Closing Bell, September 15, 2003

WUSA TODAY CLOSES DOORS DUE TO LACK OF REVENUE

By Jennifer Lee, Staff Writer,SportsBusiness Journal

BOBCATS TODAY ANNOUNCE ELEVEN LOCALMINORITY INVESTORS

BobcatsOwner Robert Johnson today announced a group of Charlotte investors(individuals as well as companies) as minority partners in the Bobcats andSting. The following details thepartners (Bobcats):

BLOOMBERG TODAY APPOINTS 33 PEOPLE TO N.Y. SPORTS POSTS

N.Y.Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced the appointment of five membersto the New York City Sports Commission and 28 members to the Sports DevelopmentCorporation. Sports Commission membersinclude Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. President & CEO Herbert Berman,former N.Y. Mayor David Dinkins, NYC2012 Founder & President Dr.Daniel Doctoroff, N.Y. City Council Finance Committee Chair DavidWeprin and Modell’s Sporting Goods CEO Mitchell Modell, who willchair the commission.

Viewthe 28 members of the Sports Development Corporation (New York City SportsCommission):

MICHAEL ROONEY TODAY NAMED ESPN BRANDED MEDIA SENIOR VP

ESPNOutdoors Senior VP & GM Michael Rooney today was named ESPN BrandedMedia Senior VP/Advertising Sales & Marketing. In the role, Rooney will be responsible for advertising andsponsorship sales efforts of ESPN Magazine, ESPN.com and ESPN Outdoors (ESPN).

ESPNtoday also made several announcements regarding broadcast talent (ESPN):

• Mike Breen has joined the net to serve as an NBA play-by-play announcer. Breen will continue in his Olympic role with NBC, as well as with the Knicks on TV and radio.

• Play-by-play announcer J.P. Dellacamera and soccer analyst Wendy Gebauer Palladino will serve in those capacities for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC’s coverage of the ’03 Women’s World Cup, beginning September 18. WUSA Commissioner Tony DiCicco will serve as an analyst for select games alongside Beth Mowins, WUSA’s play-by-play announcer on ESPN2 and Pax.

• College football analyst Craig James will join John Saunders and Terry Bowden as an analyst for the duo’s college football studio show from Times Square Stadium, beginning September 20. James, who rejoined ESPN as a college football analyst in July, will continue in that role for select games.

PROMOTION OF THE WEEK: THE BIG GAME @ PAC BELL PARK

TheMLB Giants tonight will host “The Big Game @ Pac Bell Park” prior to and duringthe team’s 7:15pm PT game against the Padres, a promotion centered on the111-year-old Bay Area college football rivalry between Cal and Stanford,inviting students and alumni of both universities for a night at Pac Bell Park. Though the team sells out a majority of itsgames – a 34-game sellout streak just recently ended – filling the ballpark forweeknight games during the school year can be a challenge. Hence, tonight’s event was added to thepromotional schedule in June to boost attendance for a game against the NL Westcellar-dwelling Padres.

GiantsSenior VP/Consumer Marketing Tom McDonald said of the promotion: “Thisis kind of fun because it lends a regional aspect to a group sales effort andhas the potential to really grow into something significant given how manyalumni are in this area. We’ve tried tointegrate them into as many in-game elements as we can, and I think we have apretty fun promotion here.”

Themarching bands from both schools will participate in a pre-game pep rallyoutside the ballpark. Additionally, the65 members of the Cal Rally Committee will lead cheers, while the Stanford bandwill perform the National Anthem. Giants sponsor Sony PlayStation 2 will select one representative fromeach school to participate in a home run derby on 989 Sports’ “MLB 2004,” whichwill be shown on the Jumbotron. TheStanford rep will play alongside Giants OF & Stanford alum JeffreyHammonds, while the Cal rep will play alongside Padres OF & Cal alum XavierNady. The winner will receive aPlayStation 2 console and a copy of the game.

