Closing Bell, June 5, 2003

The Closing Bell willnot publish tomorrow, June 6.
Next issue: Monday, June 9.

MEDIA EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON OLYMPIC BIDDING ON “SQUAWK BOX”

CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning profiled the bidding formedia rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. While host cities have yet to be determined, ABC/ESPN made itspresentation today, with NBC and Fox making presentations tomorrow.  The IOC has said that a winning bid could bedetermined by the end of the weekend.

PilsonCommunications President and IOC consultant Neal Pilson, on the components of a winningbid: “Obviously, money is one of the most important; but the other plans thatthe networks have, their commitment to the Olympic movement, issues withrespect to promoting the movement over the years, these are all relevant.”  Pilson added that the IOC wants to know thenetworks’ plan for bundling the rights package – likely to include broadcast,cable, Internet, satellite,pay-per-view and video-on-demand.

SportsBusiness Group President David Carter, on bidding on an event sevenyears in the future: “[The networks] have to use a little bit of a crystal ballto figure out, not just what kind of technology is out there, how it will beused, how quickly it will be adopted over the next decade, (but) how are peoplegoing to feel about using it to watch sports in particular?” 

SportsTelevision International President Jim Spence, on the same issue:“Perhaps the letters IOC, in this instance, don’t stand for InternationalOlympic Committee. They might better be termed Invitation to Over Commit” (“SquawkBox,” CNBC, 6/5).

FollowingABC/ESPN’s 90-minute presentation today, ABC President Alex Wallau said,“We have a long tradition.  We’re proudof being the network of the Olympics, and we’d love to be back in the business”(AP,6/5).

ED DeSILVA DENIES THATCOLISEUM BOARD INFLATED TICKET SALES

TheCONTRA COSTA TIMES reports that former Oakland Coliseum Board Chair EdDeSilva, the only individual defendant in the Raiders’ $1.1B fraud trial,testified yesterday that he “never misled team officials about ticket sales.”  DeSilva denied allegations that he and otherEast Bay officials “purposely inflated ticket sales information to lure theteam back” from L.A. in ’95.  At onepoint, DeSilva told the jury that “frequent references to ‘sellouts’ merelyreferred to a flood of applicants for Raiders tickets” (CONTRA COSTA TIMES,6/5).

TheOAKLAND TRIBUNE reports that despite repeatedly discussing potential ticketsales with Raiders Owner Al Davis, “once the Oakland Coliseum Board won the right to hostthe Raiders and began its marketing drive to sell out the Coliseum stadium,DeSilva never thought to inform Davis of its progress, despite knowing teamowners' penchant for information about sales” (OAKLANDTRIBUNE, 6/5).

FORT MYERS MIRACLE TO POKE FUN AT SOSA AND BAT INCIDENT

TheFt. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL reports that the Single A Florida State League FortMyers Miracle will “poke fun at Sammy Sosa by giving away pieces of corkto the first 505 fans through the gate” of Hammond Stadium for the team’s7:00pm ET game against the Dunedin Blue Jays. The team will also “offer free admission to anyone whose name includesthe words ‘Sammy,’ ‘Sosa’ or ‘Corky.’” Additionally, mini cork bats will be given to the 21^st, 66^thand 505^th fan to enter Hammond Stadium (Ft.Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 6/5).

TENNIS MAGAZINE LOOKS TO TURN GRAND CENTRAL INTO WIMBLEDON

MEDIAPOSTreports that Tennis magazine “has paired with long-time sponsors BritishAirways and Rolex Watch USA to replicate the Wimbledon experience” in N.Y.’sGrand Central Station.  The companieswill refashion the station’s Vanderbilt Hall “into a mini-Wimbledon, completewith artificial grass courts, player seats, display towers, and broadcasts ofWimbledon tennis past and present” (MEDIAPOST, 6/5).

BUZZER BEATERS

ABC earned a 6.4/11final Nielsen rating for Game One of the Nets-Spurs NBA Finals last night from 8:30pm-11:15pm ET, down 40% from a 10.6/20 for Nets-Lakers Game One last year. Last year's game on NBC, also on a Wednesday, was metered from 9:15pm to 12;30am (THE DAILY).

TheAVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour today announced that PG Ventures Chair PhilGuarascio will join the tour’s BOD. Guarascio is the former VP/Advertising & Corporate Marketing forGeneral Motors (THE DAILY).

TheSaints today announced that as of June 1, the club has sold over 10,000 newseason tickets, surpassing last year’s season-ticket base of 40,000.  More than 8,000 tickets have been madeavailable for $150, or $10 per game, and more than 17,000 are on sale for $400or less (THE DAILY).

TheBlackhawks today announced an extension of their affiliation agreement with theAHL Norfolk Admirals through the ’03-04 season, with an option for the ’04-05season (THE DAILY).

As first reported in yesterdays issue of The Daily, theNHL and Sports Illustrated For Kids magazine today officially announced a NorthAmerican strategic marketing alliance for the ‘03-04 season, naming themagazine the official print media partner of the NHL Hockey Rules Ice andInline Hockey Tour (THE DAILY).

