| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, January 15, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | PepsiCo Today Inks Freddy Adu To Two-Year Deal To Endorse Sierra Mist Brand |
| • | PGA Tour, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Ink Four-Year Extension |
| • | All Nine Cities Hoping To Host 2012 Olympics Submit IOC Questionnaire |
| • | Suns Embroiled In Battle Between Conservative Religious Group, Churches |
| • | EA Sports, Sony Music Today Announce Promotional Deal For “NFL Street” |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
FREDDY ADU TO ENDORSE PEPSI’S SIERRA MIST UNDER TWO-YEAR DEAL
PepsiCotoday announced that DC United F Freddy Adu has signed a two-year dealto endorse the company’s Sierra Mist brand. The agreement includes TV and print ad opportunities, as well as hispresence on in-store marketing materials. Adu will also become the spokesperson for the Sierra Mist MLS Dribble,Pass & Score youth program and Pepsi’s Get Out There & Play initiative(Pepsi).
Meanwhile,MLS today announced that Sierra Mist will replace Pepsi as the league’sofficial soft drink under a two-year partnership that extends through the ’05MLS season. Beginning this season,Sierra Mist will title sponsor the MLS All-Star Game and other leagueprograms. The deal includes on-sitepromotion, POS and TV ad opportunities. PepsiCo’s relationship with MLS began with the league’s inception in ‘96(MLS).
STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE RE-UPS WITH PGA TOUR
ThePGA Tour today announced that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide hassigned a four-year extension to remain the official hotels and resorts of thePGA Tour and Champions Tour. Starwood,which will continue to offer members of both Tours special rates and programenhancements, will utilize the sponsorship for several consumerpromotions. Starwood owns and operatesWestin, Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton and Whotels (PGA Tour).
NINE CITIES SUBMIT QUESTIONNAIRES TO HOST 2012 OLYMPICS
TheIOC today announced that all nine cities applying to become candidates to hostthe 2012 Olympics have returned their responses to the IOC CandidatureAcceptance Procedure questionnaire. Thecities are Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig (Germany), London, Madrid, Moscow, N.Y,Paris and Rio de Janeiro. The IOC Exec Board will decide which cities will beaccepted as candidates during a May 18 meeting (IOC).
FOX SPORTS NET PLUS LAUNCHES IN BAY AREA TONIGHT
FoxSports Net Plus launches tonight in the Bay Area with Canucks-Sharks at 7:30pmPT. As is the case tonight, the netwill carry FSN Bay Area games when the net has two events scheduled at the sametime. FSN Bay Area will air Warriors-Cavaliersat 7:30pm PT. Local cable companies andsatellite providers will make Fox Sports Net Plus accessible in such situations(FSN Bay Area).
SUNS EMBROILED IN BATTLE OVER ANTI-GAY-MARRIAGE LITERATURE
TheARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that the Suns “are embroiled in a battle between a conservativereligious group and some Valley churches over anti-gay-marriage literature thataccompanied invitations” to the March 19 “Church Night” game. The Suns dropped the Center for ArizonaPolicy as the event’s sponsor after several clergy members “complained aboutinvitation packages sent by the Suns and the center.” Suns Senior VP/Public Affairs Tom Ambrose: “As soon as wehad one or two complaints, we took a harder look and realized we had a hugeproblem.” Ambrose acknowledged that theissue “was problematic for another reason: The team has groomed a gay fan base”for its WNBA team, the Mercury (ARIZONAREPUBLIC, 1/15).
EA SPORTS, SONY MUSIC TODAY ANNOUNCE CROSS-PROMOTIONAL DEAL
EASports and Sony Music today jointly announced a cross-promotional agreement tosupport the in-game soundtrack of EA Sports Big’ “NFL Street,” which launchedtoday. The game’s soundtrack willfeature an original score from the X-ecutioners, as well as licensed tracksfrom other Sony Music artists. Twotracks from the soundtrack will be made into music videos featuring gameplayfootage (EA Sports).
BUZZER BEATERS
TheNHL today announced that ABC’s regular-season opening coverage, which featuredregional action, generated 2.1 million viewers, making it the most-watchedopening broadcast for the NHL since January 24, 1998. The 2.1 million viewers represent a 23% increase in audience sizeversus last year’s season-opening regional coverage. The coverage averaged a 1.4/4 Nielsen rating (NHL).
TheNFL, MTV and CBS Sports today announced that P. Diddy, Kid Rockand Nelly have been added to the AOL Top Speed Super Bowl XXXVIIIHalftime Show (NFL).
Daktronicstoday announced that it has signed a $6.5M deal with the Angels, under which itwill install an integrated video, scoring and advertising display system atAngel Stadium of Anaheim. The dealincludes two outfield video displays and six other LED displays throughout theballpark (Daktronics).
DOWJONES notes that Yue Yuen, the “world’s largest athletic and casual shoemaker,” and a supplier of Nike and Reebok, reported a ’02-03 FY profit ofUS$308.2M, up 35% from $228.6M in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose from $1.94B to $2.51B (DOW JONES, 1/15).
