Closing Bell, July 1, 2003

LOTTO SPORT ITALIA TO PRODUCE FIRST WTA TOUR COLLECTION

TheWTA Tour today announced a five-year, $3.5M marketing partnership with LottoSport Italia that involves the creation of the first WTA Tour apparel, footwearand accessories collection.  Thepartnership, which the Tour calls the most lucrative in its history and is alsothe first to utilize the Tour’s new logo, includes a player program componentthat offers performance-based sponsorship contracts to the top 200 Tourplayers.  Lotto will support the newcollection, which is expected in stores in spring ’04, with TV, print andonline ads, as well as on-site promotions at Tour events.  Lotto also becomes the official apparel andfootwear partner of the Tour (THE DAILY).

WESTERN OPEN INKS TITLE DEAL, NAME LIKELY TO INCLUDECIALIS

ThePGA Tour, Lilly ICOS and the Western Golf Association today announced athree-year agreement under which Lilly ICOS will serve as the title sponsor ofthe Western Open, beginning in ’04. Lilly ICOS, a joint venture between ICOS Corp. and Eli Lilly &Company, is developing an erectile dysfunction treatment called Cialis that hasyet to receive regulatory approval in the U.S. Additional sponsorship details, including the new tournament identity,will be released at a later date (THE DAILY).

CONAGRA TO PUSH BANQUET BRAND WITH TITLE SPONSORSHIP DEAL

KansasSpeedway and ConAgra Foods today officially announced a four-year agreementunder which ConAgra will title sponsor the NASCAR Winston Cup Series event atthe track, now to be called the “Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods.”  Terms of the deal, which was previouslyreported in SportsBusiness Journal and The Daily, were notdisclosed.  The Banquet brand includesfrozen dinners, pot pies and chicken nuggets. The race will be televised live October 5 on NBC at 12:30pm ET (THEDAILY).

SABRES DECLINE $1M OPTION TO BREAK ADELPHIA TV CONTRACT

TheBUFFALO NEWS reports that the Sabres have“declined to exercise their $1[M] option to break their contract with AdelphiaCommunications to televise their games next season,” and now await Adelphia’sdecision “whether to televise the games on its own Empire Sports Network ordisband the channel and make a deal with another regional sports network thatis carried on Adelphia’s system.”  TheSabres had until today to pay $1M to break the deal, for which they will bepaid about $6.5M per year over the next four seasons.  The rights fee “was so high that it isn’t at all surprising thatno regional sports channel wanted to match it” (BUFFALO NEWS,7/1).

JAZZ DECREASE STAFF BY 6% WITH FRANCHISE, DELTA CENTER CUTS

TheDESERET NEWS reports that the Jazz recently laid off 20 “mid- to lower-levelmanagement and support staff” employees of the franchise and Delta Center,representing a reduction of approximately 6% of the combined workforce.  The layoffs came in the Jazz’ promotions, PRand accounting departments, as well as the Delta Center’s operationsdepartment.  Jazz VP/Communications DavidAllred said that the downsizing “was part of a merger of staffs,” inaddition to being “driven in part by economics” (DESERET NEWS,7/1).

NCAA TODAY AWARDS TWO FUTURE FINAL FOURS TO SAN ANTONIO

TheNCAA today announced the host cities for a total of seven Final Fours.  The selections for the fourMen’s Final Fours are as follows (THEDAILY):

Theselections for the three Women’s Final Fours are as follows:

BUZZER BEATERS

ABCtoday released its college football schedule for the upcoming season, whichbegins August 30 with a tripleheader that features Washington-Ohio St. at8:00pm ET.  The net’s postseasoncoverage includes the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship game, the Capital One Bowland all four BCS games, including this season’s national championship game, theNokia Sugar Bowl (THE DAILY).

TheNFL Network today announced the hiring of “BDSSP” Senior Producer EricWeinberger to serve as Coordinating Producer of the net’s yet-to-be-namedsignature show, while “Fox NFL Sunday” and “Fox Saturday Baseball” SeniorAssociate Dir Jennifer Love has been hired to direct the show (THEDAILY).

NBATV today announced that it will televise live coverage of the L.A. Pro SummerLeague, Reebok Pro Summer League and Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue, beginningJuly 9 (THE DAILY).

The AP reports that the FL Supreme Court today “declinedto consider whether the law restricting access to autopsy photos isconstitutional, letting stand a decision stemming from Dale Earnhardt’sdeath.”  The publisher of theIndependent Florida Alligator “was seeking to have the law overturned, but theSupreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, declined to take up the case” (AP,7/1).

