Closing Bell, April 28, 2003

GM OF CANADA TO BE BLUE JAYS' OFFICIAL AUTOMOTIVE SPONSOR

The Blue Jays and GM of Canada today announced a three-year deal under which GM, and all its brands, will become the official automotive sponsor of the team.  The deal includes GM vehicle displays and signage at Skydome, promotional activities and programs, as well as eight amateur baseball clinics in and around Toronto.  A team source told The Daily that Honda held the category for the team's first 25 years of existence, but dropped its sponsorship after the '01 season to focus its marketing dollars on its F1 sponsorship.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed (THE DAILY).

LIFE-SIZED BOBBLEHEADS TO BE CREATED FOR MLB ALL-STAR GAME

The White Sox, MLB, the Chicago Mayor's Office of Special Events and East Brunswick, NJ-based Forever Collectibles today jointly announced a partnership to create 35 life-sized bobbleheads, which will be placed throughout Chicago beginning the week of May 12 to promote MLB All-Star festivities, taking place July 11-15, 2003.  The bobbleheads will stand six feet tall with artwork representing each MLB market – the White Sox will have two dolls, and two will represent the AL and NL All-Star teams.  Each bobblehead will utilize logos and colors specific to the history of its respective MLB club (THE DAILY).

UNC TOPS LISTS OF COLLEGIATE LICENSING COMPANY SELLERS

The Collegiate Licensing Company today announced its top-selling member institutions and manufacturers for the fiscal year-to-date, based on royalties reported from July 1, 2002 through March 31, 2003.  The following lists the top five universities (THE DAILY):

RAIDERS TO BE AIRED ON KNBR-AM AND SISTER STATION KSAN-FM

The Raiders and KNBR-AM agreed to a multiyear contract extension for the station to continue as the radio home and flagship station of the team.  The deal continues a relationship that began in '97, the station's inaugural year.  Raiders games will also be aired on KNBR-AM's sister station, KSAN-FM (THE DAILY).

BUZZER BEATERS

The AP reports that Cuba today "stressed its tradition of strong amateur sports … in announcing it will bid May 5 for the 2012 Olympics" (AP, 4/28).

Nike today announced a two-year sponsorship deal with the Balance Bar Adventure Racing Series, under which its ACG footwear and apparel line will be promoted.  In addition to ad, retail and internet support, Nike ACG will outfit camp, clinic and race staff for the duration of the deal (THE DAILY).

The AHL Syracuse Crunch and Utah Grizzlies today unveiled alternate logos to celebrate their tenth anniversaries in the league.  While the Crunch with wear their logo as a patch on the right shoulder of their '03-04 uniforms, the Grizzlies will use theirs as a secondary logo (THE DAILY).

Hibbett Sporting Goods today announced that it has filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC for a public offering of nearly two million shares of its common stock.  The offering is being made in connection with distribution by two of its stockholders: SK Equity Fund and SK Investment Fund (THE DAILY).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

USA TODAY reports that Indians Ps Brian Anderson and Carl Sadler "chased down a youth who attempted to steal a purse from a woman in a restaurant" across from the team's hotel Saturday night in S.F.  They "took the thief back to the restaurant, returned the purse and held him there until police arrived."  Anderson: "They picked the wrong restaurant with a couple of athletes who are on a losing streak" (USA TODAY, 4/28).  The Indians lost 4-3 to the A's yesterday, extending their losing streak to six games (THE DAILY).

TONIGHT'S EVENTS

All fans in attendance for the Game Three of the Stars-Mighty Ducks Stanley Cup playoff series at Arrowhead Pond, beginning at 7:00pm PT, will receive Pond Rockers, a noisemaker similar to the trademarked Thunderstix.  21^st Century Insurance is sponsoring the giveaway (THE DAILY).

CHANNEL SURFING

FSN's "54321" will profile surfer Matt Archibald and BMX rider Stephen Murray.

ESPN will air the Stanley Cup playoffs, Devils-Lightning Game 3 at 7:00pm ET and Stars-Mighty Ducks Game 3 at 10:00pm ET.

ESPN2 will air Phillies-Dodgers at 10:00pm ET.

ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Seattle Slew at 7:00pm ET.

TNT will air the NBA playoffs: 76ers-Hornets Game 4 at 8:00pm ET and Kings-Jazz Game 4 at 10:30pm ET.

LPGA Tour player Annika Sorenstam and actor Daniel Baldwin are scheduled to appear on FSN's "BDSSP."

PGA Tour player Scott Hoch and Celebrity Tour player Rick Rhoden will be on The Golf Channel's "19^th Hole" at 7:00pm ET.

The Masters champion Mike Weir will be on The Golf Channel's "Golf Talk" at 8:00pm ET.

ATP Tour player Andy Roddick and U.S. Davis Cup team coach Jim Courier will be on MSG's "Angles."

A&E's "Biography" will profile Ray Kroc at 8:00pm ET.

ABC will air "ABC's 50^th Anniversary Blooper Celebration" at 8:00pm ET.

The Travel Channel will air "Secrets: Monster Truck Race Day" at 9:00pm ET.

HEADLINERS

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

TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

USA TODAY's Christine Brennan writes of FIFA scheduling the Women's World Cup in September and October: "The powers that be in the international soccer world – that's FIFA – decided to follow the greatest success any women's-only sporting endeavor has ever had by jamming this year's World Cup into arguably the busiest time on the U.S. television sports calendar.  Why does this matter?  It might sound jingoistic, but it's also true: U.S. TV drives the international sports economy" (USA TODAY).

The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE's Conor Dougherty wrote, "After years of booming sales, skateboard companies have taken a swift kick in the pants.  That has prompted business owners to scale back with the usual downtime measures – reducing inventory and laying off employees.  It also has forced them to acknowledge an industry paradox: The money in skateboarding isn't in skateboards" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE).

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

TODAY'S TEASER…

Sports: On the same day a future HOFer won his 300^th game, another future HOFer got his 3,000^th hit.  Name the two players and the date on which the feat occurred.

IN OTHER NEWS…

The PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Microsoft today said that it has partnered with America Online and Yahoo to fight unsolicited e-mail, otherwise known as "spam."  The companies said that they "hope the announcement is the beginning of 'a broader industry effort,' which would set technical standards and industry guidelines that can be adopted regardless of the type of technology used" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/28).

THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION

The following presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending April 19 (NYTIMES.com, 4/28):

…TODAY'S ANSWER

Tom Seaver recorded his 300^th win with the White Sox on August 4, 1985, the same day Rod Carew delivered his 3,000^th hit for the Angels.

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

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