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Closing Bell

Closing Bell, April 26, 2004

The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, April 26, 2004
4:00pm ET

MLB Today Announces Agreement For World Cup Of Baseball Drug Testing

Red Sox-Yankees Sunday Posts Record Rating On YES Network

HBO Premieres Horse Racing Documentary, “Jockey,” Tonight At 7:00pm ET

NFL.com Posts Record Visitors For NFL Draft Weekend With 4.9 Million

No. 1 NFL Draft Pick Eli Manning To Appear On CBS’ “Late Show” Tonight

Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat


MLB TODAY ANNOUNCESDRUG-TESTING AGREEMENT FOR WORLD CUP

MLBtoday announced that it has entered an agreement with the MLBPA and the Int’lBaseball Federation (IBF) on a drug-testing program for a World Cup of Baseballconsistent with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency and theOlympic Movement.  Athletes whoparticipate in the World Cup will be subject to testing by the IBF during thecourse of the event.  MLB and the MLBPAwould like to stage a World Cup of Baseball as early as March ’05 (MLB).


RED SOX-YANKEES GAME POSTS HIGH MARKS ON YES NETWORK

YESNetwork today announced that Sunday’s Red Sox-Yankees game drew a 6.5/ (479,460HHs), setting a new ratings high for a live event on YES, supplanting the April18 Yankees-Red Sox game earlier this year, which posted a 6.4/ (472,083HHs).  YES’ season-to-date average forYankees games is a 4.4/ (324,557 HHs), up from last year’s 2.8/ (203,904 HHs)through the same number of games.  Thefull season average last year was a 3.4/ (247,598 HHs) (YES Network).


HBO PREMIERING HORSE RACING DOCUMENTARY TONIGHT AT 7:00PM ET

HBOpremieres the horse racing documentary “Jockey” tonight at 7:00pm ET, and TedCox of the ILLINOIS DAILY HERALD wrote the film “examines the lives of threejockeys: a retired great [Randy Romero], a top rider trying to recover from aninjury [Shane Sellers] and an apprentice ‘bug boy’ [Chris Rosier].  Yet it’s hardly a feel-good story promotingthe sport. … Beautifully shot and crisply edited by director Kate Davis,it blows the cover off how thoroughbreds are typically treated better than themen and women who ride them” (ILLINOISDAILY HERALD, 4/23).

Davis:“I’m hoping that what comes through is that these guys have really foundsomething they love.  They just want tobe treated a little bit more like human beings” (N.Y. TIMES, 4/25).

TheL.A. TIMES notes that the documentary was filmed at Churchill Downs, whereDavis was given “tremendous access” (L.A. TIMES, 4/26).

InDC, Tom Shales writes, “For all the disadvantages that go with the job, and thesecond-class-citizen treatment jockeys get – especially when compared withathletes in other hugely popular sports – the three men still show greatpassion for the game, and the filmmakers stop well short of making thedocumentary a tirade against racing” (WASHINGTONPOST, 4/26).

InNew Orleans, Pierce Huff wrote, “If you’ve always wanted to know what jockeysgo through, this is the documentary for you” (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE,4/25).

InN.Y., David Bianculli writes, “Some elements of the program tiptoe toward thegratuitous. … The nakedness with which these three jockeys address their fearsand concerns, however, is another matter entirely.  That’s what makes this ‘Jockey’ worth its sporadically unsettlingride” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/26).

InCincinnati, Neil Schmidt wrote, “There isn’t enough context provided for whyjockeys must keep their weight so low and why so many riders have a hard timemaking money in a $17[B] industry” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/25).

TheDAILY RACING FORM’s Steven Crist writes, “The film turns to its politicalagenda: changing the scale of weights so that riders do not have to imperiltheir health by starving and purging themselves.  It is a worthy crusade and one that can and should be won on itsmerits, but Davis' 84-minute documentary consistently chooses inflammatory and irrelevant material over a logical and balanced presentation” (DAILY RACING FORM, 4/26).


BUZZER BEATERS

The NFL announced that NFL.com set an all-time record forthe NFL Draft weekend with 4.9 million visitors, up 47% from 3.3 million duringlast year’s draft weekend (NFL).

The CHICAGOSUN-TIMES reports that beginning today, Gillette’s Right Guard spots featuringGiants DE Michael Strahan and Fox sideline reporter Tony Siragusa“will air on late-night talk shows, cable, sports programming andsyndicated entertainment shows” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/26).

CRAIN’S N.Y. BUSINESS reports that N.Y. City CouncilSpeaker Gifford Miller has not “decided whether to support the new Jetsstadium.”  He said that he “would take aposition by July 1.”  Miller: “I am notreflexively opposed to a stadium for that site, but I have a lot of concernabout (the city’s) public investment of $300[M]” (CRAIN’S N.Y.BUSINESS, 4/26).

TheHigh Court at Auckland today ordered Sean Reeves, the formerattorney and operations manager of Craig McCaw's OneWorldsyndicate, to pay $1.05M in damages after OneWorld “sued Reeves in August 2002,contending he approached members of three rival syndicates offering to sellsecret design information" (AP,4/26).

