| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, August 11, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | CSTV, USOC Today Announce Plans To Produce “U.S. Olympic Pursuit” |
| • | adidas Official Today Denies Near Lifetime Agreement With David Beckham |
| • | NAPA Auto Parts Today Announces Partnership With Infineon Raceway |
| • | Sony To Launch Online Gaming Service To Coincide With “Gameday” Launch |
| • | Vince Carter And Carmelo Anthony To Serve As EA Hoops Cover Athletes |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
CSTV GRANTED RIGHTS TO USOC CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS UNDER DEAL
CollegeSports TV and the USOC today announced a strategic partnership under which CSTVis granted the broadcast rights to national and int’l championship eventsinvolving all Olympic sports. Additionally, CSTV will produce a weekly series, “U.S. Olympic Pursuit,”which will air in primetime beginning this fall. While a schedule has yet to be determined, the series will run atleast an hour each week. USOC Chief ofEntertainment Properties Keith Allo, on reasons for selecting CSTV:“They are a channel that really hits the same audience we hit, in terms offollowing our athletes. They also are adigital channel that is growing.”
Allo,on handling production costs: “We are working with CSTV in an arrangement thatwill not [utilize] dollars or resources that have not been already allocatedfor television programming in general. So essentially, what we are doing is we’re taking television resources –really more than money – and … trying to funnel [the resources] into thisshowcase.”
CSTValso announced that it has reached an agreement with Insight Communicationsby which Insight will distribute CSTV on its digital Sports & LifestylePak. While Insight serves approximately1.4 million customers in the four-state region of IL, KY, IN and OH, it wouldnot disclose how many customers subscribe to the Sports & Lifestyle Pak (THE DAILY).
ADIDAS OFFICIAL DENIES COMPANY IS CLOSE TO BECKHAM DEAL
Despite a report in the Sunday Mirror that adidas was ready to sign David Beckham to a lifetime deal "estimated to be worth in excess" of $US160.8M, adidas exec Thomas Van Schaik told ESPN.com today that the company "is not on the cusp of signing [Beckham to] the largest endorsement deal of all time." Van Schaik: "We have a very valuable partnership with David Beckham and we are excited about that, but there have been no discussions about a new contract for any number of years" (ESPN.com, 8/11).
WINSTON CUP EXTREME TRIBUTE PARTY TO BE HELD OCTOBER 7
Motorsportsindustry officials today announced plans for the Winston Cup Extreme TributeParty, which will be held October 7 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC,to recognize R.J. Reynolds’ contribution to motorsports and to serve as a thankyou for its Winston brand’s 33-year title sponsorship of the NASCAR Winston CupSeries. Hank Williams Jr. and WayneNewton have already been signed for the event, which will run from3:00-11:00pm ET. Charlotte-basedCreative Network Studios will produce the event (Lowe’s Motor Speedway).
NAPA AUTO PARTS GRANTED EXCLUSIVITY AT INFINEON RACEWAY
NAPAAuto Parts today announced a three-year strategic partnership with InfineonRaceway, granting the company exclusivity in the auto parts retailercategory. The deal includes acomprehensive on-site branding platform, promotional rights to the InfineonRaceway name and logo, signage and corporate hospitality (NAPA).
SONY TO LAUNCH ONLINE GAMING SERVICE – 989SPORTSONLINE.COM
REUTERSreports that Sony will launch a “service for its sports game players to compete online” on August 26 to coincidewith the release of “NFL GameDay 2004.” The service, called 989SportsOnline.com, will feature “message boards,tournaments, downloadable rosters and player rankings, and will let usersconduct voice chats with a PS2 headset.” It will also offer a “unified login, so players can access the site withone username and password no matter which 989 Sports game they are playing” (REUTERS,8/11).
BUZZER BEATERS
ElectronicArts today announced that Raptors G Vince Carter and Nuggets F CarmeloAnthony will serve as spokespersons for EA Sports’ basketballproducts. Carter will appear onpackaging and merchandising for “NBA Live 2004,” while Anthony will appear onthe cover of “NCAA March Madness 2004” (Electronic Arts).
Fox today reported that itsregional MLB coverage on Saturday averaged a 3.8/10 overnight Nielsen rating, a6% increase against last year’s 3.6/9 (Fox).
ThePBA today announced changes to the PBA Tour, including an exempt field. Beginning with the ’04-05 season, PBA Tourevents will be limited to 64 entries, 60 of which will have exempt status forthe entire season. Under the newformat, bowlers who lose their first match will be guaranteed prize money, markingthe first time the PBA will pay the entire field and guarantee exempt players aweekly paycheck (PBA).
ESPNtoday officially announced that ESPN2’s new weekday morning show, “Cold Pizza,”will debut October 1 at 7:00am ET, which is also the ten-year annivesary of ESPN2's launch (ESPN).
