| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, April 17, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
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| • | Spurs Finish Season As Top-Rated Team On FSN For Fourth Straight Year |
| • | Reebok To Introduce Inclusive Marketing Campaign Around Boston Marathon |
| • | Phillies Today Unveil Plans For Ashburn Alley At New Ballpark |
| • | Yao Tracker: Rockets’ Road Average Finishes 6% Higher Than NBA Average |
| • | Critics Weigh In: “A Mighty Wind” And “Bulletproof Monk” |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
The Closing Bell will not publish Friday due to the holidays.
We will return Monday, April 21.
SPURS LEAD FSN TEAMS IN NIELSEN RATINGS FOR FOURTH YEAR
FSN today reported that the Spurs finished the season with the best ratings of any of the 22 NBA teams telecast on FSN for the fourth consecutive season, averaging a 6.0 Nielsen rating in their market for 33 regular season games, a 7% increase over last season’s 5.6 rating. Additionally, the Mavericks’ average season rating of a 3.7 in Dallas-Ft. Worth for 42 games marked a 19% increase over last season’s 3.1 (THE DAILY).
REEBOK TO LIGHT UP PRUDENTIAL BUILDING WITH BRAND MESSAGES
Reebok this weekend will introduce its marketing initiative around Monday’s 107th running of the Boston Marathon. Tomorrow night, the company will unveil a lighted message board on the Prudential building, which will feature the Reebok logo and a different brand message each of the four nights. Reebok will also debut the latest additions to the Premier Running collection at the John Hancock Health & Fitness Expo. Finally, everyone’s favorite office linebacker, “Terry Tate,” will make appearances along the course on Monday. Along with a Reebok marketing team, Tate will distribute forehead tattoos that read “Reebok … The Pain Train Is Coming.” As a note, adidas is an official sponsor of the Boston Marathon (THE DAILY).
The BOSTON HERALD reports that Monday’s Boston Marathon “is expected to be the second-biggest ever,” trailing only ’96. The field of 20,196 official runners “tops last year’s field by nearly 20[%]” (BOSTON HERALD, 4/17).
ASHBURN ALLEY TO SPAN OUTFIELD OF PHILLIES’ NEW BALLPARK
The Phillies today unveiled plans for the newly named Ashburn Alley, an outdoor entertainment area in the Phillies new ballpark dedicated to HOFer Richie Ashburn. The 50,000 square-feet area will span the entire outfield concourse and offer views of the playing field and bullpens. Attractions in Ashburn Alley include a bronze statue of Ashburn, an illustrated history of Philadelphia baseball called “Memory Lane,” a bi-level restaurant built into the scoreboard, bleacher seats atop the concession buildings and Bull’s BBQ, a picnic area named after former Phillies OF Greg Luzinski. Ashburn Alley will open one hour prior to the ballpark’s gate for each game (THE DAILY).
RUSSELL TODAY FORMALLY ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF SPALDING
Russell today formally announced that it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the brand names, inventory, contracts and related assets of Spalding Sports Worldwide for $65M. The agreement includes ownership of the Spalding and Dudley names for all products, Australian rules football equipment manufacturer Sherrin and more than 60 worldwide licensees for apparel, shoes, sporting goods and related products. Russell will not acquire Spalding’s existing golf business that is sold under different brand names. The company also announced that it has hired Scott Creelman to serve as President of the Spalding operation (THE DAILY).
YAO TRACKER: ROCKETS FINISH HIGHER THAN OVERALL ROAD AVERAGE
Throughout the NBA season, the Closing Bell compared each NBA team’s average attendance at the time of their home game against the Rockets versus their attendance against the Yao-led Rockets. Yao and the Rockets closed their season with a bang last night in beating the Nuggets and helping to draw nearly 4,000 over the Pepsi Center average. The Rockets’ road average of 17,919 is 6% higher than the league average of 16,883. Of note, the Rockets’ average attendance was 13,785, as compared to 11,737 at the end of last year (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
The USTA today announced that Thomas Zwicke has been named Dir of Facility Operations for the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY. Zwicke most recently served as the Central Park Wildlife Center Operations Manager (THE DAILY).
NASCAR.com today announced that it has selected Cole Henderson Drake, Atlanta, to develop broadcast advertising for the remainder of the ’03 season. The initial assignment consists of eight TV and four radio spots (THE DAILY).
The Baltimore SUN reports that 15,500 tickets have been sold for the Capital Classic at the MCI Center, featuring LeBron James. The event has not been a sellout “since 1981 and it has averaged just 9,000 fans during the past six years, including 7,473 last year” (Baltimore SUN, 4/17).
Beginning with Sunday’s game against the Reds in Puerto Rico at 1:05pm AT, Expos RF Vladimir Guerrero will donate 100 tickets to each Sunday game to create “La Esquina de Vladimir” (Vladimir’s Corner) at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Local promoter Munoz Bermduez Holding Partnership will match the donation (THE DAILY).
Tickets.com today announced that it sold over one million tickets online prior to the start of the MLB season through www.mlb.com and www.tickets.com (THE DAILY).
PGA Tour player Briny Baird, in collaboration with Canon USA and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, will place a photo of a missing child from the Hilton Head, SC-area on his golf bag during this weekend’s The Heritage. Baird will continue the practice for all subsequent tournaments this year (THE DAILY).
The Int’l Ice Hockey Federation will launch a new World Championship Web site – www.ihwc.net – tomorrow, one week in advance of the start of this year’s event in Finland (THE DAILY).