TheNHL Kings re-launched their official Web site(Kings).
TONIGHT’SEVENTS
TheLouisville COURIER-JOURNAL reports that local business owners “will have achance at a forum tonight to talk about dealing with and – they hope –profiting from the deluge of Kentucky Derby weekend cruising traffic theyencounter every year” (LouisvilleCOURIER-JOURNAL, 1/15).
AuburndaleHigh School in Florida will rename its gymnasium after one-time student andMagic F Tracy McGrady between the JV and varsity basketball games atapproximately 7:00pm ET.
TheJazz will wear their ’79 uniforms for the first of six times during tonight’s7:00pm MT game against the Heat at the Delta Center, but the uniforms “have 21st-century-cuttrunks, to avoid offending anyone’s modesty” (SALT LAKETRIBUNE, 1/15).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPNwill air live first-round coverage of the PGA Tour’s Sony Open at 6:30pm ET. ESPN’s coverage of Michelle Wie will include course reports,driving distance comparisons and footage of her practice round.
ESPN2will air NCAA men’s basketball: Virginia-GeorgiaTech at 7:00pm ET and Louisville-EastCarolina at 9:00pm.
CourtTVwill profile the media storm surrounding the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case on “Hollywood Justice” at 8:00pmET.
ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile BoJackson at 8:00pm ET.
ESPNwill air Stars-Avalanche at 9:00pmET. The game, which will be offered inHD, marks the first of four consecutive “Thursday Night Hockey” telecasts inHD. The telecast includes BarryMelrose as an ice level analyst.
FormerNFLer Andre Reed, Panthers QB Rodney Peete and Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa are scheduled to appear onFSN’s “BDSSP.”
NFLNetwork’s condensed“Game of the Week” features Packers-Eagles at 9:00pm ET.
NBATV will air Cavaliers-Warriors at10:30pm ET.
ESPNNFL analyst Joe Theismann willappear on NBC’s “Last Call” with Carson Daly at 1:30 am ET.
A&E’s“Biography” will profile Kurt Russell at8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Hereare tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Dave Chappelle |
| “The Tonight Show” | Hank Azaria |
| “The Late Late Show” | Mia Kirshner |
| “Late Night” | Ben Stiller |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Amanda Bynes |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
TheGRAND RAPIDS PRESS’ Bob Becker writes of Chicago architect Doug Pasma,“Pasma is part of a five-member group which developed [a rooftop] propertyacross from Wrigley Field. … Pasma and his partners spent close to $800,000 to buyand refurbish the building. They gotmuch of that initial investment back through the sale of the two condominiums,and the money from rent from the rooftops (as much as $9,000 for a 100-persongroup) throughout the summer have made it successful venture” (GRAND RAPIDSPRESS).
FLORIDATODAY’s Scott Brown writes of the 2004 Super Show, “The show, which attractsbuyers and sellers from all over the world (and) concludes today, had justabout everything. There were stars –Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa conducted a hitting clinic for Easton Bats onMonday – as well as products that their respective owners think are buddingstars. They included skateboardramps that fit together like large Lego blocks, ‘Monster Basketball’ and aninflatable glove that can float and also be used as a chair at a tailgate oreven in a TV room” (FLORIDA TODAY).
SeeThe Daily Insider’s Articles OfInterest for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
SportsBusiness: Whichof the following games garnered the highest final Nielsen rating over New Year’sweekend?
- Rose Bowl: USC-Michigan
- AFC Wildcard: Titans-Ravens
- AFC Wildcard: Broncos-Colts
- NFC Wildcard: Cowboys-Panthers
- NFC Wildcard: Seahawks-Packers
IN OTHERNEWS…
TheROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS reports that theLondon-based parent company of Denver’s Invesco Funds Group, Amvescap PLC, yesterdayadmitted “for the first time some culpability inquestionable trading of its mutual funds.” In a statement, the company said that it “had foundinstances in which procedures designed to protect Invesco shareholders fromfrequent trading and illegal late trading were ‘not completely effective’” (ROCKYMOUNTAIN NEWS, 1/15).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
Thefollowing lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week endingJanuary 11 (BILLBOARD.com, 1/15):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | Closer | Josh Groban | 143/Reprise |
| 2) | The Diary Of Alicia Keys | Alicia Keys | J |
| 3) | Speakerboxxx/The Love Below | Outkast | Arista |
| 4) | The Singles 1992-2003 | No Doubt | Interscope |
| 5) | Shock'n Y'all | Toby Keith | DreamWorks |
| 6) | The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow | Sheryl Crow | A&M |
| 7) | Now 14 | Various Artists | Columbia/Universal/EMI/Zomba |
| 8) | Soulful | Ruben Studdard | J |
| 9) | Fallen | Evanescence | Wind-up |
| 10) | The Black Album | Jay-Z | Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
Seahawks-Packers on Fox led with a 19.1/39 Nielsen rating.
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