery will be the featured speaker at NYU’s Cal Ramsey Distinguished Lecturer Series in Sports Management. Hindery will speak on the topic, “New Media Configurations: The Story of the YES Network,” at 6:30pm ET at the Marriott Marquis (THE DAILY).
The Mariners will host the Boeing Salute to Armed Forces Night prior to the team’s 7:05pm PT game against the Angels. Approximately 4,000 group tickets have been sold for the game, which will include five ceremonial first pitches being thrown by the area military personnel of the year and the presentation of plaques to a member of each of the five branches. An armed forces commemorative coin will be distributed to the first 20,000 fans in attendance (THE DAILY).
The Celtics will distribute green-and-white basketball nets bearing the logos of both the team and team sponsor Citizens Bank to the first 15,000 fans in attendance for the team’s 7:30pm ET game against the 76ers. Additionally, the two groups will distribute 2,000 nets to community organizations and recreations centers across eastern New England (THE DAILY).
Heat F Caron Butler will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the 7:05pm ET Mets-Marlins game at Pro Player Stadium in Miami (THE DAILY).
Eagles CB Troy Vincent will be awarded the Byron “Whizzer” White Award during the 30th annual NFL Fever/NFL Players Award Gala at the Hilton Washington Hotel, beginning at 5:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
Syracuse Univ. will host a celebration in honor of the NCAA men’s basketball champions at 7:30pm ET in the Carrier Dome (THE DAILY).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Mighty Ducks-Red Wings Game One, at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Minnesota-Michigan in the NCAA Frozen Four at 6:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Wild-Avalanche Game One, at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Jack Nicklaus at 8:00pm ET.
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will be on TNT’s “Listen Up!” at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air 76ers-Celtics at 7:30pm and Kings-Lakers at 10:00pm ET.
NFL HOFer Tony Dorsett, actor Rocky Carroll and Blackbelt TV’s Trisha, Robin and Chris Casamassa are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
NBA Kings F Chris Webber will be on CBS’ “The Late Late Show” with Craig Kilborn at 12:35am ET.
NBA TV’s “Over Time” will feature Lakers C Shaquille O’Neal at 6:00pm ET.
NBA TV’s “Biography” will profile Michael Jordan at 8:00pm ET.
A&E’s “Biography” will profile Marie Antoinette at 8:00pm ET.
E!’s “True Hollywood Story” will profile The Last Days of Sharon Tate at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Marg Helgenberger |
| “The Tonight Show” | Regis Philbin |
| “The Late Late Show” | Gerri Halliwell |
| “Late Night” | Adam Sandler |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Eddie Griffin |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH’s Thomas Lee writes that Anheuser-Busch “quietly has prepared to conquer what it considers the next frontier in beer marketing: music.” Known as “True Music,” A-B’s plan is to “recruit bands in local markets and plug their music at private concerts, in television and radio advertising, and in Internet hype. The company also reached a deal with VH1 … to open a show this summer that will feature True Music artists” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/10).
The BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD’s Cary Estes wrote of NASCAR’s rise in popularity, which rivals that of the major professional sports leagues, “The concern now is whether some of the financial issues that hit those pro sports – from revenue disparity between the teams to labor issues between owners and players – will soon seep into NASCAR” (BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports Business: The Yankees’ Opening Day payroll of $152.7M is 30% higher than that of the Mets, who are second in the league with a payroll of $117.2M. While the Yankees topped the list last year as well, name the team with the second-highest Opening Day payroll last year and the percent difference between the club and the Yankees.
IN OTHER NEWS…
REUTERS reports that Nokia will “slash over 10[%] of staff at its ailing Networks unit in its latest attempt to cut costs to match flagging demand in the sector.” The majority of the 1,800 job cuts at the division “would come in Finland and would hit research and development, operations, sales and marketing and other areas” (REUTERS, 4/10).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending April 6 (BILLBOARD.com, 4/10):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | Meteora | Linkin Park | Warner Bros. |
| 2) | Get Rich Or Die Tryin' | 50 Cent | Shady/Aftermath |
| 3) | Now 12 | Various Artists | EMI/Universal/Sony/Zomba |
| 4) | One Heart | Celine Dion | Epic |
| 5) | Come Away With Me | Norah Jones | Blue Note |
| 6) | Elephant | The White Stripes | Third Man |
| 7) | The Very Best of Cher | Cher | Geffen/MCA/Warner Bros. |
| 8) | Chicago | Soundtrack | Epic |
| 9) | Fallen | Evanescence | Wind-up |
| 10) | Chocolate Factory | R. Kelly | Jive |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
The Red Sox ’02 Opening Day payroll of $108.4M was 16% lower than the Yankees’ $125.9M.
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