BananaBoat today announced that it will remain an FLW Outdoors sponsor for the ’04season on all six tournament trails. Banana Boat became the official sun-care brand of FLW Outdoors last year(THE DAILY).

TheWorld Golf League today announced that it has retained the services ofProgressive Communications to design and produce new marketing and promotionalmaterials, including brochures, posters and a new Web site.  The campaign, which will launch July 16, willbe based on the slogan, “Red & Black – The Colors of Victory on Sunday” (THEDAILY).

TONIGHT’S EVENTS

NuggetsF Carmelo Anthony, a Baltimore native, will throw out the ceremonialfirst pitch prior to the 7:05pm ET Yankees-Orioles game at Camden Yards.  Anthony will also sign autographs for 45minutes at the start of the game (THE DAILY).

CHANNELSURFING

Phillies President DavidMontgomery will be on CSN Philadelphia’s “Daily News Live” at 5:00pm ET.

CSTV will air its first original production, “Season of Hope: The Diane Geppi-AikensStory,” at 8:00pm ET.  Thedocumentary follows the Loyola College(MD) women’s lacrosse team and its late head coach from the preseason throughthe NCAA Div. I women’s lacrosse Final Four in Syracuse last month.

RamsQB Kurt Warner and Carmelo Anthony will be on ESPN’s “Rome is Burning” at 7:00pm ET.

ESPNwill air the Tylenol Par 3 Shootout,Day Two at 8:00pm ET.

ESPN2will air round of 16 Wimbledonhighlights at 7:00pm ET.

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

Bryan Cox, former NHL Kings Owner Bruce McNall, kid skateboarders The Termites, Sparks coach Michael Cooper and 98 Degrees’ Nick Lacheyare scheduled to appear onFSN’s “BDSSP.”

Oxygenwill air WNBA Sun-Liberty at 8:00pmET.

A&E’s“Biography” will profile Bernie Macat 8:00pm ET.

E!’s “True Hollywood Story”will profile Kim Basinger at 8:00pmET.

HEADLINERS

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

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheATLANTA CONSTITUTION’s Terence Moore writes, “In so many ways, David Stern is PeteRozelle, and this is mostly good.… LikeRozelle, Stern ranks as his league’s greatest commissioner.  Like Rozelle, Stern displayed his marketingsavvy early and often enough to evolve into something bigger than hissport.  Just like Rozelle, Stern usedtelevision to help the public wrap its arms around his teams and his players inunprecedented ways.  And, just likeRozelle, Sternis watching his star fade after nearly two decades” (ATLANTACONSTITUTION).

TheINDIANAPOLIS STAR’s Mike Chappell writes, “While the nation’s economystruggles and sports fans seem to be straying from the [NBA, NHL and MLB], NFLCommissioner Paul Tagliabue’s world continues to flourish. …The evidencesuggests strongly the NFL isdoing something right at a time when the paying public, the heart and soulof professional sports, is dealing with unemployment, tightening purse stringsand so many other entertainment options” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR).

The L.A. TIMES’ Helene Elliott writes, “On the face of it, theMighty Ducks’ announcement that they won’t make a qualifying offer to PaulKariya was stunning. …    They’rerisking losing what was once their biggest asset because to keep him they wouldhave had to pay him $10[M], again paying him nearly one-fourth of theirpayroll.  They’re doing it because in aleague that tries to create afalse sense of parity by perpetuating low-scoring, defense-first systemsthat drag skillful teams down to the level of their lesser rivals, Kariya’simportance to the Ducks had diminished” (L.A. TIMES).

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

TODAY’S TEASER…

Sports& Entertainment: While many know that Julius Erving starred in “The Fish ThatSaved Pittsburgh,” name the former Harlem Globetrotter that received thirdbilling for his role as Rev. Grady Jackson.

IN OTHER NEWS……

BROADCASTING& CABLE reports that an arbitration panel awarded former Vivendi UniversalChair Jean-Marie Messier approximately $24M in settlement money from hisformer employer.  Vivendi had arguedthat Messier’s U.S. severance agreement “should be voided because the company’sboard had never signed off on it” (BROADCASTING& CABLE, 7/1).

THE DAILY STAT: LARGEST SINGLE-DAY MLB ATTENDANCES

Thefollowing presents the top-ten single day attendance totals in MLB history (THEDAILY).

…TODAY’S ANSWER

Meadowlark Lemon

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