Closing Bell, April 27, 2004

IOC TODAY TAKES OUT $170M INSURANCE POLICY ON OLYMPIC GAMES

The IOC today announced that it has taken out a $170M insurance policy for the Olympics, beginning with the ’04 Games in Athens (IOC). The AP reports that the IOC is paying about $6.8M for the policy, and the syndicate is led by AIG. The policy is “not to compensate individual victims of any disaster, but to guarantee that the [IOC] and its affiliated bodies have enough money to continue operations” if the Games are cancelled. The policy “does not cover corporate sponsors or television networks,” as many have their own insurance (AP, 4/27).

REEBOK TODAY ANNOUNCES UNIFORM AGREEMENT WITH CHIVAS

Reebok today announced a head-to-toe outfitting deal with Mexican soccer club Chivas. Reebok receives exclusive rights to supply and market all on-field apparel, including practice gear, warm-ups, and authentic and replica jerseys. Reebok will also design, manufacture, sell and market all licensed merchandise for the club. Additionally, a Reebok flagship store will open in Guadalajara in May featuring Chivas-branded products (Reebok). Chivas is seeking to own an MLS expansion franchise (THE DAILY).

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TODAY TURNS OVER BALCO DOCUMENTS

The AP reports that the U.S. Justice Department today gave the Senate Commerce Committee subpoenaed materials from the grand jury probe of the BALCO case. It was not “immediately clear whether the documents included grand jury testimony.” Committee Chair John McCain (R-AZ) “promised to keep the material secret but said it is intended to make sure the [U.S.] sends a drug-free team” to Athens (AP, 4/27).

NFL DRAFT BEATS NBA PLAYOFFS HEAD-TO-HEAD SATURDAY

ESPN earned a 3.8 Nielsen rating for its coverage of the ’04 NFL Draft from 12:00-7:00pm ET Saturday, marking a 9% increase from the 3.5 rating on Saturday last year. The 3.8 is the second-highest rating for NFL Draft coverage in the net’s 25-year history, behind only the 4.2 in ’93 (ESPN). Meanwhile, TNT earned a 1.0 for Heat-Hornets Game Three, which tipped off at 1:00pm ET Saturday, and a 1.6 for Pistons-Bucks Game Three, which aired from 3:45-6:00pm (THE DAILY).

FINCHEM ADDRESSES PLAYERS’ EMOTIONS DURING CONFERENCE CALL

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem held a conference call today to introduce the ’05 Presidents Cup captains, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Finchem also addressed reports that he and NBC Golf Producer Tommy Roy asked players recently to show more emotion during competition. Finchem: “It's been blown out of proportion a little bit. It was an hour and a half meeting where I covered 150 different things. We shared a commentary from other people outside the tour, and one of them said, 'It's great to see players show some emotion and let it go a little bit more.' That was the extent of it. We weren't suggesting, as has been suggested, that players kind of manufacture emotional response” (THE DAILY).

ALL ENGLAND CLUB TO BEGIN SELLING FIVE-YEAR SEATING RIGHTS

BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that the All England Lawn Tennis Club is selling as many as 2,300 five-year Centre Court seating rights for Wimbledon to “raise as much as [$82M] to finance a new roof and improve facilities.” The seating rights cost nearly $44,400 each and entitle the holder to a reserved seat on each day of Wimbledon from 2006-2010. Included in the improvements is a capacity increase from 13,800 to approximately 15,000 (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/27).

ESPN PARTNERING WITH McDONALD’S FOR 25^TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

ESPN today announced as part of McDonald’s “25 Years of Happiness” celebration, from April 30-May 27, one of six ESPN25-inspired mini-video games will be included in each Happy Meal and Mighty Kids Meal at the restaurant. Vince Carter, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Tony Stewart, Serena and Venus Williams and Michael Vick will appear on the games, along with a printed replica signature (ESPN).

BUZZER BEATERS

California Speedway today announced Stater Bros. Markets and Gatorade as the title sponsor and presenting sponsor, respectively, of Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series race at the track (California Speedway).

Kelley Racing today announced that for the sixth consecutive year, Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems will serve as the primary sponsor of its No. 39 car now driven by Sarah Fisher, in the Indy 500. The deal marks Bryant’s 39^th consecutive year of sponsorship in the race, making it the longest running non-automotive sponsor in the Indy 500 field (Kelley Racing).