The AUSTRALIAN reports that swimmer Craig StevensMonday night on Seven Network’s “Today Tonight” announced that he “would standaside from the 400m freestyle at the Olympics to allow Ian Thorpe todefend his title.”  The net reportedlypaid Stevens nearly $100,000 “for the exclusive story, including a 12-monthloyalty contract and media training” (AUSTRALIAN,4/27).

The T’Wolves today formally announced that theMinneapolis City Council has approved the club’s partnership with NederlanderOrganization to jointly manage, operate and book Target Center.  The new joint venture, effective May 1, willbe called Midwest Entertainment (T’Wolves).

Golf Galaxy today announced the launch of its e-commerce Web site.  To accommodate the needs of an e-commercesite, Golf Galaxy has moved its HQs to a 48,000-square-foot facility in EdenPrarie, MN.  The new building houses thecompany’s corporate and retail offices as well as its new online customerservice center (Golf Galaxy).


CHANNEL SURFING

Sunshine Network’s “SportsTalk Live” will examine theMarlins’ attempts to build a new ballpark at 7:00pm ET.

TNTwill air the NBA playoffs: Pistons-Bucks Game Four at 7:00pm ET and Kings-MavericksGame Four at 9:30pm.

ESPNwill air the NHL playoffs: Sharks-Avalanche Game Three at 8:00pm ET.

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

RockiesP Denny Neagle, Raptors G Vince Carter and Las Vegas Mayor OscarGoodman are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP,” which will broadcast fromThe Palms Resort & Casino all week.

ESPN2will air Cubs-D’Backs at 9:30pm ET.

NFLGiants No. 1 draft pick Eli Manning will appear on CBS’ “Late Show” with David Letterman at11:35pm ET.

MetsC Mike Piazza will appear on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

ESPN’s“OTL Nightly” will examine reports that U.S. Olympians Marion Jones and TimMontgomery received steroids from BALCO at midnight ET.

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


HEADLINERS

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

“Late Show” Jennifer Hudson
“The Tonight Show” Kelsey Grammer
“The Late Late Show” Jon Cryer
“Late Night” Ben Stiller (r)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” Mike Piazza

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheK.C. STAR’s Wright Thompson writes of sports message boards, “As sports chat roomshave gone from a fad to an entrenched part of the athletic landscape in thepast decade, those opinions are no longer disseminated only to other fans.  Players, from high school to college to thepros, are reading.  So are coaches,general managers and athletic directors” (K.C. STAR).

TheSAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE’s Conor Dougherty writes of surf companies marketing towomen, “Looking to girls as the next big growth area, a number of surf andskate brands have beefed up their offerings to include items such as skirts andtank tops, pink sneakers and short shorts. The idea is to get a newbatch of customers, and sometimes to expand distribution, without alienatingthe core market of male surfers and skaters” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE).

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


TODAY’S TEASER…

Sports: Over the weekend, Spurs F TimDuncan was named to the All-NBA First Team, making him the sixth player in league history tomake the squad in each of his first seven seasons.  Who are the other five?


IN OTHERNEWS……

TheN.Y. POST reports that Comcast appears likely to “withdraw its bid for Disneyin the coming weeks.”  Comcast execs are“currently weighing the timing of such an announcement.”  While one could come “as soon as this week,when Comcast reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday, a more likely scenario isthat the company would take its bid off the table in the weeks leading up to itsannual shareholder meeting in May” (N.Y. POST, 4/26).

TheN.Y. TIMES reports that sales of digital videorecorders are “finally gaining momentum, a study by IDC, a market researchfirm, has found. But TiVo, the company that popularized the concept, isincreasingly being left behind by the success” (N.Y.TIMES, 4/26).

TheHOLLYWOOD REPORTER reports that Britney Spears’cumulativeconcert merchandise sales reached more than $30M since ’99 “during the firstleg of her North American Onyx Hotel tour, the highest total for a solo femaleartist in that time span.”  The Onyxtour alone is expected to gross more than $10M in merchandise revenue (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 4/26).


THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION

Thefollowing presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending April 25 (NYTIMES.com,4/26):

THIS
WEEK

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1)
AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, Richard Clark (Free Press)
2)
EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES, Lynne Truss (Gotham)
3)
THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER, Micah & Nicholas Sparks (Warner)
4)
WORSE THAN WATERGATE, John Dean (Little, Brown)
5)
TEN MINUTES FROM NORMAL, Karen Hughes (Viking)
6)
DELIVER US FROM EVIL, Sean Hannity (ReganBooks/HarperCollins)
7)
FOUNDING MOTHERS, Cokie Roberts (Morrow)
8)
CADDY FOR LIFE, John Feinstein (Little, Brown)
9)
FAREWELL, JACKIE, Edward Klein (Viking)
10)
THE PASSION, Collection of stills from Mel Gibson movie (Tyndale)

…TODAY’SANSWER

Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, GeorgeMikan, Bob Pettit and Oscar Robertson each were All NBAFirst-Team selections during their first seven seasons.


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

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