Closing Bell, March 4, 2004

ORZA DISCUSSES DRUG SUBPOENAS AT WORLD CONGRESS OF SPORTS

Duringa panel discussion on labor relations today at the Octagon/Street & Smith’sSports Group World Congress of Sports, MLBPA COO Gene Orza was askedabout results of player drug tests being subpoenaed by the grand jury in theBALCO case.  The deadline for MLB toturn over the results, which are supposed to be kept confidential under theCBA, is today, and Orza said, “There might be some breaking news in a day ortwo about the scope of that subpoena. … But I will leave it up to the U.S.Attorneys’ office to make an announcement.” As noted in today’s Morning Buzz, theN.Y. POST reports today that a compromise might be reached, under which onlythe test results of players who testified in the case would be turned over.

25^TH ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

TheNational Television Academy today announced the nominees for the 25^thAnnual Sports Emmy Awards at the World Congress of Sports in Newport Beach,where HBO’s foray into sports journalism, “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,”grabbed eight of the network’s 21 nominations. ESPN garnered the most nominationsof any network, 28. “Real Sports” claimed the most nominations of any program,twice as many as its nearest competitors. NBC’s coverage of the IronmanTriathlon and HBO’s “Jim McKay — My World in My Words” each receivedfour nominations.  Winners will beannounced April 19 at a black-tie dinner at the Marriott Marquis in N.Y.  The following details nominations fornetworks:

Thefollowing details programs or series that garnered multiple nominations:

Followingthe announcement, Fox Sports President Ed Goren told The Daily ofthe network’s 15 nominations, “We’re a boutique company.  We only have three products: NASCAR,baseball and the NFL.  So when you getthat many nominations for just three series, that’s very impressive.  We don’t compete in documentaries,anthologies, or a number of these other categories.”

HBOSports VP/Publicity Ray Stallone told The Daily of the network’s21 nominations, “With ‘Real Sports,’ HBO decided to raise the bar.  They decided to make sports journalism apriority in the network’s sports division. That’s the challenge and to see the recognition just means that the goalis being met.  It’s rewarding becauseit’s such a difficult show to produce.”

HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY TWO AT THE WORLD CONGRESS OF SPORTS

VisaUSA President & CEO Carl Pascarella delivered the keynote address attoday’s session of the Octagon/Street & Smith’s Sports Group World Congressof Sports.  Noting that Visa cardholdersin ’03 spent more than $22B on sports-related activities, Pascarella offeredhis perspective on where he believes the industry should focus its attention tofurther grow the business.

Pascarella:“The convergence of sports and entertainment isn’t the end game.  It’s one option that should be weighedcarefully for its ability to add value to our respective businesses.  But more important than convergence ofcontent is our collective ability to tap into the potential of our end users –the fan, the viewer, the cardholder. … This industry must keep a laser-likefocus on providing real value to the fans because building loyalty with them isthe most effective way to provide value to your various stakeholders.”

Pascarella cautioned against “dilut[ing] our propertiesor over-commercializ[ing] them in any way,” adding of the Olympics, “This isthe most powerful, most valuable sports platform there is – and it’s anentirely clean event.  As you know, nota single sponsor sign is allowed in any competitive venue.  But the fact that I can’t put a Visa sign onan Olympic hockey rink doesn’t lower the value of the Olympics for Visa.  It increases it.  It makes the event more credible and the fan experience morepure.”

Inthe panel discussion, “The Owners Point of View: Balancing P&Ls, On-FieldPerformance and the Interests of Fans,” owners representing the four major teamsports agreed that making tickets more affordable and bringing kids back intothe sports are two of the major challenges facing them. D’Backs Chair &CEO/Suns Chair Jerry Colangelo, NFL Giants Chair & CEOand Loews Corp. ChairBob Tisch, Bruins Ownerand Delaware North CompaniesChair & CEO Jeremy Jacobs and MLB Giants President & ManagingGeneral Partner Peter Magowan participated. 

Colangelo:“The days of just opening the doors and selling tickets are over.”  Tisch concurred, saying, “I think sports ingeneral have a problem of keeping pricing at the level of the people.”

Jacobs,referring to NHL management’s contention that the league is losing millionswhile player salaries are taking up about 75% of revenues, said, “From theBruins standpoint, I think there is a real lack of credibility between theplayers in believing the numbers that exist and do exist in the NHL. … Untilthe credibility gap is forged, I think we will continue to be looking perhapsat a work stoppage.”

Meanwhile, the audience of sports execs, polledelectronically, voted by a margin of 57% that it is “very important” thatowners be accessible and visible to fans. Magowan: “I think it is veryimportant that the owner be seen as out there with the fans. If you have anabsentee owner – and I think some corporate-type owners – and there isn’t thevisibility there, that can be a challenge.”

LPGA SELECTS GOLFSMITH AS LPGA COLLECTION EXCLUSIVE RETAILER

Golfequipment retailer Golfsmith today announced that it has been selected as theexclusive off-course golf specialty retailer for the LPGA Collection, a golfapparel line for women that will be available in May.  The LPGA-branded apparel will be sold nationwide throughGolfsmith’s catalog, online store and its coast-to-coast network of golfsuperstores, which will reach 42 stores in 14 markets by April.  Benchmark Athletic is manufacturing theapparel line, while BITE Golf will handle sale and distribution (Golfsmith).

