| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, Febuary 26, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Sovereign Bank, NESN Today Announce Five-Year Sponsorship Agreement |
| • | Dunkin’ Donuts Signs Red Sox P Curt Schilling To Endorse New Sandwich |
| • | Nielsen Ratings For FSN’s “ACC Sunday Night Hoops” Up 20% Over Last Year |
| • | USTA Selects Delray Beach Stadium As Site For Davis Cup Quarterfinal |
| • | First Sit-Down Interview With Jeter, A-Rod During 6:00pm ET “SportsCenter” |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
SOVEREIGN BANK TO BE EXCLUSIVE BANKING ADVERTISER ON NESN
Philadelphia-basedSovereign Bank and NESN today jointly announced that Sovereign will become theofficial bank of the Red Sox’ cable TV network for the next five years. The agreement includes advertisingexclusivity in the banking category for NESN’s pre- and regular-seasoncoverage, as well as all team-related programming. The five-year sponsorship deal is the longest in the bankingcategory in NESN’s 20-year history. FleetBoston is the official bank of the Red Sox (THE DAILY).
CURT SCHILLING TO PITCH NEW SANDWICH FOR DUNKIN’ DONUTS
TheBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Dunkin’ Donuts has signed Red Sox P CurtSchilling to endorse the New England Maple Cheddar Sandwich “in a 30-secondtelevision commercial and a 60-second radio spot scheduled to begin airingMarch 1.” The sandwich will debut atparticipating stores in the New England region (BIZJOURNALS.com,2/26).
FSN’S “ACC SUNDAY NIGHT HOOPS” PACKAGE UP 20% OVER LAST YEAR
FSNtoday announced that Nielsen ratings for “ACC Sunday Night Hoops” are up 20%from last year through 16 games, from a 0.45/ (350,000 HHs) to a 0.54/ (424,000HHs). The February 15 Duke-NC Stategame delivered the highest rating in the three-year history of the package witha 1.32/ (1,060,000 HHs) (FSN).
ITALIAN POLICE TODAY SEARCH OFFICES OF TOP DIVISION TEAMS
TheAP reports that police today searched the offices of all soccer teams inItaly’s Serie A and Serie B. Prosecutors in Rome “are looking into possible false accounting. No suspects have been identified.” Police carried out a total of 51 searchwarrants, and also “visited the Soccer League and the Italian Soccer Federationoffices. The Soccer Federation overseescontracts of players who transfer internationally in or out of Italy; theSoccer League handles domestic moves” (AP,2/26).
BUZZER BEATERS
TheAP reports that Ravens RB Jamal Lewis today pleaded innocent to “federaldrug charges that he tried to help a childhood friend buy cocaine in the summerof 2000.” He was released on $500,000bond after a 15-minute hearing (AP,2/26).
REUTERSreports that China “evicted 300,000 people from their homes in Beijing” toprepare for the ‘08 Olympics. BeijingMayor Wang Qishan “admitted on Saturday that in some cases thedemolition of homes and evictions had been conducted illegally” (REUTERS,2/26).
TheAP reports that a group calling itself “Phevos and Athena” today “firebombedtwo Greek government vehicles, saying the attack was timed to coincide with avisit by IOC President Jacques Rogge.” Phevos and Athena are the names of the Athens Olympic mascots (AP,2/26).
TheJets today named Bill Smith as Dir of Media Sales & BusinessDevelopment. Smith, who previouslyworked for Nelligan Sports Marketing, will be responsible for selling all Jetscontrolled media, including the team’s new in-game radio inventory with WABC-AMand ESPN 1050 AM (Jets).
MidwaySports today announced that Cubs RF Sammy Sosa will be the cover athletefor “MLB SlugFest: Loaded,” which is scheduled for release in June (MidwaySports).
TheRockies today announced their TV schedule for the ’04 season. FSN Rocky Mountain will produce 125regular-season games, with 75 of those games airing on KTVD-UPN and 50 airingon FSN. The schedule also includes onenational telecast on Fox (Rockies).
TheUSTA today announced Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center in Delray Beach,FL, as the site for the Davis Cup quarterfinal between the U.S. andSweden. The tie will be played April9-11 (USTA).
GlobalSpectrum, which manages Kemper Arena and the American Royal Center, todaylaunched the first Web sitespecifically dedicated to promoting the two venues’ event (Global Spectrum).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
SPORTSILLUSTRATED notes that a ‘02 Fleer baseball card depicting Yankees SS DerekJeter is labeled with the name, stats and bio of then Rangers SS and nowYankees teammate Alex Rodriguez. A Fleer spokesperson says the card is a “one-of-a-kind anomaly” (SPORTSILLUSTRATED, 3/1 issue).
