| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, July 22, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Sprint Officially Agrees To Pay AEG $62.5M For K.C. Arena Naming Rights |
| • | Reebok Shares Climb Today After Earnings Beat The Street’s Estimates |
| • | Allstate Today Leverages USOC Deal With Unveiling Of New Campaign |
| • | Kings Face Important Arena Vote Tonight From The City Council |
| • | Carmelo Anthony To Swing The Ed Sullivan Theater Tonight |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
SPRINT MAKES A LOCAL CALL IN BUYING K.C. ARENA NAMING RIGHTS
K.C.-based Sprint today officially reached an agreement with AEG to commit $62.5M -- $2.5M per year for 25 years -- for the naming rights to the proposed K.C. arena, which will be known as Sprint Center. The company will provide all of the telecommunications services for the arena and plans to have an on-site retail store (Sprint). Sprint Chair & CEO Gary Forsee said, “The Sprint Center will be a showcase venue. I fully expect that a new professional sports franchise will locate at the Sprint Center” (AP, 7/22). Forsee added that the $2.5M annual payment represents less than 0.5% of the company's nearly $700M annual advertising budget (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/22).
REEBOK’S RAPPER-ENDORSED SHOES TRIPLING LAST YEAR’S SALES
REUTERS reports that Reebok shares rose as much as 4% today after the company “posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings” due to “cost controls and the weak dollar.” Q2 earnings were $0.46 a share, excluding a one-time charge, about $0.07 above estimates. Sales rose 1.4% to $813.6M, but “on a constant-dollar basis, revenue declined 1[%] from a year earlier.” Global footwear sales rose 2.3% to $563.2M, while apparel revenue fell 0.6% to $250.4M. Sales of Reebok’s shoes endorsed by rapper 50 Cent and Jay-Z “jumped more than threefold during the quarter” (REUTERS, 7/22).
ALLSTATE PUTTING U.S. WEIGHTLIFTER IN NEW OLYMPIC ADS
USOC sponsor Allstate today announced a new ad campaign that will run during the Olympic Games in Athens. The campaign includes two new TV commercials, via Leo Burnett USA, and directed by filmmaker Mehdi Norowzian. One spot features U.S. weightlifter Shane Hamman. The U.S. Olympic commercials continue Allstate's "Our Stand" advertising campaign featuring Dennis Haysbert. In addition, Allstate is running print and radio ads and has recently launched an online consumer promo to give away five new Cadillacs and other prizes (Allstate).
NBA KINGS DOING SOME LAST-MINUTE LOBBYING OF CITY COUNCIL
Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo said that she will "have the necessary votes tonight to put an arena question on the November ballot, as long as the public can vote on the possibility of both a downtown and North Natomas site."Kings President John Thomas said that the team is "eager for a vote on the arena, saying the organization has no intention of leaving Sacramento," but also that Arco Arena "needs to be replaced within five years" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/22).
ATHLETES HIT THE AIRWAVES TODAY TO PITCH PRODUCTS/EVENTS
Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander and Yahoo Sports GM Brian Grey appeared on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” this afternoon to discuss Yahoo’s fantasy football leagues. Alexander noted that he and Packers RB Ahman Green during training camp will wear t-shirts that say, “DRAFT ME -- Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football,” to entice fantasy players to draft them first (“Power Lunch,” CNBC, 7/22).
Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Johnson appeared on NBC’s “Today” show this morning to discuss a partnership between Office Depot, SI For Kids and NBC Olympics to teach children about the Olympics. The turnkey program is taking place in camps across the country, and Office Depot hopes to reach 1.5 million kids throughout the summer (“Today,” NBC, 7/22).
BUZZER BEATERS
NBC Olympics VP & CFO Lois Nix today was named NBC Universal Sports & Olympics VP & CFO, replacing Scott Etheridge who is moving to California as NBC Universal VP/Financial Planning & Analysis. Nix will oversee the financial management of NBC Sports and NBC’s Olympics unit (NBC).
AROUNDTHERINGS.com reports that filmmaker Bud Greenspan will shoot the official film of the Athens Olympics. Cappy Productions, Greenspan’s N.Y.-based company, “received approval for the project only this week from Athens organizers” (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 7/22).
The official Web site of the ’04 U.S. Olympic team has re-launched with two new features: personalization of sports news and a U.S. Olympic Fan Club (USOC).
The Sports Authority today said that it expects same store-sales to decline 4-5% for Q2. This lowers the company’s previous guidance of flat same-store sales (TSA). Meanwhile Dick’s Sporting Goods today said that it expects same-store sales to rise 2-3% in Q2 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/22).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
GoldenPalace.com has purchased the ball from David Beckham’s missed penalty kick in the Euro2004 quarterfinals in an eBay auction for about $35,000 (GoldenPalace.com).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
USA Basketball will host a media teleconference with head coach Larry Brown at 5:00pm ET prior to the team opening training camp next Monday.
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN2 will air WNBA Lynx-Sun at 8:00pm ET.
Former NBA coach Eric Musselman, former NFLer Vince Ferragamo and actor Michael Rapaport will appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
Actors Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, David Cross, Peter Facinelli and Judy Greer will appear on Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown” at 9:00pm ET.
British Open champion Todd Hamilton will appear on CNBC’s “Dennis Miller” at 9:00pm ET and NBC’s “The Tonight Show” at 11:35pm.
Nuggets G Carmelo Anthony will appear on CBS’ “Late Show” at 11:35pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “The Late Show” | Matt Damon |
| “The Tonight Show” | Julia Stiles |
| “The Late Late Show” | Mark Consuelos |
| “Late Night” | Halle Berry |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Kaley Cuoco |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS’ Tim Kawakami writes, “I'm boycotting ESPN because it's the only game in sports-TV journalism and, like all monopolies, has gotten bloated and maddeningly self-absorbed. I'm boycotting ESPN because I want to know if I can. I'm boycotting ESPN because it has become as omnipresent and dangerous as Microsoft, and it takes a conscious effort to avoid the brand. Hey, we survived thousands of years before the ESPN era began in 1979 and Chris Berman started demanding that sports virgins be brought to his throne as tribute, right?” (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS).
Also:
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports Business: What NFL player had the top-selling jersey on NFLShop.com from April-June 30 this year?
IN OTHER NEWS……
Molson and Coors today as expected “said they have agreed to combine forces in a merger of equals that values each company” at about $3B. The deal will “create a new company, to be called Molson Coors Brewing Co., that will be the world's fifth-largest brewing company by volume,” with combined revenue of about $6B and approximately $1B in EBITDA for the twelve months ending March 31, 2004 (Molson/Coors).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending July 18 (BILLBOARD.com, 7/22).
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | License To Chill | Jimmy Buffett | Mailboat/RCA |
| 2) | Confessions | Usher | LaFace |
| 3) | The Hunger For More | Lloyd Banks | G-Unit |
| 4) | The Tipping Point | The Roots | Geffen |
| 5) | Here For The Party | Gretchen Wilson | Epic (Nashville) |
| 6) | Under My Skin | Avril Lavigne | RCA |
| 7) | Horse Of A Different Color | Big & Rich | Warner Bros. |
| 8) | Musicology | Prince | NPG/Columbia |
| 9) | Soundtrack: A Cinderella Story | Various | Hollywood |
| 10) | Los Lonely Boys | Los Lonely Boys | Or/Epic |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
Terrell Owens’ No. 81 Eagles jersey.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
The Closing Bell provides an afternoon recap of the latest news and headlines each Monday through Friday at approximately 4:00pm ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert to the Closing Bell, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.
