| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, May 1, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Verizon Today Signs Eight-Year Extension As Premier Sponsor Of USA Luge |
| • | ConAgra Foods Skins Game To Move To Trilogy Golf Club At La Quinta |
| • | Russell Today Reports Q1 Earnings Up 31% Over Same Period Last Year |
| • | English Football Association Today Fined $111,000 For Fan Behavior |
| • | USGA Denies Application Of Man Attempting To Play U.S. Women’s Open |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
VERIZON RE-UPS WITH USA LUGE THROUGH 2010 OLYMPICS
Verizon today announced that it has signed an eight-year extension with USA Luge to continue as the premier sponsor of the NGB through the 2010 Olympics. As part of the agreement, Verizon is afforded full identification with the teams, as well as title sponsorship rights for several U.S.-based luge events, including the Senior and Junior National Championships. The company, a USA Luge sponsor since ’85, will also receive sponsorship rights to three TV broadcasts annually. Financial terms were not disclosed (THE DAILY).
TRILOGY GOLF CLUB SIGNS TWO-YEAR DEAL TO HOST SKINS GAME
The DESERT SUN reports that the ConAgra Foods Skins Game “will move to its fifth home in the Coachella Valley in 18 years in November when the made-for-television event shifts to Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta.” The two-year deal, plus a one-year option, comes after IMG and ESPN Regional, producers of the Skins Game, “were unable to negotiate a deal to keep the event at Landmark Golf Club in Indio.” The tournament site fee was $1M. ABC will broadcast the event November 29-30 (DESERT SUN, 5/1).
RUSSELL TODAY REPORTS Q1 RESULTS; SPALDING DEAL CLEARED
REUTERS reports that Russell Corp. today stated that quarterly earnings rose 31%, “as higher U.S. chain store sales of team uniforms and fleece clothing offset higher cotton and polyester costs.” Russell posted net income of $3.4M million, up from $2.6M a year earlier. Net sales rose 6% to $228M for the quarter. Russell also announced that the deal to acquire Spalding Sports Worldwide “received clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and it expects to complete the acquisition by the end of May.” The acquisition of Spalding is expected to add “mildly” to earnings this year (REUTERS, 5/1).
FAN BEHAVIOR COSTS ENGLISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION $111,000
The AP reports that UEFA today fined the English Football Association (FA) a record $111,000 “because fans chanted offensive slogans and twice ran on the field during a game against Turkey” on April 2. UEFA, however, “did not order England to play its next home game in an empty stadium,” an action England had feared. The FA said that it “plans to ban for life those fans who went onto the field” during the match and “also wants to strengthen its anti-racism campaign” (AP, 5/1).
BUZZER BEATERS
DirecTV today announced that it will offer ESPN’s recently announced “College Grand Slam” PPV package of the NCAA Baseball Championship’s Super Regional round, marking the first time DirecTV will offer a blackout-free package for the event. The package costs $19.95 (THE DAILY).
MLB.com today begins a free four-day preview of its out-of-market-game Internet-subscription service, MLB.TV. During that period, Internet users can view up to 42 games on both a live and archived basis (THE DAILY).
The Pro Cycling Tour (PCT) today unveiled its new logo, which will be used for all event merchandise, communications and marketing materials. The logo was created by Pentagram, S.F. The PCT is owned and operated by sports marketing and event management firm Threshold Sports and is sanctioned by USA Cycling (THE DAILY).
A class action lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of CA on behalf of all persons who purchased the publicly traded securities of Skechers USA from April 3-December 9, 2002. The complaint alleges the Skechers made misrepresentations concerning its business and financial conditions (THE DAILY).
The Bergen RECORD reports that athletic shoe and apparel maker Footstar Inc. yesterday “failed to meet a second regulatory deadline” to file its annual financial report with the SEC. The company issued a statement saying that its auditor, KPMG, “is still reviewing results going back nearly two years” as it “expects that it will have to restate past earnings.” Under NYSE rules, the exchange may delist Footstar at this point (Bergen RECORD, 5/1).
The BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Saucony “doubled first-quarter income over last year, exceeding company expectations on the strength of sales and lowered expenses.” Net sales for the quarter rose 12.3%, to $39.1M compared with $34.8M in Q1 ’02. Net income rose to $2.6M from $1.3M (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/1).
The Portland OREGONIAN reports that Brian Kontak, who is attempting to become the first man to play in the U.S. Women’s Open, yesterday said that the USGA “has turned down his application” to play in a qualifier based on a requirement that contestants be “females at birth.” Kontak says he will pursue legal action (Portland OREGONIAN, 5/1).
