Closing Bell, June 10, 2004

VOLKSWAGEN CHINA SIGNS ON ASSPONSOR OF BEIJING OLYMPICS

TheBeijing Organizing Committee for the ’08 Olympics (BOCOG) today announcedVolkswagen China as a sponsor of the Beijing Games.  Volkswagen will provide financial and automotive support for the’08 Olympics, Paralympics, BOCOG, Chinese Olympic Committee and the ChineseOlympians competing in the ’06 Olympics in Turin and the ’08 Games (BOCOG).

UNIVERSITY STUDY REVEALS 67% OF NEW YORKERS SUPPORT 2012 BID

QuinnipiacUniv. today released results from a poll of 1,226 N.Y. registered voters on thecity’s efforts to host the 2012 Olympics. While 67% of respondents supported the city’s bid to host the Games, 55%opposed the use of tax dollars to help fund it.  Support for the bid was weakest in Manhattan.  The study also found that 51% of respondentsopposed a new stadium for the Jets and 2012 Games.  While 55% of Manhattan voters opposed the stadium project, 50% ofQueens voters supported it.  Sixty-eightpercent of voters also believe that the stadium will cost too much in taxdollars, and 57% said it would help improve the city’s economy (Quinnipiac University).

NO SURPRISE AS D-ICOMMISSIONERS BACK ‘DOUBLE HOSTING’ BCS PLAN

TheAP reports that, as expected, Division I-A commissioners today agreed to the"double hosting" concept for the BCS bowls beginning with the ‘06season.  Univ. of Oregon President andBCS Presidential Oversight Committee Chair Dave Frohnmayer said, “Thismodel is the least disruptive to current relationships between individualconferences and the individual bowls.” The model will be “presented to the Rose Bowl and ABC, who are set tobegin negotiations” on a TV deal tomorrow (AP, 6/10).

BASEBALL EQUIPMENT COMPANY INKS DEAL WITH BREWERS PROSPECT

Albany-basedsoftball and baseball equipment and apparel manufacturer 3N2 today announcedthe signing of Double-A Southern League Huntsville Stars SS and Brewersprospect Rickie Weeks to a multi-year footwear endorsement contract. 3N2 willlaunch the Rickie Weeks Signature Shoe later this summer.  The Brewers selected Weeks, the ’03 BaseballAmerica College Player of The Year, with the second overall pick in the lastyear's MLB draft (THE DAILY).

BUZZER BEATERS

TheRaiders today officially announced that KSFO-AM will become the team's flagshipradio station beginning with the '04 season (Raiders).

GOLFWORLD BUSINESS reports that Ping Chair & CEO John Solheim underwenta successful kidney transplant operation yesterday in Phoenix.  Solheim said that while he “expects to beout of the office for several weeks, he would receive regular briefings fromPing's management team” (GOLF WORLD BUSINESS, 6/10).

TheColorado Springs GAZETTE reports that the U.S. Taekwondo Union’s residentathlete program will “close at the U.S. Olympic Training Center on June 30,forcing the sport’s athletes to train and live elsewhere.”  The USOC appointed a committee to reorganizethe federation earlier this year (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 6/10).

TheORLANDO SENTINEL reports that EA Sports and the Univ. of Central Florida “areworking together on a new academy to train professionals” for jobs in thevideo-game industry.  The academy willbe called the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (ORLANDO SENTINEL,6/10).

Panasonicinked a one-year deal to be the official electronics sponsor of Core Tour, anaction sports tour owned and operated by Pro Sports & Entertainment (Panasonic).

Celebrity Marketing and Paid today launched theofficial Web site of Bruins LW Sergei Samsonov.  Paid also has Web sites for Patriots MattLight and Troy Brown (Paid).

Lightning RW Martin St. Louis today won theNHLPA’s Lester B. Pearson Award for most outstanding player during the ’03-04regular season (NHLPA).