Giantsmascot Lou Seal will escort Oski Bear and the Stanford Tree around the ballparkprior to the game to tape funny segments that will be featured between inningson the Jumbotron. The trio will alsolead seventh inning stretch activities. Additionally, three in-game Jumbotron slots have been reserved for a“Fun Facts” series, which will focus mainly on the two schools’ MLB ties.

TheGiants have promoted the event for more than a month on TV and radio gamebroadcasts, as well as on their official Web site. Giants Sales Exec Todd Lindenbaum also hit the streets topromote the event during the last two weeks, hanging flyers on Cal’s campus andsetting up a booth at the school’s annual back-to-school Caltopia event. The effort resulted in the sale of 275tickets. Lindenbaum also walked thetailgating lots prior to the San Jose St.-Stanford football game September 6,but failed to sell a single ticket. Lindenbaum: “The Stanford people were a lot less receptive thanCal. People wouldn’t even take theflyers.”

The team is offering three price points for the game asthe target crowd spans many income levels, from current students to alums. Lindenbaum said that 70% of the tickets soldare in the centerfield and leftfield bleachers, $10 and $14 seats,respectively. The third price point isView Reserved seats, which cost $18. Asof presstime, 1,558 tickets had been sold via the promotion, with Cal leadingby a 2:1 margin, 965-623. Revenue generatedfrom the ticket sales exceeded $20,000.

Sincethe promotion was conceived more than halfway through the season, the Giantsdid not have ample time to receive official clearance for the promotion fromthe Cal and Stanford marketing departments. Both schools have indicated that they would like to participate moreintimately next year; Cal even offered to share alumni databaseinformation. There is no word as towhether Gary Tyrrell, the Stanford trombonist knocked over in the endzone in ’82 by Cal’s Kevin Moen, will be in attendance.

McDonaldadded of the promotion being added at a late date, “I think you have tocontinue to find creative ways to get people to the park to sample theexperience because some of this is just about people coming to the park andenjoying an entertainment experience, whether they’re baseball fans or not.”

Doyou have an interesting promotion The Daily should know about? If so, please contact Joe Oliver at joeo@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

BUZZER BEATERS

TheAP reports that a federal court in TX today upheld “March Madness” as atrademark of the NCAA and the IL High School Association, ruling that Netfireand Sports Marketing Int’l “were not entitled to use ‘March Madness’ orcontests involving the NCAA basketball championship on their Web sites” (AP,9/15).

FoxSports today announced that Giants DE Michael Strahan will be featuredevery Monday on “BDSSP” in a new segment, “Talk To The Strahan,” in whichStrahan will dissect the previous weekend’s NFL games and analyze upcomingmatchups. Due to the Giants’ “MNF” gametonight, the segment will premiere tomorrow and then move to Mondays (FoxSports).

TheReds today announced a second campaign for personalized bricks that will belaid into the HOF Breezeway adjacent to Crosley Terrace, the main entrance toGreat American Ball Park. A limitednumber of bricks measuring 4’ x 8’ will be offered for $75, while 8’ x 8’bricks will cost $150 (Reds).

TheORLANDO BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Florida Citrus Sports has “discounttickets available for the Mazda Tangerine Bowl and the Capital One Bowl.” Tangerine Bowl tickets will cost $35 ifpurchased before November 1, and $45 afterwards. Capital One Bowl tickets will cost $55 if purchased prior toNovember 1, and $65 afterwards (BIZJOURNALS.com,9/15).

BoostMobile Pro today announced that more than 325,000 people watched theprofessional surfing 2003 Boost Mobile Pro presented by Quiksilver live ontheir PCs September 4-8 (Boost Mobile Pro).