Steelers QB Tommy Maddox today announced the creation of the Tommy Maddox “Tommy Gun” Foundation, which will be dedicated to assisting underprivileged children. The foundation will support western PA, as well as Maddox’s childhood home of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
WISE and Sports Illustrated will host a discussion with Just Ask a Woman Founder & CEO Mary Lou Quinlan about her new book, “Just Ask a Woman, Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy,” from 6:00-8:00pm ET at the Time-Life Building in N.Y. (THE DAILY).
The expanded Cape Cod Baseball League exhibit at Heritage Museum & Gardens in Sandwich, MA, will be showcased to media and invited guests at 5:30pm ET. The exhibit opens to the public on Sunday (THE DAILY).
CHANNEL SURFING
NHRA Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher will be on CNN’s “Headline News” to discuss his sponsorship deal and involvement with the U.S. Army at 6:24pm ET.
ESPN will air the Stanley Cup playoffs: Senators-Flyers Game 4 at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air “The Sports Reporters Primetime” at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Citation at 7:00pm ET and Rocky Marciano at 8:30pm ET.
TNT will air the NBA playoffs: Nets-Bucks Game 6 at 8:00pm ET and T’Wolves-Lakers Game 6 at 10:30pm ET.
TBS will air the NBA playoffs: Pacers-Celtics Game 6 at 7:00pm ET and Spurs-Suns Game 6 at 9:30pm ET.
Surfer Holly Beck, horse trainer Bob Baffert, NFL HOFer Tony Dorsett, Raiders S Anthony Dorsett and actresses Shannen Doherty and Kelly Hu are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
The Travel Channel will air “World’s Best Places To Watch Sports” at 6:00pm ET.
A&E’s “Biography” will profile Tim Conway at 8:00pm ET.
E!’s “True Hollywood Story” will profile New Kids on the Block at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Bernie Mac |
| “The Tonight Show” | Drew Carey |
| “The Late Late Show” | Matt Dillon |
| “Late Night” | John Malkovich |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Rebecca Romijn-Stamos |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
In a USA TODAY Front Page Cover Story, Mindy Fetterman offers a first-hand account of owning a stake in a thoroughbred, writing, “Some owners pay millions to buy a thoroughbred. … Other owners, like me, have a friend who knew a friend who heard of a guy who was putting together a partnership. And for just $500 we could get in and have some fun. Gee, I thought, I’ve paid more for several pairs of shoes at Ann Taylor that I never took out of the boxes” (USA TODAY).
The TORONTO STAR’s Chris Young writes of prospective Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk, “Tradition seems to mean something here. And that includes the Senators, a team barely into its second decade of NHL operation, a team that has trouble filling the debt-laden building it plays in, playing in a league of bloated payrolls that appears headed down a collision course toward a lengthy lockout – if any of that scares Melnyk, he isn’t owning up to it” (TORONTO STAR).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles Of Interest for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports Business: Which athlete representation firm had the most clients drafted in the first three rounds of the ’03 NFL Draft?
- Sportstars
- Momentum Sports
- Octagon
- IMG
- Cornrich & Cornrich
IN OTHER NEWS…
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that USA Interactive Chair & CEO Barry Diller “received a $2.75[M] bonus last year after receiving no bonus the previous year” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 5/1).
Spike TV today announced that it is partnering with GQ magazine to present the eighth annual GQ “Men of the Year” Awards, which recognizes men of distinction from various fields. The show will air October 21 on Spike TV. GQ is published by Advance Publications, parent company of American City Business Journals, publisher of The Daily (THE DAILY).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending April 27 (BILLBOARD.com, 5/1):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | American Life | Madonna | Maverick |
| 2) | Get Rich Or Die Tryin' | 50 Cent | Shady/Aftermath |
| 3) | Thankful | Kelly Clarkson | RCA |
| 4) | Meteora | Linkin Park | Warner Bros. |
| 5) | The Very Best of Cher | Cher | Geffen/MCA/Warner Bros. |
| 6) | Come Away With Me | Norah Jones | Blue Note |
| 7) | Fallen | Evanescence | Wind-up |
| 8) | Say You Will | Fleetwood Mac | Reprise |
| 9) | Now 12 | Various Artists | EMI/Universal/Sony/Zomba |
| 10) | The New Breed | 50 Cent | Shady/Aftermath |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
IMG led all representation firms with nine clients selected in the first three rounds, including first rounders Byron Leftwich, Kevin Williams, Jimmy Kennedy and Andre Woolfolk. Both Octagon and Sportstars had six clients, while Cornrich & Cornrich and Momentum Sports had four each.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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