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PROPOSAL FOR CONNECTICUT SPEEDWAY TO BE PRESENTED TONIGHT

TheHARTFORD COURANT reports that Arganese Properties Owner Gene Arganese “will present a proposaltonight to the Economic Development Commission in North Stonington,[Connecticut] outlining plans to build a $400[M], 140,000-seat, 1-mile speedwayin town.” Arganase said that he “hashad brief conversations with NASCAR representatives in the last few weeks aboutthe possibility of attracting events to his proposed facility.” However, the COURANT notes that it is “hardto envision NASCAR being interested in placing a Nextel Cup event in NorthStonington” (HARTFORDCOURANT, 12/4).

EBERSOL COMMENTS ON NBC’S OLYMPIC COVERAGE TODAY ON CNBC

NBCSports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol appeared today on CNBC’s“Squawk Box,” which was guest hosted by David D’Alessandro, Chair &CEO of Olympic sponsor John Hancock. Ebersol, on airing Olympic events live or in tape-delay: “We try toserve both sides of this question, and we’ll do a better job of it in Athensthan we’ve ever done before. Thehigh-end events – like track and field, swimming, gymnastics, diving – we haveto hold for primetime. That’s the thingpeople want to see most. … On the other hand, from Athens we’re going to dobetween 400 and 500 hours of live television [across NBC and its cablenetworks].”

D’Alessandronoted that the U.S. baseball team did not qualify for the ’04 Athens Games andasked Ebersol, “There is a committee at the Olympic level that is now lookingat downsizing the Games, getting rid of some sports. From your perspective, from an economic perspective, is that goodfor NBC, bad for NBC, good for sponsors?” Ebersol:“From an economic impact, baseball simply does not have much of one. It’s not something we can put on the networkside, because it won’t draw a rating, not Olympic baseball. The one time we’ve done an Olympics with alot of baseball was Sydney. We put iton cable; it did a .6 or a .7 rating” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 12/4).

ESPN CREATING ON-DEMAND HIGH-DEF PRODUCT FOR CABLE OPERATORS

BROADCASTING& CABLE reports that ESPN is “creating an on-demand high-definition productthat it said it will make available to all cable operators.” At launch, the product will offer onecollege football and basketball game each week (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com,12/4).

Meanwhile,DAILY VARIETY reported that the “No. 1 network in primetime for the month was ESPN,which dominated November on the strength of five Sunday night NFL games.” TheNovember 16 Packers-Vikings game “was the highest-rated individual [cable]program for the month, averaging 11.7 million viewers” (DAILY VARIETY,12/4).

MULTICHANNELNEWS reported that ESPN earned a 2.5 Nielsen cable rating for the period, up 4%from last November (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 12/3).

SPIKE TV TO AIR “VIDEO GAME AWARDS” TONIGHT AT 9:00pm ET

SpikeTV tonight will air the “Video Game Awards” at 9:00pm ET, with David Spadehosting, and the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that EA Sports’ “Madden NFL 2004” wonthe video game of the year at the show, which was taped yesterday in LasVegas. Spike TV Exec VP/Programming& Production Kevin Kay said that he intends tonight’s broadcast to “introduce SpikeTV to the video game industry and demonstrate the network’s interest in thegames and their associated lifestyle.” Awards were distributed in 16 categories, including best sports game,won by Activision’s “Tony Hawk’s Underground” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 12/4).

BUZZER BEATERS

TheCFL and NFL today announced an extension of the NFL/CFL Alliance until April30. During the extension, CFL playersentering the option years of their contracts will be permitted to sign with NFLteams until February 29. The twoleagues are still negotiating a long-term extension (CFL).

TheDALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that MLB Rangers Owner Tom Hicks will dinetonight with Nolan Ryan “in an attempt to hammer out final detailson an extension of the personal services contract with the Rangers," whichexpired at season's end. Astros Owner Drayton McLane has contacted Ryan about joining theAstros (DALLASMORNING NEWS, 12/4).

TheIOC today decided to retest samples from the Salt Lake Olympics forTHG (IOC).

CallawayGolf today announced that it will transfer the Ben Hogangolf club manufacturing operations from Fort Worth to Callaway headquarters inCarlsbad, CA (Callaway Golf).

REUTERSreports that F1 carmakers and commercial rights holders “hailed a breakthroughdeal [today] that looked likely to end the threat of a breakawaychampionship.” No details of the“breakthrough” were immediately available (REUTERS,12/4).

TheAtlanta Sports Council today announced that the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl hasofficially sold out for the seventh consecutive year. It is the bowl’s second-earliest sellout and only the secondannounced sellout prior to the SEC team being named. Clemson will represent the ACC in the game (Atlanta SportsCouncil).

GeorgeForemantoday announced that he is retiring from his position as HBO Sports boxinganalyst. Foreman worked at HBO Sportsfor 12 years (George Foreman).

BLOODHORSE.comreports that the NTRA BOD today “approved a proposal for expanded television coverageand up to $2[M] in purse enhancements in the Breeders’ Cup StakesProgram.” The series of events leadingup to the World Thoroughbred Championships will move to ESPN and ABC, andcoverage hours “will expand from four to 10 … and run from June through earlyOctober as a lead-in to the World Thoroughbred Championships” (BLOODHORSE.com, 12/4).