BANK OF THE WEST INKS UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY PARTNERSHIP

TheUniv. of California, Berkeley (Cal), today announced that it has agreed to a five-yearcorporate partnership with Bank of the West, making the bank the preferred bankfor the Golden Bears through ’09. Enhancements to the partnership establish Bank of the West as thepresenting sponsor of the Memorial Stadium video board, which will be titled“Bear Vision.”  Cal’s sponsorship saleshave grown 30% from $2.7M in ’02-03 to $3.5M in ’03-04 (Cal).

BUZZER BEATERS

AROUNDTHE RINGS reports that NBC Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol hasbeen “assured that a roof will be built over the swimming pool for the AthensGames” (AROUNDTHE RINGS, 3/4).

ESPNtoday announced that ABC Sports NBA analyst Doc Rivers will workalongside Brad Nessler for the NBA Eastern Conference Finals inMay.  The duo has teamed on several ABCNBA broadcasts this season (ESPN).

ESPNtoday formally announced the addition of Jill Arrington to its collegefootball team as a sideline and features reporter on “College FootballThursday” and “College GameDay.” Arrington previously worked on CBS’ college football coverage and “TheNFL Today” (ESPN).

TheHARTFORD COURANT reports that Suzy Whaley, who played in the PGA TourGreater Hartford Open last year, “will be an ESPN on-course analyst for fourLPGA Tour tournaments this year,” beginning with the May 13-16 FranklinAmerican Mortgage Championship (HARTFORDCOURANT, 3/4).

TheORLANDO BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Amerada Hess Corp. will “become the titlesponsor of the Sports Fields venue at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex” inOrlando.  As part of the sponsorship,the facility will “undergo a 20-acre expansion this summer to include anadditional four multi-sport fields and four diamonds for baseball and softball”(BIZJOURNALS.com,3/4).

KnicksPresident of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas today announced that ProBasketball HOFer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has joined the franchise’sbasketball operations staff. Abdul-Jabbar will handle a variety of duties, including scouting andplayer evaluation (Knicks).

AdairMotorsports today announced that it has signed a sponsorship agreement with“The Jerry Springer Show,” which will sponsor the No. 3 Pontiac driven by C.T.Hellmund on the NASCAR Grand National West Division.  The show, which began the sponsorshipJanuary 25, will have its logo on the car’s hood (Adair Motorsports).

TheCFL today announced that it has awarded the ’05 Grey Cup to Vancouver, BritishColumbia, and the BC Lions (CFL).

TONIGHT’SEVENTS

BrendenTheaters and IMAX will show an exclusive preview of “NASCAR 3D: The IMAXExperience” at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas at 5:30pm PT.  Warner Bros. Exec VP/Domestic CorporateMarketing Brad Ball, NASCAR President of Digital Entertainment PaulBrooks, NASCAR team Owner Richard Childress and AOL Dir of BrandPromotions & Sponsorship J.D. Ettore are expected to attend.

CHANNELSURFING

Partfive of ESPN’s five-part “Sex &Sports” series will examine sportsmarketing and sex during the 6:00pm edition of “SportsCenter.”

ESPN2will air NCAA men’s basketball: Georgetown-NotreDame at 7:00pm ET and Cincinnati-DePaulat 9:00pm.

TNTwill air Kings-76ers at 7:30pm ETand Pistons-Trail Blazers at10:00pm.

ESPNwill air Rangers-Bruins at 8:00pmET.

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

The GolfChannel will air first round coverage of the European PGA Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic at 8:30pm ET.

DolphinsDEs Jason Taylor and Adewale Ogunleye willappear on WB's "Jamie Kennedy Experience" at 9:00pm ET.

ESPN’s“Timeless” will examine the Milanmiracle, athletes’ tattoos andthe National Spelling Bee at 10:00pmET.

FSNwill air NCAA men’s basketball: UCLA-Oregonat 11:30pm ET.

LakersG Gary Payton, MLB HOFer Gary Carter, former MLBer Lenny Dykstra, former NFLer Jamal Anderson and actor Corbin Bernsen are scheduled to appearon FSN’s “BDSSP.”

Braves P John Smoltzwill be on ESPN’s “Rome is Burning”at midnight ET.

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

HEADLINERS

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

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheN.Y. TIMES’ Michel Marriott writes of AEI Digital, which creates virtualarchitectural models ranging from $35,000-60,000, “Once AEI, which is alsobased in Philadelphia, built the virtual park [for Citizens Bank Park] lastyear, its digitalimagery became the basis for various ways to experience the park, includingdigital animations and stills, artists' renderings, room-size physical mock-upsof luxury suites complete with field vistas, and even an interactive seatingdiagram at the Phillies' Web site. Andthe tools are largely those of another world altogether: electronicentertainment” (N.Y. TIMES).

• Budget limitations do not seem to slow down Blue Jays.
• D’Backs embracing most recent salary cycle.
• Columnist believes 49ers co-Owner John York would help the team by selling.
• Aging Ft. Lauderdale Stadium dims MLB’s spring rebirth.
• Profile of incoming Galyan’s Trading CEO Edwin Holman.

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

TODAY’S TEASER…

Sports Business: WithFox planning to nationally televise the April 16 Yankees-Red Sox game, thefirst meeting between the two teams this coming season, what was the seven-gameaverage Nielsen rating for the '03 Red Sox-Yankees ALCS, and which game was thehighest-rated?

IN OTHERNEWS…

TheN.Y. Post has been named the official newspaper of the city’s subwaycentennial.  The paper will sponsor“nostalgia train” rides and other activities (N.Y. POST, 3/4).

THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS

Thefollowing lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week endingFebruary 29 (BILLBOARD.com, 3/4):

…TODAY’S ANSWER

The seven-gameseries averaged a 10.5/19, while the decisive Game Seven posted a 16.9/27national rating.

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

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