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Closing Bell

Closing Bell, July 2, 2003

The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, July 2, 2003
4:00pm ET

Vancouver Today Edges Pyeongchang 56-53 In Vote To Host 2010 Olympics

USOC Eliminates 18 Vacant Jobs, Lays Off Four Staffers In Budget Move

The Football Network Today Announces Atlantic 10 Broadcast Deal

Candlestick Park To Host Int’l Soccer Doubleheader Tonight

Vivendi Universal BOD Today Pulls Universal Music Off The Auction Block

Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat


The Closing Bell willnot publish tomorrow, July 3, or Friday, July 4,
in observance ofIndependence Day.


VANCOUVER EDGES UNDERDOG PYEONGCHANG BY THREE VOTES

By Steve Woodward, Street& Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, Special to The Daily

TheOlympic Winter Games will return to Canada in 2010, but almost went to SouthKorea.  The IOC, by a vote of 56-53,today voted to reward the campaign efforts of Vancouver, British Columbia.  Vancouver 2010 President & CEO JohnFurlong: “We came here to tell our story and do it in a Canadian way.”  IOC voters, gathered here in Prague, alsoseemed to like the story of candidate Pyeongchang, South Korea, which received51 votes in the first round to Vancouver’s 40, but fell short of a majority bythree, which forced a second round. Salzburg, Austria, was eliminated after the first round with 16 votes.

SouthKorean IOC member Un-yong Kim told Street & Smith’s he expectsPyeongchang to bid for the 2014 Winter Games. Vancouver’s victory means N.Y. must compete for the right to host the2012 Summer Games though the Games will have come to North America only twoyears before.  NYC2012 bid Chair DanDoctoroff said the group’s strategy was not contingent on the outcome oftoday’s meeting, which he attended. Doctoroff: “We’ve always said we were agnostic about the vote for 2010.”


OTHER REACTIONS FOLLOWINGIOC’S SELECTION OF VANCOUVER

The Great One Celebrating
With Jean Chretien

Followingthe announcement of Vanocuver’s win, Furlong said, “Incredible, absolutelyincredible.  I always thought it wasgoing to be tough.  We always thought itwas going to be close.  The bids werevery strong.  This is the second CanadaDay in a row” (CANADA.com,7/2).

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien: “It’s a greatsuccess.  It’ll be quite a show.  We won the world, so hooray!” (AP,7/2).

TheN.Y. TIMES notes that the “choice of a North American city, not one in Europe,may hinder [N.Y.’s] chances of hosting the 2012 Summer Games, allowing aEuropean city like Paris, Moscow, London, Madrid or Leipzig to be chosen by thecontinent’s voting bloc of 58 members, the IOC’s largest” (NYTIMES.com,7/2).

WashingtonPost columnist Amy Shipley: “This shows you how determined the IOC wasnot to send the games to Europe.  I dothink they are potentially setting up sending the Summer Games in 2012 toEurope” (MSNBC, 7/2).

TheToronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that the Vancouver win “almost certainly putsa fatal spike into the prospects of Toronto’s bidding for the 2012 SummerGames” (THEGLOBEANDMAIL.com,7/2).

NBCSports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol: “We offer our sincerestcongratulations to the people of Vancouver on being selected to host the 2010Olympic Winter Games and we look forward to working with them in the yearsahead” (THE DAILY).


USOC JOB CUTS DESIGNED TO SHAVE $2M FROM ANNUAL BUDGET

TheDENVER POST reports that USOC yesterday “eliminated 18 vacant jobs … and laidoff or reassigned seven staffers – moves designed to shave nearly $2[M] a yearfrom the USOC budget.”  The 18 vacantjobs “were spread mainly through upper management and represented $1.8[M] inannual salaries.”  The jobs included theposition of COO, last held by Fred Wohlschlaeger, who earned about$350,000 a year.  Of the seven staffers,four were laid off for a savings of $144,000 a year (DENVERPOST, 7/2).


BUZZER BEATERS

SportingNews this week features Eagles CB Troy Vincent on the cover, under theheader, “Good Guy.”

SportsIllustrated this week features Cubs Ps Kerry Wood and Mark Prioron the cover, under the header, “Chicago Heat.”

Sporting News
Sports Illustrated

TheFootball Network (TFN) today announced that it will produce a slate of Atlantic10 football “Game of the Week” telecasts for FSN New England, beginningSeptember 27.  The telecasts will alsoair on TFN.  Other conference broadcastdeals for the net include the Southern Conference, Big Sky Conference, PatriotLeague, Pioneer League and Big South (THE DAILY).

TheDES MOINES REGISTER reports that the Greater Des Moines Ice Sports AssociationBOD last night voted to sell the USHL Des Moines Buccaneers to a privateinvestor group headed by USHL Sioux Falls Stampede Owner Brian Schoenbornfor “more than $2[M] for the franchise and two ice-skating facilities” (DESMOINES REGISTER, 7/2).

PrinceSports announced the opening of its new European HQs, Prince Europe, inLondon.  The office will manage allEuropean, Middle Eastern and African business (THE DAILY).

Daktronicstoday announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide digitaladvertising and information displays at the Metrodome.  The value of the contract exceeds $1.5M (THEDAILY).

TheAP reports that FIFA “has ordered soccer players to keep their shirts on duringmatches and banned all celebratory post-goal stripping” (AP,7/2).

TheAlbany TIMES UNION reports that the East Coast premiere of “Seabiscuit” is soldout, as “all 352 tickets for the July 23 showing at Wilton Mall [nearSaratoga Springs] are gone, despite prices ranging from $150-185” (AlbanyTIMES UNION, 7/2).

TheBills, American Sports Media and Curtis Publishing today announced a jointeffort to create a new publication, “Bills Digest,” which will premiere attraining camp in July (THE DAILY).