The D’Backs today announced that they will remodel the MasterCard Pool Pavilion at Bank One Ballpark following the ’04 season (D’Backs).

Untraditional Marketing, organizers of the Teva Mountain Games at Vail, today announced that Teva has agreed to a three-year extension as title sponsor of the event through ’06 (Untraditional Marketing).

THOROUGHBRED TIMES notes that Youbet.com this morning announced its first profitable quarter, as its Q1 ’04 net income was $15,111 compared to a loss of $1.2M in the same period a year earlier (THOROUGHBRED TIMES, 4/27).

Host Communications has been awarded a five-year contract to administer media marketing for Oklahoma State Univ., beginning with the ’04 football season (Host).

Horizon Productions announced that William Perry and Lawrence Taylor will be the coaches for the ’05 Lingerie Bowl, which airs on PPV opposite the Super Bowl halftime. Sponsorship discussions for the event will begin in June (Horizon Productions).

Actor Jim Caviezel appeared on CBS’ “The Early Show” this morning to discuss his new film, “Bobby Jones: Stroke Of Genius” (THE DAILY).

TONIGHT’S EVENTS

The Boston chapter of the National Sports Marketing Network will host a 6:00pm ET panel discussion, “Brands At Play: How New England’s Top Companies Make Sports Work – Part 1,” at the Hyatt Regency Boston. The Daily’s Editor-at-Large Terry Lefton will moderate a panel including Monster Dir of Marketing Services Doug Hall, Gillette VP/Corporate Communications Eric Kraus, Hartford Life Dir of Corporate Marketing David Lafrennie, New Balance Corporate Marketing Services Manger Christine Madigan and Citizens Bank Senior VP & Dir of Corporate Sponsorships/Marketing Integration Kristin Tallman.

CHANNEL SURFING

ESPN2 will air the NHL playoffs: Lightning-Canadiens Game Three at 7:00pm ET.

CBS golf analyst David Feherty will appear on The Golf Channel’s “Golf Talk” at 7:30pm ET.

ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Seattle Slew at 8:00pm ET.

TNT will air the NBA playoffs: Heat-Hornets Game Four at 8:00pm ET and T’Wolves-Nuggets Game Four at 10:30pm.

Basketball HOFers Clyde Drexler and George Gervin, Rockies P Denny Neagle, Titans RB Eddie George, NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace and magicians Penn & Teller are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP,” which will broadcast from The Palms Resort & Casino.

ESPN will air the NHL playoffs: Red Wings-Flames Game Three at 9:00pm ET.

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

HEADLINERS

Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The L.A. TIMES’ Pasco & Daniels write of Hollywood Park’s potential move from Inglewood to Irvine, “City officials are upbeat about the possibility of a move, which would open the track’s 237 acres to retail development that could double its current tax take. As Hollywood Park’s 65th season of horse racing began Wednesday, a move to Irvine was far from assured. The U.S. Navy, which owns the property, is finishing environmental work necessary to auction the land, expected to take place in late fall. The base is to be sold off in quarters, and businesses like a racetrack must form a partnership with winning bidders” (L.A. TIMES).

• Q&A with Royals Senior VP/Business Operations Mark Gorris.
• White Sox challenged by playing in the same market as popular Cubs.
• Suggestions for White Sox to build larger fan base.
• Columnist says the Stars are the Braves of the NHL.
• Nets purchase and arena plan force usually shy Bruce Ratner into the limelight.

See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.

TODAY’S TEASER…

Sports & Entertainment: What was the name of the horse Kramer won $18,000 on in the Subway episode of “Seinfeld?”

IN OTHER NEWS……

The AP reports that FedEx yesterday announced that its stores will be renamed FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Centers. Execs say the new identity “better reflects the full-range of document and shipping services that will be available by the end of the year at 1,100 domestic locations.” FedEx completed its $2.4B acquisition of Kinko’s from a N.Y. equity firm in February (AP, 4/27).

THE DAILY STAT: TOP SPORTS SITES FOR WEEK ENDING APRIL 11

The following are the top five sports Web sites ranked according to home unique audience for the week ending April 11, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.  Unique Audience = the number of persons in thousands accessing the site or network, with each counted only once.  Average time spent = the average amount of time a visitor has spent at that property for the week.  This data is based on 37,000 home users with Internet access (Nielsen//NetRatings).

…TODAY’S ANSWER

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