TheBergen RECORD reports that NJSEA President George Zoffinger yesterdaysaid that officials “will push for an extension of NJTransit’s Bergen Line to bring mass transit to the Meadowlands SportsComplex.”  While the cost of theextension “is likely to surpass $100[M],” the $1.3B redevelopment on theContinental Arena site “has produced bipartisan agreement that mass transit iscrucial if the region is to avoid gridlock” (BergenRECORD, 6/5).

Footwearand apparel retailer The Finish Line today reported fiscal Q1 ’03 net sales of$207.8M, a 22% increase from last year’s Q1 net sales of $170.6M.  During the 13-week period, the companyopened 15 new stores, remodeled ten and closed two stores.  Comparable store net sales for the quarterincreased 14% (THE DAILY).

N.Y.-basedpublisher and event promoter R. Paniagua Inc. today announced that the companyhas made the final payment in an agreement to buy-back 50% ownership of KingPaniagua Inc. from Don King Productions (THE DAILY).

TONIGHT’SEVENTS

TheNational Academy of TV Arts & Sciences will present its Trustees Award toComcast Founder Ralph Roberts at a dinner at the National BuildingMuseum in DC.  Ted Turner willintroduce Roberts, and CNN’s Lou Dobbs will emcee the event (THEDAILY).

TheFresh Air Fund will distribute its American Heroes awards during a 6:30pm ETreception at Tavern on the Green in N.Y. Tommy Hilfiger will present Knicks G Allan Houston withone of the awards (THE DAILY).

TheWNBA Sparks will be awarded their championship rings prior to the team’s 7:00pmPT game against the Monarchs.  Hammerwill perform “2 Legit 2 Quit” prior to the game to celebrate the team’sback-to-back WNBA championships (THE DAILY).

CHANNELSURFING

USANetwork will air first-round coverage of the PGA Tour’s Capital Open atAvenel at 4:00pm ET.

TheGolf Channel will air first-round coverage of the McDonald’s LPGAChampionship at 4:00pm ET.

ABCwill air the Stanley Cup Finals: Mighty Ducks-Devils Game 5 at 8:00pmET.

ESPN2will air WNBA Monarchs-Sparks at 10:00pm ET.

ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Mario Andretti at 8:00pm ET.

ESPN2will air “The Sports Reporters Primetime” at 7:00pm ET.

FSN’s“54321” will feature freestyle motocross rider Dan Herron, BMX rider RobNollie and motocross rider Rick Thorne.

Lakerscoach Phil Jackson, Judge Mablean of “Divorce Court” and stuntmanFelix Baumgartner are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”

“FoxNFL Sunday” analyst Terry Bradshaw will appear on NBC’s “The TonightShow” with Jay Leno at 11:35pm ET.

CBSgolf analyst David Feherty will appear on NBC’s “Late Night” withConan O’Brien at 12:35am ET.

RaptorsF Vince Carter will appear on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

MTVwill air the “2003 MTV Movie Awards” at 9:00pm ET.

A&E’s“Biography” will profile Gene Tierney at 8:00pm ET.

E!’s“True Hollywood Story” will profile Rosie O’Donnell at 8:00pm ET.

HEADLINERS

Hereare tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheS.F. CHRONICLE’s Glenn Dickey writes, “The mostpositive effect of big money for athletes has been improved performancesbecause athletes can train year-round. Some of their training regimens areremarkably strenuous, which is why Jerry Rice is still going strong at40 and Barry Bonds has set records in his late 30s.  The best baseball players used to decline intheir mid-30s. Often, it was because of alcohol problems, in stars such as JimmieFoxx and Mickey Mantle, but even Willie Mays, who was never adrinker, went into decline when he hit 35” (S.F. CHRONICLE).

SeeThe Daily Insider’s Articles OfInterest for more sports business-related links.

TODAY’S TEASER…

SportsBusiness:Name the first NFL-licensed product, the year in which it was released and theteam for which it was created.

IN OTHERNEWS…

TheN.Y. TIMES reports that the paper’s Exec Editor Howell Raines andManaging Editor Gerald Boyd “resigned this morning, five weeks to theday after the resignation” of reporter Jayson Blair.  Joseph Lelyveld, Raines’ immediatepredecessor, who retired in ’01, will replace the Exec Editor on an interim basis.  There will be no immediate replacement forBoyd (NYTIMES.com,6/5).

DAILYVARIETY reports that publishing firm Simon & Schuster is “mulling alawsuit” against the AP after the AP “got its hands on a copy of [HillaryClinton’s] memoir, ‘Living History,’ not due to be published untilMonday.”  Meanwhile, Time, which hadpreviously purchased serial rights for $100,000 to publish excerpts of the newbook, “may pull out of its excerpt deal” (DAILYVARIETY, 6/5).

THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS

Thefollowing lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending June 1(BILLBOARD.com, 6/5):

…TODAY’S ANSWER

In 1958, the NFLlicensed a bobblehead for the then-L.A. Rams.

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

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