Closing Bell, August 26, 2003

JURY TODAY AWARDS $34.2M TO RAIDERS IN FRAUD TRIAL

TheAP reports that the Raiders today “were awarded $34.2[M] by a jury that foundOakland coliseum officials acted negligently when negotiating to bring the teamback” from L.A., but the jury “said none of the defendants intentionallymisrepresented ticket sales.”  Theverdict in the team’s lawsuit “was far less than the [$570-833M] it sought tocompensate for low ticket sales and the declining value of the franchise by2010 when the contract expires.” Coliseum officials are "expected to appeal the verdict reached after nearly three weeks of jury deliberations" (AP, 8/26). The Raiders will host a 3:00pm PT press conference at the team's HQs to discuss the verdict (THE DAILY).

BORNSTEIN, LEONSIS DISCUSS AOL/NFL DEAL TODAY ON CNBC

NFL Network President SteveBornstein and AOL Vice Chair/Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis appearedthis afternoon on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” to discuss the league’s expandedcontent agreement with AOL for broadband subscribers.

Leonsis,on utilizing the NFL to grow and retain AOL customers: “As broadband becomesan increasingly important part of our business, there’s no better video assetsand audio assets to package up and offer to our members on an exclusive basisthan the NFL. … If you go online you’ll be paying $35 for it, [but] as an AOLbroadband member, you get it for free.”

Bornstein, on what the NFLreceives in the deal: “First and foremost, we get to develop a broader andricher relationship with our fan base by providing programming and product thatthey haven’t had before.  The secondmost-important element in this deal for us is an association with a world classpartner – AOL – by extending our deal with them, which we have been inrelationship with the last two years. And last and foremost, it’s a way for us to expand our digital assetbase, and really explore new media” (“Closing Bell,” CNBC, 8/26).

GART SPORTS RESULTS PULLED DOWN BY ONE-TIME MERGER CHARGE

CBSMARKETWATCH reported that Gart Sports late yesterday announced a profit of$5.26M for fiscal Q2, down from $6.33M a year ago.  This year’s results “were pulled down by a one-time charge of$1.7[M] … related to the costs of renaming certain stores and closing others asit integrates its systems with Sports Authority.”  Total sales rose 2.2% to $267.5M, from $261.7M a year ago.  However, same-store sales fell 0.6% fromlast year (CBSMARKETWATCH, 8/25).

NFL AND PLAYERS INC TODAY MAKE HIRING ANNOUNCEMENTS

TheNFL today announced the hiring of Chris Fuller as VP/Media Sales, whowill be responsible for all media sales for NFL Network, NFL Sunday Ticket,Super Bowl halftime and NFL Films programming distributed on broadcast andcable.  Fuller will initially focus onad sales for NFL Network.  Fuller mostrecently was Fox Cable Sports VP/East Coast Sales (NFL).

PlayersInc, the licensing and marketing arm of the NFLPA, today announced the hiringof Christy Moran as Assistant VP/Communications.  Moran, who most recently was a Dir atDC-based Qorvis Communications, will be responsible for all aspects of PlayersInc’s communications, PR and advertising strategies (Players Inc).

ROYALS TONIGHT TO HOST POPULAR DODGE BUCK NIGHT

TheRoyals will host Dodge Buck Night – a promotion that offers $1 hot dogs, smallPepsi soft drinks and peanuts – for the team’s 7:05pm CT game tonight againstthe Rangers.  Royals Dir of Advertising& Promotions Kim Hillix told The Daily that the promotion,which typically is held on Friday and Saturday nights, was added to thecalendar in an effort to surpass the Twins and White Sox for the AL Centralattendance crown.  The Royals’ mostrecent Dodge Buck Night drew 33,379 for a Friday night game against the DevilRays.  The following details totalattendance for the three teams as of yesterday (THE DAILY):

BUZZER BEATERS

TheTOLEDO BLADE reports that the Mid-American Conference’s five-year programmingand production agreement with ESPN, which was noted in yesterday’sClosing Bell, “nearly doubles the annual rights fees to the league, from$315,000 to $600,000” (TOLEDOBLADE, 8/26).

