| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, August 21, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Coca-Cola Says It’s Too Early To Discuss Marketing Specifics For LeBron Deal |
| • | The Daily Also Discusses LeBron’s Coca-Cola Deal With Marketing Experts |
| • | Sharpie Today Announces Extension Of Bristol Night Race Title Sponsorship |
| • | Thoroughbred Ownership Initiative To Sponsor “Squawk Box” Tomorrow |
| • | Jets Name Glacier Mountain As Team’s Official Bottled Water Through ’05 |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
COCA-COLA COMMENTS ON LEBRON’S SIX-YEAR ENDORSEMENT DEAL
FollowingCoca-Cola’s announcement today that it has signed a six-year deal with LeBronJames to endorse its Sprite and Powerade brands, Coca-Cola spokesperson ScottWilliamson told The Daily, “It’s a little premature to discussspecifics regarding the marketing plan [around James]. ... Our hope is thatwe’ll have some activation before the [NBA] season, but in what form, it’spremature to say.” Williamson addedthat James will ultimately be seen in both TV and print ads. He would not say whether James would befeatured alone or with other Coca-Cola endorsers.
Meanwhile,another source with knowledge of the deal called reports of the $2M+ annualfigure for James “as accurate as you’ll see out there.” But the source doubted an earliercharacterization of the agreement as the largest beverage endorsement ever foran athlete, citing A-B’s relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. andPepsiCo’s Jeff Gordon partnership as deals that are likely worthmore. The source added of whetherJames’ deal is the largest athlete endorsement pact in Coca-Cola’s history: “Iknow that’s not the case” (THE DAILY).
MARKETERS WEIGH IN ON VALUE OF LEBRON’S DEAL TO COCA-COLA
TheDaily askedseveral marketing experts if Coca-Cola is receiving good value in the dealbased on the reported $2M+ annual figure, and if it is realistic to think Jamescan grow Powerade’s market share. Thefollowing is a sampling of their responses:
Warsaw Sports MarketingCenter Managing Dir Paul Swangard: “The upfront investment plusactivation spending will be significant, but this provides a good flankingstrategy to the Gatorade NBA sponsorship and can also serve as a hedge whilethe Kobe [Bryant] situation runs its course. … If he cangrow share, there is no question he has value. … Share growth will come fromthe younger demo.”
Burns Sports Senior VP DougShabelman, on Powerade growing its market share: “If they utilize him inthe right way, they very well could. Ifyou had to put your money on one guy right now, with all the hype and mediapublicity, you’d have to say LeBron James might be the guy to do it” (THEDAILY).
SHARPIE TO TITLE BRISTOL’S NIGHT NASCAR RACE THROUGH ‘08
Sharpietoday announced a five-year extension of its title sponsorship of the NASCARWinston Cup Series night race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Sharpie 500,through ‘08. The company’s originalthree-year deal expires with this Saturday’s running of the race. Sharpie, which will celebrate its 40thanniversary next year, is also a major sponsor of the No. 97 Rubbermaid/SharpieFord driven by Kurt Busch (Sharpie).
FOOT LOCKER TODAY REPORTS Q2 ’03 EARNINGS UP $5M FROM Q2 ‘02
REUTERSreports that Foot Locker today reported Q2 earnings of $36M, up from$31M for the same quarter in ‘02. Additionally, execs told analysts in aconference call that its relationship with Nike has “improved and it willsell more Nike shoes.” Foot Lockernow expects Nike will represent 38-40% of its ‘03 purchases, up fromthe 32-38% it had originally forecast. Foot Locker added that it “plans to launch a new Nike collection inDecember” (REUTERS,8/21). As of presstime, sharesof Foot Lock were up $0.69, or 4.49%, to $16.05.
DICK’S SPORTING GOODS BEATS THE STREET’S ESTIMATES FOR Q2 ‘03
Dick’sSporting Goods reported Q2 ’03 earnings today, and the PITTSBURGH BUSINESSTIMES notes that the results “bettered Wall Street’s outlook.” The company reported quarterly earnings of$15.5M, compared with a profit of $11.7M in the year ago period. Total sales rose 14% to $353.5M, whilesame-store sales increased 1.5% (BIZJOURNALS.com,8/21). As of presstime, sharesof Dick’s were down $2.90, or 7.16%, to $37.60.