TONIGHT’S EVENTS

TheN.Y. POST reports that stars from three Broadway shows – “Movin’ Out,” “MammaMia!” and “Hairspray” – will perform the halftime show during theCowboys-Giants “MNF” game at Giants Stadium. The show is part of the League of American Theaters & Producers’initiative to promote Broadway shows (N.Y. POST, 9/15).

iNDemand will host a launch party for INHD and INHD2 at Pressure in N.Y., atopBowlmor Lanes, from 7:00-10:00pm ET.

Flyerscoach Ken Hitchcock, 76ers coach Randy Ayers andComcastexecs will attend a block party at the Wachovia Center at 5:00pm ET to raisemoney and awareness for the United Way (NJ COURIER-POST, 9/14).

ThaiDeputy Prime Minister & Int’l Badminton Federation President KornDabbaransi will preside over a 2:00pm PT ribbon-cutting ceremony at EdisonInt’l Field in Anaheim to officially open the IBF’s Pan American office. Dabbaransi will also ceremonially sign thecontracts bringing the ’05 World Badminton Championships to the city’sArrowhead Pond.

CHANNELSURFING

TheGolf Channel will air the Kraft/NabiscoShoot-out at 5:00pm ET, featuringMichelle Wie-John Daly against HankKuehne-Nancy Lopez in a 9-hole skins-style match. The broadcast will replay at 8:00pm ET.

ABCwill air Cowboys-Giants at 8:00pmET.

ESPNwill air Monday Night Countdown at7:30pm ET.

Bucs DT Warren Sapp, Astros 2B Jeff Kent and actor Jim Belushi will be on ESPN’s “The New American Sportsman” at 10:00pmET.

ESPN2will air “The Sports Reporters Primetime”at 7:30pm ET.

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

ESPN’s“Outside the Lines Nightly” tonight begins a two-part series, “Baseball’sBurning Issues,” at 1:00am ET. JoeBuck, Bob Costas and George Will will join host Bob Ley fora roundtable discussion.

Phillies President DaveMontgomery will discuss the team’s new ballpark on CSN Philadelphia’s “PhilliesClubhouse” at 8:30pm ET.

Newly appointed NASCAR Chair& CEO Brian France will be on Speed Channel’s “Wind Tunnel”with Dave Despain at 9:00pm ET.

WBA/WBCsuper welterweight champion Sugar ShaneMosley, Grambling football coach DougWilliams, CBS Sportsline NFL writer JayGlazer and actor Luis Guzman arescheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”

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

HEADLINERS

Here are tonight’s headline guests on thefollowing talk shows:

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The L.A. DAILY NEWS’ Matt McHale wrote, “Just who is thecomeback player of the year? RodBeck? Wilson Alvarez? Each of the Kansas City Royals? Hands down the answer is Bud Selig. …He nolonger is a laughingstock. In asport defined by Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, the one-time BudLight has become its hottest player” (L.A. DAILY NEWS).

The WASHINGTON POST’s Crenshaw &Heath wrote, “At a time whencollege athletics has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry … the athleticdepartments are consideredcharities to the Internal Revenue Service and many state taxcollectors. This means that tens ofmillions of the dollars that flow to college athletic programs every year canbe subtracted from the taxable incomes of the donors, saving those donors – andcosting the general taxpayers – 25 to 40 cents or more on the dollar” (WASHINGTONPOST).

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

TODAY’S TEASER…

Sports: The NFC East has the mostcombined Super Bowl titles of any NFL division with ten (Cowboys – 5, Redskins– 3, Giants – 2). Which division hasthe second-most?

IN OTHER NEWS…

TheAP reports that a federal appeals court today postponed CA’s October 7gubernatorial recall election, “ruling the historic vote cannot proceed asscheduled because some votes would be cast using outmoded punch-card ballotmachines” (AP,9/15).

THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION

Thefollowing presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending September14 (NY TIMES.com, 9/15):

…TODAY’S ANSWER

The AFC West and NFC West both havesix (AFC West: Raiders – 3, Broncos – 2, Chiefs – 1. NFC West: 49ers – 5, Rams – 1).

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

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