A LIGHTER BUZZ

Thisweek’s issue of Sports Illustrated features the ‘03 Player Survey.  SI approached every MLB player, and 550agreed to participate, though not every player answered every question.  The percentages are of the total number ofrespondents for each question.  Thefollowing are a few excerpts (SI, 7/7 issue).

Who’sthe best-dressed player?

Player Team
% of Vote

Alex Rodriguez

Rangers

9.9%

Gary Sheffield

Braves

4.5%

Ellis Burks

Indians

3.5%

Reggie Sanders

Pirates

3.5%

Mike Cameron

Mariners

3.3%

Whichis your favorite ballpark?

Ballpark
% of Vote

Safeco Field

17.6%

Pac Bell Park

10.2%

Wrigley Field

8.5%

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

8.0%

Yankee Stadium

6.7%


TONIGHT’S EVENTS

TheMarlins will hold the second annual Military Appreciation Day at Pro PlayerStadium prior to the team’s 6:05pm ET game against the Braves.  The U.S. Southern Command Joint Color Guardwill present the colors prior to the National Anthem.  A fireworks show follows the game (THE DAILY).

CandlestickPark will host an int’l soccer doubleheader beginning at 7:00pm PT withGuatemala-Peru, followed by El Salvador-Paraguay (THE DAILY).  The games, promoted by FDP Marketing, areexpected to draw 15,000-20,000 people. FDP Marketing co-Chair Alex Gutman, on having to pay the USSF 15%of the gross receipts, even though no U.S. teams are playing the games: “It’san arbitrary thing. … They don’t give anything back.  But it’s take it or leave it” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/27).


CHANNELSURFING

ESPN2will air “Seabiscuit – The Making of the Movie”at 4:00pm ET.

ESPNwill air Giants-Cardinals at 7:00pm ET.

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

ESPN2will air Mariners-A’s at 10:00pm ET. Broadcaster Keith Jackson will call part of the game as part ofESPN’s “Living Legends” series.

ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile the year 1985 at 7:00pm ET and DaleEarnhardt at 8:00pm ET.

ESPN’s“Outside The Lines Nightly” will examine the latest developments in thePatrick Dennehy case at midnight ET.

Boxing promoter Don King, MLB HOFer FergusonJenkins and Cowboys QB Quincy Carter are scheduled to appear onFSN's “BDSSP.”

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

E!’s“True Hollywood Story” will profile Demi Moore at 8:00pm ET.

NationalGeographic Channel will air “Dangerous Jobs: Need for Speed, Auto Racing”at 8:00pm ET, a behind-the-scenes look at the individuals in the profession.

SpeedChannel will air “Kyle Petty’s Charity Ride Across America” at 8:00pmET.


HEADLINERS

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

“Late Show” Regis Philbin (r)
“The Tonight Show” Reese Witherspoon (r)
“The Late Late Show” William Shatner (r)
“Late Night” Jennifer Garner (r)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” Triple H (r)

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheFORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM’s Mitchell Schnurman writes, “The Ballpark may be a disappointment to some, because it didn’t stem [theeconomic] decline, and it didn’t create enough jobs or bring in enoughemployers to offset the exodus of other companies. … But imagine how grim theprospects would be if the Texas Rangers were based in Irving or Lewisville orDallas” (FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM).

TheCHARLOTTE OBSERVER’s David Poole wrote, “It amazes me how many of the same fanswho imagine NASCAR complicity in things like fixing races give the sanctioningbody a complete pass on the inherent unfairness of its corporateinbreeding with International Speedway Corp. … That’s why it shouldhave troubled fans in the Carolinas to hear Nextel officials say the locationfor the all-star event formerly known as The Winston is up to NASCAR” (CHARLOTTEOBSERVER).

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


TODAY’S TEASER…

Mindbenders: What cannot be seen, onlyheard, and will not speak unless spoken to?


IN OTHERNEWS……

REUTERSreports that Interpublic Group CFO Sean Orr has “resigned afterhelping steer the world’s No.2 advertising agency owner through an earningsrestatement and other financial woes.” COO Christopher Coughlin, who has “worked as a CFO at other largecompanies, would replace Orr when he leaves in late August” (REUTERS,7/2).

BROADCASTING& CABLE reports that the Vivendi Universal BOD today “pulled UniversalMusic off the auction block and sent bidders back to their spreadsheets tocraft new bids.”  The BOD told biddersthat they would “rather hang onto the music group and try to turn it aroundthemselves than accept the valuations being offered” (BROADCASTING& CABLE, 7/2).


THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS

Thefollowing lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows forthe week of June 23-29.  Also providedare the weekly viewership averages for each net (USA TODAY, 7/2).

RK PROGRAM
NET
DAY
RAT/SHR
VIEWERS (IN MILLIONS)
1) CSI
CBS
Thu
9.5/16
13.8
2) Without a Trace
CBS
Thu
8.4/15
12.4
3) CSI: Miami
CBS
Mon
8.4/14
12.0
4) Law & Order (10:00pm)
NBC
Wed
8.3/15
11.5
5) Law & Order: SVU
NBC
Fri
7.4/14
10.5
t6) Everybody Loves Raymond
CBS
Mon
7.2/12
10.4
t6) Law & Order: CI
NBC
Sun
7.3/12
10.4
t8) King of Queens
CBS
Mon
6.9/11
10.0
t8) Law & Order (9:00pm)
NBC
Wed
7.2/12
10.0
10) Friends
NBC
Thu
6.4/12
9.1
 
NET
VIEWERS
NBC
7.8
CBS
7.7
Fox
5.8
ABC
5.6
UPN
2.9
WB
2.3


…TODAY’SANSWER

An echo

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

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