ESPN TODAY ANNOUNCES PAIRINGS FOR ‘03 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
ESPNtoday announced the commentator pairings for the ‘03 college football season onESPN and ESPN2. Notable additions to the net’s coverage are Craig Jamesand ’89 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware. Chris Fowler will host “ESPN College GameDay” alongside analysts LeeCorso and Kirk Herbstreit, and “College GameDay Scoreboard” willfeature hosts Rece Davis or Matt Winer alongside analysts TrevAlberts and Mark May. Thefollowing represents the commentator pairings (ESPN):
| Play-By-Play | Analyst | Sideline Reporter |
| Ron Franklin | Mike Gottfried | Adrian Karsten |
| Mike Tirico | Lee Corso & Kirk Herbstreit | Dr. Jerry Punch |
| Dave Barnett | Bill Curry & Craig James | Heather Cox or Rob Stone |
| Mark Jones | Bob Davie | Holly Rowe |
| Pam Ward | Chris Spielman | |
| Jeff Hullinger | Andre Ware | Samantha Ryan or Dave Ryan |
| Sean McDonough | Rod Gilmore & TBD | Alex Flanagan or Heather Cox |
| Mark Malone | Sean Salisbury, Merril Hoge or John Cooper | |
| Rece Davis | Trev Alberts & Mark May | Samantha Ryan |
THE GREATEST GAME TO SPONSOR TOMORROW’S “SQUAWK BOX”
TheGreatest Game will sponsor tomorrow morning’s edition of CNBC’s “Squawk Box” asit broadcasts live from Saratoga Race Course from 7:00-10:00am ET. Guests include NYRA Chair Barry Scwharz,NetJets Chair Richard Santulli and Washington Post horseracing columnistAndrew Beyer. The Greatest Gameis a marketing product of the Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association,the NTRA and Keeneland Association to attract and expose new investors toThoroughbred ownership (The Greatest Game).
BUZZER BEATERS
TheJets and Glacier Mountain Spring Water Company today announced an agreementnaming Glacier Mountain the team’s official bottled water through ’05 (Jets).
ESPNtoday announced that the premiere episode of its original series “Playmakers”will be aired commercial-free on Tuesday, August 26, at 9:00pm ET. The commercial-free episode is exclusivelysponsored by Universal Pictures’ upcoming film, “The Rundown.” A special 12-minute episode of “Outside TheLines Nightly” will follow (ESPN).
CARTtoday confirmed that Robert Biggs has resigned from the company’s BOD,effective yesterday. Biggs, who citedpersonal circumstances for his resignation, becomes the second BOD member thisweek to resign. Team Owner DerrickWalker resigned Tuesday(THE DAILY).
NFLNetwork today named Brian Decker as VP/West Coast Affiliate Sales. Decker formerly was Superstation WGNVP/Affiliate Sales, Western Region (NFL Network).
Therecently formed South East Hockey League has opened administrativeoffices. The mailing address is 4340Big Barn Drive, Suite 110, Little River, SC 29566 (SEHL).
TONIGHT’SEVENTS
AndreAgassi and EmerilLagasse will host the Int’l Taste of Tennis at the W Hotel in N.Y. U.S. Open entrants Roger Federer, AndyRoddick, Chanda Rubin, Lisa Raymond and AlexandraStevenson will attend, as will Yankees 2B Alfonso Soriano. The event benefits Citymeal-on-Wheels (N.Y.POST, 8/10).
VenusWilliamsand Diane Von Furstenberg will host a cocktail reception from7:00-9:00pm ET at the Diane Von Furstenberg Studio in N.Y. to launch “The RbKby Diane Von Furstenberg Tennis Collection.”
CHANNELSURFING
Foxwill air NFL preseason, Cowboys-Steelers, at 8:00pm ET.