The WNBA Sting today announced that WNMX-FM will serve as the team’s flagship radio station for the ’03 season, broadcasting all 34 games, marking the fourth year of the relationship (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
The Dodgers Dream Foundation will unveil its commemorative Community Wall of Fame baseball campaign at Dodger Stadium at 5:45pm PT. The program will provide fans the opportunity to have a laser inscribed baseball permanently placed inside the display. Dodgers President & COO Bob Graziano, Exec VP/Business Operations Kris Rone, Exec VP & GM Dan Evans, manager Jim Tracy, OFs Shawn Green and Dave Roberts and C Paul Lo Duca will be on hand to place the first baseballs into the display (THE DAILY).
The Super Bowl XXXVIII Host Committee in Houston will conduct a seminar aimed at teaching area firms how to profit from the event from 6:00-8:00pm CT at the George R. Brown Convention Center (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/15).
The MLB Cardinals will host a private screening of “A Painted House,” a TV movie based on the John Grisham bestseller, at 8:00pm CT. The movie tells the story of an AR family whose main recreation was listening to Cardinals games on KMOX-AM. Tickets are $250, with proceeds benefiting Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation. Grisham, in addition to Cardinals past and present, will attend (THE DAILY).
Celtics President Red Auerbach will receive the Boston Athletic Association’s Patriot Award at its third annual “Cheers to the Marathon” kickoff party (THE DAILY).
Saturday
Tiger Woods will host the sixth annual Tiger Jam at 8:30pm MT at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation. Celebrities expected to attend include football HOFer Marcus Allen, ESPN’s Stuart Scott and former pro volleyball player Gabrielle Reece (THE DAILY).
NBC Sports will present live coverage of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Bud Light Million Dollar Bounty during the PBR’s Colorado Springs Invitational at 4:00pm ET. Former PBR World Champion Chris Shivers will win $1M if he is able to ride ’02 PBR Bull of the Year Yellow Jacket for eight seconds. Shivers has failed to reach the mark three times on Yellow Jacket (THE DAILY).
Sunday
FSN’s “Beyond The Glory” profiles Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban at 8:00pm ET. In Pittsburgh, Chuck Finder writes, “Embarrassing photograph after embarrassing photograph gets displayed, showing a pudgy, mop-headed Jewish kid with window-thick plastic glasses. … The Cubans offered them probably more access than any other media outlet to date” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/17).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bruins-Devils Game 5 at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air “The Sports Reporters II” at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air the Stanley Cup playoffs, Oilers-Stars Game 5 at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Johnny Unitas at 8:00pm ET and John Elway at 9:00pm ET.
Surfer Holly Beck and actor Donnie Wahlberg are scheduled to appear on FSN's "BDSSP.”
TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley will be on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno at 11:35pm ET.
A&E’s “Biography” will profile The Cadbury Family at 8:00pm ET.
E!’s “True Hollywood Story” will profile Rosie O’Donnell at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Anthony LaPaglia |
| “The Tonight Show” | Christopher Titus |
| “The Late Late Show” | John Ritter (r) |
| “Late Night” | Nathan Lane (r) |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Connie Britton |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
ESPN.com’s Sean McAdam wrote, “Gone are the days of their infancy, when they were cute if clumsy. Gone are their thrilling first steps. Gone, too, was the quick growth spurts, when they seemed so advanced for their age. Now, as they celebrate their 10th birthdays this month, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies are merely just two more ordinary baseball franchises, with stadium issues, declining fan interest and murky futures” (ESPN.com).
BUSINESSWEEK’s Alex Salkever wrote, “From fantasy leagues to live footage, online sports is rapidly changing from an afterthought freebie and marketing tool to a stand-alone business that provides small but significant incremental revenues from paid content to professional and college sports leagues. The take was about $40[M] in 2002, up more than 100%” (BUSINESSWEEK).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles Of Interest for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports Business: According to Forbes, which MLB team experienced the largest percent valuation increase from ’00 to ’02?
- Yankees
- Phillies
- Red Sox
- Cubs
- Twins
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending April 13 (BILLBOARD.com, 4/17):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | Faceless | Godsmack | Republic/Universal |
| 2) | Meteora | Linkin Park | Warner Bros. |
| 3) | Get Rich Or Die Tryin' | 50 Cent | Shady/Aftermath |
| 4) | Now 12 | Various Artists | EMI/Universal/Sony/Zomba |
| 5) | To Whom It May Concern | Lisa Marie Presley | Capital |
| 6) | The Senior | Ginuwine | Epic |
| 7) | The Very Best of Cher | Cher | Geffen/MCA/Warner Bros. |
| 8) | One Heart | Celine Dion | Epic |
| 9) | Come Away With Me | Norah Jones | Blue Note |
| 10) | Fallen | Evanescence | Wind-up |
CRITICS WEIGH IN: “A MIGHTY WIND” & “BULLETPROOF MONK”
Christopher Guest’s latest mockumentary, “A Mighty Wind,” spoofs the folk music scene of the ‘60’s. With the great majority of the “Best In Show” cast returning, fans of the genre should be pleased this effort. Also receiving above average reviews is the Hong Kong-style action comedy, “Bulletproof Monk,” starring Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott. :
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| “A Mighty Wind” | “Bulletproof Monk” |
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| USA Today |
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…TODAY’S ANSWER
The Phillies with a ‘02 valuation of $239M, which was 51.3% higher than their ’00 valuation of $156M.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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