TheBOSTON GLOBE reports that a federal jury has awarded Milford-based sportinggoods manufacturer Brine “a nearly $2[M] verdict after finding that a competitor [Baltimore-basedSTX LLC] copied its popular lacrosse stick design” (BOSTONGLOBE, 12/4).

KentuckySpeedway announced that Insight Communications will sponsor its June 18 PoleEvent featuring NASCAR Busch Series qualifying and a NASCAR Kodak SoutheastSeries race. WLW-AM in Cincinnati andThe Louisville Courier-Journal have renewed sponsorships of the event (KentuckySpeedway).

TheST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS reports that the Twins were scheduled to “meet today witha Burnsville group interested in having the team play in that city, if it couldbecome the site of a new ballpark” (ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/4).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

THEONION offers a satirical look at THG in the NFL in its “What Do You Think?”section. Among the responses, “Apparently, thetype of performance-enhancing drugs the Raiders were using aren’t the kind thathelp you pressure the quarterback, stop the run, or establish a goddamn passinggame” (THE ONION, 12/3issue).

TONIGHT’SEVENTS

AndyRoddick andJames Blake will meet in the Mercantile Tennis Challenge at 1^stMariner Arena in Baltimore, and the Baltimore SUN notes that tennis promoters“are counting on their boy-band allure and global antics to sell the game to awider, younger audience” (BaltimoreSUN, 12/4).

ChargersOwner Alex Spanos will receive the Heart of Gold Award from theStarbright Foundation during their annual gala at the Beverly Hills Hilton.

BasketballHOFer Oscar Robertson will sign his book, “The Big O,” at Books &Co. in Kettering, Ohio, at 7:00pm ET (DAYTON DAILY NEWS, 12/4).

CHANNEL SURFING

TNTwill air Bulls-76ers at 7:00pm ET, followed by Lakers-Mavericksat 9:30pm.

ESPN2will air the MAC football championship: Miami-Bowling Green at 7:00pmET.

ESPNwill air Red Wings-Blues at 7:30pm ET, the season premiere of “ThursdayNight Hockey.”

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

Raptors G Jalen Rose,actress Jessica Alba and actor Jon Favreau are scheduled toappear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”

SpikeTV will air the “Video Game Awards” at 9:00pm ET

A&Ewill air “Holiday Ice Dreams,” featuring Oksana Baiul, at 9:00pmET.

A&E’s“Biography” will profile figure skater Scott Hamilton at 8:00pm ET.

E!’s“True Hollywood Story” will profile Heather Mills McCartney at 8:00pmET.

HEADLINERS

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

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheWASHINGTON POST’s Steve Fainaru writes of the BALCO investigation, “Theunlikely center of it all is [BALCO President Victor] Conte, 53,a former bass player for the Bay Area funk band Tower of Power. The controversy has providedan unvarnished view of a charismatic entrepreneur who built a companyaround a used piece of lab equipment, then forged key relationships withathletes, doctors, academics and coaches to carve out a piece of thenutritional supplement business” (WASHINGTON POST).

TheL.A. TIMES’ Michael Hiltzik writes of San Diego and its relationship with theChargers, “It wouldn’t be long before the city discovered what many othercommunities across the land had learned: The NFL has a way with a poisonedchalice that would leave Lucrezia Borgia speechless withadmiration. Not only have the Chargersfallen far off from Super Bowl quality, but the 1995 deal has cost San Diegomillions of dollars – without eliminating the threat that the team might departanyway” (L.A. TIMES).

TheS.F. CHRONICLE’s Glenn Dickey writes, “The Yorks should sell the49ers. Lack of money is behind the49ers’ problems. … The 49ers badlyneed a new stadium, but the Yorks can’t afford it, even with the help ofthe NFL. … The solution is obvious: Sell the club to somebody with deeperpockets. That kind of person, orbusiness, would probably recoup the expense of building a new stadium over theyears” (S.F. CHRONICLE).

• Buccaneers Owner Malcolm Glazer could hold the key to ManU’s future.
• The bottom line on conference title games is … the bottom line.
• Matt Kenseth may be the least-known NASCAR Winston Cup Champion.
• Humorous take on the abundance of sponsorship entitlements in sports.

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

TODAY’S TEASER…

SportsBusiness:According to The Daily’s Turnstile Tracker, which of these sports sawthe greatest growth in attendance from ’01-02 to ’02-03?

1. Baseball
2. Football
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Auto Racing

IN OTHERNEWS…

TheNational Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences today announced the nomineesfor the 46^th Grammy Awards. View allnominees. The following presentsnominees for Album of the Year (NARAS):

THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSENRATINGS

Thefollowing lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows forthe week of November 24-30.  Also provided are the weekly viewershipaverages for each net (USA TODAY, 12/4).

…TODAY’S ANSWER

Football experienced a 6.6% increase, jumping from 67,542,345to 72,031,565 fans.

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

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