ESPNwill air the Little League World Seriesat 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2will air WNBA Rockers-Shock at8:00pm ET.
ESPNwill air coverage of the USTA Pilot Penat 7:30pm ET.
ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile OscarDe La Hoya at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2’s“Outside The Lines Nightly” willoffer an exclusive TV interview with Ohio St. teaching assistant NormaMcGill about her charges of academic fraud. The show also will examine the pros and cons of FieldTurf.
TennisHOFer Chris Evert and “Fox NFLSunday” analysts Jimmy Johnson and Howie Long are scheduled to appear onFSN’s “BDSSP.”
NASCARPresident Mike Helton will be onSpeed Channel’s “Wind Tunnel” with Dave Despain at 9:00pm ET.
Charles Barkley will be on CNN’s “Larry King Live” at 9:00pm ET.
Court TV’s “The System”will chronicle the case for ownership of Barry Bonds’ 73rd HRball at 8:00pm ET.
AVPTour player Dan Mintz will be onABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
A&E’s“Biography” will profile Tom Hanksat 8:00pm ET.
VH1continues “I Love the ‘70s” with “1976” at 9:00pm ET and “1977” at 10:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Hereare tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Tobey Maguire (r) |
| “The Tonight Show” | Johnny Depp (r) |
| “The Late Late Show” | Carmen Electra |
| “Late Night” | Chris Rock |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Dan Mintz |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
TheWASHINGTON TIMES’ Jon Seigel writes of Univ. of CO WR & Olympic skier JeremyBloom, “Originally, Bloom sued the NCAA to be able to earn money from hisskiing celebrity. After losing thatlawsuit, he’s championing an effort to radicallyalter the NCAA’s treatment of athletes. ... The most controversial of hisideas is to permit top college players to earn royalties off sales theygenerate for their schools – including the sale of replica jerseys and theirlikeness being used on products like video games” (WASHINGTON TIMES).
The FINANCIAL TIMES’ Geoff Dyer writes of the impending “three-waymarketing blitz for impotence treatments.” Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline signed a sponsorship deal with the NFLto promote the recently approved Levitra, which “will see Levitra being advertisedduring games,” while Eli Lilly and ICOS are expecting approval for Cialis. The two companies will “try to competewith the best-known drugs brand of the past decade, Pfizer’s Viagra” (FINANCIALTIMES).
SeeThe Daily Insider’s Articles OfInterest for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
SportsBusiness:How much did NFL Films Founder Ed Sabol pay to secure the rights tofilm the 1962 NFL Championship game?
IN OTHERNEWS…
BROADCASTING& CABLE reports that ABC Senior Exec Producer Victor Neufeld isjoining CBS’ “The Early Show” as Exec Producer, working under Senior ExecProducer Michael Bass on “the least-watched but somewhat-revived morningnews show that revamped itself last October” (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com,8/21).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
Thefollowing lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending August17 (BILLBOARD.com, 8/21):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | Greatest Hits Volume II And Some Other Stuff | Alan Jackson | Arista Nashville |
| 2) | A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar | Dashboard Confessional | Vagrant |
| 3) | Bad Boys II | Soundtrack | Bad Boy |
| 4) | Fallen | Evanescence | Wind-up |
| 5) | Dangerously In Love | Beyonce | Columbia |
| 6) | State Property Presents: The Chain Gang Vol. II | Various Artists | Criminal Background/Roc-A-Fella |
| 7) | Jackpot | Chingy | Disturbing Tha Peace |
| 8) | Now 13 | Various Artists | Universal/EMI/Zomba/Sony |
| 9) | Come Away With Me | Norah Jones | Blue Note |
| 10) | The Lizzie McGuire Movie | Soundtrack | Walt Disney |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
$3,000.
If you have any questions,comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
The Closing Bell providesan afternoon recap of the latest news and headlines each Monday through Fridayat approximately 4:00pm ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert tothe Closing Bell, go to MyAccount and personalize your e-mail alert options.