TheWNBA today announced that Wednesday’s Shock-Mercury game at 4:00pm ET will betelevised in high-definition on NBA TV, becoming the first WNBA game to betelevised on the channel in high-definition (WNBA).
WorldTeamTennis today announced that Andre Agassi and Anna Kournikovawill participate in the ADT World TeamTennis Smash Hits on September 25 at theFleet Center in Boston. The event,which is presented by Global NAPs and Convergent Networks, will benefit theElton John AIDS Foundation and the MA Community AIDS Partnership. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (WorldTeamTennis).
CHANNELSURFING
ESPNwill air preseason Eagles-Saints at8:00pm ET.
ESPN2will air the Little League SoftballWorld Series at 6:00pm ET.
ESPN2will air the regional finals of the LittleLeague World Series at 8:00pm ET and 10:00pm ET.
ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile MoeBerg at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN’s“Outside The Lines Nightly” willexamine the effect of a coach giving mixed signals when choosing astarting QB at midnight ET.
ColtsTE Dallas Clark, surfer Kelly Slater and actor Daniel Baldwin are scheduled to appearon FSN’s “BDSSP.”
FSNNew England will air “The Making of the Patriots Cheerleaders SwimsuitCalendar” at 7:30pm ET.
TheGolf Channel’s “Golf Talk” willoffer a special PGA Championshipepisode at 8:00pm ET.
HBOwill air an encore presentation of “DoYou Believe in Miracles? The Story ofthe 1980 U.S. Hockey Team” at 7:00pm ET.
MTV will air "Making The Game: Madden Football" at 11:00pm ET.
A&E’s“Biography” will profile CarrollO’Connor at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on thefollowing talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Joaquin Phoenix (r) |
| “The Tonight Show” | Ben Affleck |
| “The Late Late Show” | Jason Alexander |
| “Late Night” | Frankie Muniz (r) |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Michael Rappaport |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
TheATLANTA CONSTITUTION’s Julie Chao writes, “The world’s multinational companiesare racing to market to the billion-plus consumers of China. But Chinesecompanies are headed the opposite way, striving to build a global brandname and capture overseas markets. … Some companies may soon get a big boostwith the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The [IOC] and the Beijing Organizing Committee are each expected tochoose a Chinese company to join the likes of Kodak and Coca-Cola as topOlympic sponsors in coming months” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION).
TheWASHINGTON POST’s William Gildea writes following a conversation with CapitalsOwner Ted Leonsis, “As the fifth year of his ownership and five-yearplan fast approaches, Leonsis and Caps fans have yet to enjoy a series victoryin the playoffs. And theoutlook is hardly bright. Thisseason, the owner has little room to maneuver. He has spent plenty of money and now, with the NHL’s future uncertain,won’t invest in any more long-term contracts. By the same token, it’s virtually impossible for him to subtract anyhighly paid players and reshape the team because other owners aren’t willing toadd them” (WASHINGTON POST).
TheTORONTO STAR’s Dave Feschuk writes, “When the athletes aren’t competing atCanada’s only stop on the WTA Tour this week, they’ll be busycollecting free stuff and indulging in gratis services. … The better theplayer, the sweeter the perks. The topsix or seven competitors will enjoy a dedicated car and driver whilelower-ranked players share a pool of vehicles. The best players will also get the key to a suite at an assortment ofdowntown hotels, an upgrade also granted to past tournament champions. But the also-rans won’t exactly starve insqualor” (TORONTO STAR).
SeeThe Daily Insider’s Articles ofInterest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports: Which heavyweight boxerholds the record for most consecutive title defenses?
- Larry Holmes
- Joe Louis
- Mike Tyson
- Muhammad Ali
IN OTHER NEWS…
REUTERSreports that AOL Time Warner “is considering dropping ‘AOL’ from its name … against thebackdrop of federal probes and declining finances at the media company’sAmerica Online unit” (REUTERS,8/11).
THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION
Thefollowing presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending August 2 (NYTIMES.com,8/11):
| THIS WEEK | HARDCOVER NONFICTION |
| 1) | KATE REMEMBERED, A. Scott Berg (Putnam) |
| 2) | BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster) |
| 3) | LIVING HISTORY, Hillary Rodham Clinton (Simon & Schuster) |
| 4) | UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, Jon Krakauer (Doubleday) |
| 5) | TREASON, Ann Coulter (Crown Forum) |
| 6) | SEABISCUIT: Special Illustrated Collector's Edition, Laura Hillenbrand (Random House) |
| 7) | THE KENNEDY CURSE, Edward Klein (St. Martin's) |
| 8) | MONEYBALL, Michael Lewis (Norton) |
| 9) | A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING, Bill Bryson (Broadway) |
| 10) | WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED, E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday) |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
Joe Louis successfully defended his title 25 consecutivetimes from ’37-49.
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