Wachoviatoday reached a five-year advertising agreement with UNC’s Tar Heel AthleticsAssociation, under which the company will advertise on the school’s radio, TV,print and Internet programs.  Wachoviawill also have a presence on the video boards at the school’s football stadiumand basketball arena (Wachovia).

TheTORONTO SUN reports that the Blue Jays “are expected to unveil the fourth logoin franchise history next Tuesday” (TORONTOSUN, 8/26).

TheMONTGOMERY ADVERTISER cites ESPN.com as reporting that the 65^thBlue-Gray All Star Football Classic will be played at Movie Gallery Stadium inTroy, AL.  While officials haveconfirmed the game will be televised by ESPN2 on December 25 at 2:00pm ET, aformal location announcement has been “held up by sponsors” (MONTGOMERYADVERTISER, 8/26).

USAHockey today unveiled the official event logo for the ‘05 IIHF World JuniorChampionship.  The ten-nation tournamentwill take place December 25, 2004, through January 4, 2005, in Grand Forks, ND,and Thief River Falls, MN (USA Hockey).

REUTERSreports that U.S. sprinter Jon Drummond has withdrawn from the worldchampionships.  There was no immediatereaction from the IIAF, which had demanded that action be taken againstDrummond today after protesting for being disqualified for a false start (REUTERS,8/26).

TONIGHT’S EVENTS

TheMariners will distribute Ichiro Suzuki Gold Glove bobbleheads, courtesyof Nissan, to all children age 14 and younger in attendance for the team’s7:05pm PT against the Devil Rays.

CHANNELSURFING

USANetwork will air early round coverage of the U.S. Open at 7:00pm ET.

ESPNwill air the World Series of Poker –final table at 8:00pm ET.

ESPNwill premiere “Playmakers” at 9:00pmET, followed by an encore presentation at 10:00pm ET.

ESPN2will air the World Track & FieldChampionships at 10:00pm ET.

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

BucsS John Lynch, boxer Laila Ali and former MLBer Brian Kingman are scheduled to appearon FSN’s “BDSSP.”

NASCARWinston Cup driver Jeff Gordon willbe on Speed Channel’s “Wind Tunnel”with Dave Despain at 9:00pm ET.

CSTVwill premiere “Dog Days” at 10:00pm ET.

TheTennis Channel will air a tribute to Pete Sampras, beginning at 8:00pmET.

Sampras will be on CBS’ “Late Show” with DavidLetterman at 11:35am ET.

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

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

HEADLINERS

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

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheBOSTON GLOBE’s Jim McCabe writes that the TPC Boston is athree-way partnership – the PGA Tour owning 50%, FleetBoston Financial24.9% and Connell Limited Partnership 25.1%. The price for building the course “was roughly $28[M], and while therewas a sea of red tape and political maneuvering, from the start the project hadthe critical support and financial clout of business leaders. … All of themavid golfers, all instrumental in the development of this facility” (BOSTONGLOBE).

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

TODAY’S TEASER…

Sports& Entertainment: Name the fictional university featured in the ‘93 college footballflick “The Program.”

IN OTHER NEWS……

WorldWrestling Entertainment reported its fiscal Q1 results yesterday.  Income for the quarter was $2.8M, down from$3.9M in the year earlier period. However, the company noted that the results only include two PPV eventsbecause of the timing of their July event. Total revenues were $74.7M as compared to $85.4M last year, though lastyear’s revenues included approximately $5.5M related to the July ’02 event (WWE).

THE DAILY STAT: TOP SPORTS SITES FOR WEEK ENDING AUGUST 10

Thefollowing are the top five sports Web sites ranked according to home uniqueaudience for the week ending August 10, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.  Unique Audience = the number of persons inthousands accessing the site or network, with each counted only once.  Average time spent = the average amount oftime a visitor has spent at that property for the week.  This data isbased on 37,000 home users with Internet access (Nielsen//NetRatings).

…TODAY’S ANSWER

Eastern State University

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