TONIGHT’S EVENTS

Aspart of the Texas Motor Speedway’s Children’s Charities Life in the Fast LaneCondo Tour and Reception, SMI Chair & CEO Bruton Smith will greetvisitors to his Lone Star Tower condominium located near the track.

TheToronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that actor Russell Crowe will presentthe Lady Byng Award at tonight’s NHL award ceremony. Crowe, in Toronto filminga boxing movie, volunteered to appear at the ceremony (Toronto GLOBE &MAIL, 6/10).

While the Palace at Auburn Hills is sold out fortonight’s Lakers-Pistons Game Three, last-minute tickets can be had foranywhere between $295 for upper-level seats to almost $12,000 for a pair of VIPseats on stubhub.com.

CHANNELSURFING

ESPNwill air “Two on Two”at 7:00pm ET featuring interviews withLarry Bird, Magic Johnson, LeBron James and CarmeloAnthony.

ESPN2 will air “The SportsReporters Primetime” at 7:00pm ET.

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

DiscoveryChannel’s “Monster Garage” will turn an open-wheel Champ Car into a street linepainter at 8:00pm ET.

FSN’s Max Kellerman, Omarosa from “The Apprentice” and singer Michael Amante are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”

ABCwill air the NBA Finals: Lakers-PistonsGame Three at 9:00pm ET.

U.S.sprinter Maurice Greene will appearon CNBC’s “Dennis Miller” at 9:00pm ET.

ActorsMichael Ian Black, Star Jones, Norm MacDonald, Jeremy Sistoand Adam Rodriguez will appearon Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown” at 9:00pm ET.

Membersof the Stanley Cup Champion Lightning - Vincent Lecavalier, Dan Boyle,John Grahame and Nolan Pratt - will appear on NBC’s “The TonightShow” with Jay Leno.

KingsF Chris Webber will appear on ABC’s“Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 12:05am ET.

HEADLINERS

Hereare tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TheToronto GLOBE & MAIL’s Eric Duhatschek writes, “The NHL is now but a tinyblip on the U.S. radar screen.  AmericanTV ratings, regular season and in the playoffs, were an unmitigated disaster.  NBC, the league’s new network televisionpartner, did not even pay a rights fee to broadcast a handful of games nextseason. … More ominously, there is not even a hint of optimism going forward interms of negotiating a new [CBA] before the start of next season” (TorontoGLOBE & MAIL).

TheROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS’ Charlie Brennan writes Kobe Bryant’s trial “is expected to begin as soon as August.  Any team that signs him this summer couldland a franchise anchor and future Hall of Famer or see him sent to prison for a termof four years to life.”  The BonhamGroup Chair Dean Bonham: “Jurors aregoing to have a $150[M] decision on their hands.  That’s a very interesting concept” (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS).

USATODAY’s Christine Brennan writes, “It is a fact that urinalysis alone cannotcatch every cheater in sports. … Given that, the Olympic world hadtwo choices. The first was simple: Keep doing what it was doing — catch afew cheaters, miss a lot more — and accept that the footrace we'll be watchingfrom Athens in August might not be fair, true or believable. The second choice?Come up with a new way to catch the cheaters” (USA TODAY).

• Orioles hitting a home run with trio of TV partners.
• Confronting the dilemma that is Marion Jones.
• U.S. Olympians already earning remarkable endorsement figures.
• Olympic hopefuls willing to face security risks in Athens.
• Do not be so sure that the NHL is “doomed to disappear.”
• Staten Island speedway project would not have a smooth ride.

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

TODAY’S TEASER…

SportsBusiness:Of Freddy Adu's first 11 matches with DC United, how many drew a crowdsmaller than the home team's average for all of the '03 season?

THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARDCHARTS

Thefollowing lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending May 23(BILLBOARD.com, 5/27).

…TODAY’SANSWER

Onlyone.  The Wednesday, May 19,Galaxy-United match at RFK Stadium drew 13,043 fans, 16.2% under United's15,565 total ’03 average.

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

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