TONIGHT’SEVENTS
TheMighty Ducks will host their Eighth Annual Casino Night at Fox Sports Grill inthe Irvine Spectrum at 7:00pm PT. Proceeds will benefit the National MS Society.
TheL.A. TIMES notes that John Travolta, Vince Vaughn and StevenTyler are all expected to attend the 7:30pm PT Kings-Lakers game at StaplesCenter. The trio shot a promo for theNBA’s “1,000 Reasons Why I Love This Game” campaign yesterday at Staples Center(L.A.TIMES, 2/26).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPNwill air the first sit-down interview with Yankees SS Derek Jeter and 3B AlexRodriguez during the 6:00pm ET edition of “SportsCenter.”
USAwill air first-round coverage of the PGA Tour’s Chrysler Classic of Tucson at 6:00pm ET.
ESPN2will air NCAA men’s basketball: Marquette-SouthFlorida at 7:00pm ET and Valparaiso-Dukeat 9:00pm.
TNTwill air Kings-T’Wolves at 7:30pm ETand 76ers-Sonics at 10:00pm.
ESPNwill air a special spring trainingedition of “Baseball Tonight” at 7:30pm ET.
ESPNwill air Blues-Avalanche at 8:00pmET.
ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile AlUnser Sr. at 8:00pm ET.
TNTwill air Spurs-Mavericks at 8:00pm ETand Kings-Lakers at 10:30pm.
MSNBC’s“Countdown with Keith Olbermann” will air the destruction of theBartman Ball at 8:31pm ET.
FSNwill air NCAA men’s basketball: Oregon-Californiaat 10:30pm ET.
ProFootball HOFer Eric Dickerson,Ravens CB Chris McAlister, Padres P David Wells, Texas Tech men’sbasketball coach Bob Knight, moviecritic Richard Roeper and actor Bill Paxton are scheduled to appear onFSN’s “BDSSP.”
E!’s“True Hollywood Story” will profile EllenDeGeneres at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Hereare tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Tim Robbins |
| “The Tonight Show” | Mel Gibson |
| “The Late Late Show” | Harry Connick Jr. |
| “Late Night” | Samuel L. Jackson |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Bill Paxton |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
TheCleveland PLAIN DEALER’s John Campanelli writes, “For the 2003 season, PSLprices, as set by the Browns, ranged from $375 to $2,100. On average, the 11 different PSL pricecategories have climbed 49[%] in value over the five-year period. An almost 50[%] return on an investmentsounds nice, but it’s notthat simple. For fans to see aprofit on their PSLs, they need to find a buyer. And almost all PSL buyers are looking for one thing – good seats”(Cleveland PLAIN DEALER).
TheRaleigh NEWS & OBSERVER’s Jonathan Cox writes of the RBC Center’s LEDscreens, “It has become a powerfulmarketing tool. … During Hurricaneshockey matches or NC State University basketball games, ads for sponsors suchas Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Budweiser fill theboard. John Deere has the scrollinglawn tractor icon” (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER).
SeeThe Daily Insider’s Articles OfInterest for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
SportsBusiness: WhichNHL team not playing its first season in a new arena has experienced thelargest increase in attendance from last season?
IN OTHERNEWS…
BRANDWEEKreports that a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that “forcing dairy farmers tocontribute” to the got milk? ad campaign is unconstitutional. Under the Dairy Promotion Program, dairyfarmers must contribute to the ad effort. Pennsylvania farmers Joseph and Brenda Cochran “claim thatthe $4,000 a year they contribute to the campaign obscures the differencebetween their traditional farming and large-scale producers” (BRANDWEEK,2/26).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
Thefollowing lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week endingFebruary 22 (BILLBOARD.com, 2/26):
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | Feels Like Home | Norah Jones | Blue Note |
| 2) | The College Dropout | Kanye West | Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam |
| 3) | Fallen | Evanescence | Wind-up |
| 4) | Speakerboxxx/The Love Below | Outkast | Arista |
| 5) | When The Sun Goes Down | Kenny Chesney | BNA |
| 6) | Closer | Josh Groban | 143/Reprise |
| 7) | I Don't Want You Back | Eamon | Jive |
| 8) | Kamikaze | Twista | Atlantic |
| 9) | The Very Best of Sheryl Crow | Sheryl Crow | A&M |
| 10) | A Crow Left Of Murder… | Incubus | Immortal/Epic |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
The Thrashers have experienced a 14.4% jumpfrom an average of 12,905 to 14,758.
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dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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