| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, November 8, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Tiger Woods Headlining Group Of Endorsers In Latest AmEx Campaign |
| • | Waste Management Expands NASCAR Portfolio Across Four Racing Series |
| • | London Unveils 2012 Olympics Facilities Plans Including 80,000-Seat Stadium |
| • | Speed Channel In February To Debut New Show Focusing On Celebrities’ Cars |
| • | Daktronics To Install New $2M LED System At Rockies’ Coors Field |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
TIGER HEADLINES STRONG CAST IN LATEST AMEX BRAND CAMPAIGN
American Express today launched a new brand campaign, with the tagline “My life. My card,” featuring Tiger Woods, surfer Laird Hamilton, actor Robert DeNiro and comedian Ellen DeGeneres. Martin Scorsese directed the TV spots, which will be accompanied by print, cinema and out of home ads in the U.S. AmEx also plans to connect the “My life. My card” campaign with its NBA and tennis sponsorships (AmEx).
NFL’S BROADCAST COMMITTEE DISCUSSING TV RIGHTS DEALS TODAY
In his weekly Monday column, SI.com’s Peter King writes the NFL's broadcast committee “is scheduled to have a conference call today to say yea or nay on the Sunday network packages – Fox for the NFC and CBS for the AFC. On the table is a six-year extension by the major network partners; once this is in place, the NFL will go about figuring out the Sunday night, Monday night and, possibly, Thursday and Saturday night permutations of the contract. I hear the networks and the league are very likely to approve the deal” (SI.com, 11/8).
WASTE MANAGEMENT EXPANDS NASCAR PORTFOLIO ACROSS FOUR SERIES
NASCAR sponsor Waste Management today announced that it will serve as the primary sponsor of Roush Racing’s NASCAR Busch Series No. 17 Ford, driven by Matt Kenseth, for the rest of the ’04 season and for 14 events on the ‘05 schedule. Waste Management also will be an associate sponsor for the No. 17 DeWalt Ford driven by Kenseth on the Nextel Cup Series.
Additionally, Waste Management will be the primary sponsor of Bill Davis Racing’s Craftsman Truck Series No. 22 Toyota, driven by Bill Lester, for five races across the remainder of the ‘04 season and the ‘05 season. Finally, the company will sponsor an entry in the Dodge Weekly Series as part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program (Waste Management).
Smith & Wesson over the weekend announced a partnership with SKI Motorsports to serve as the primary sponsor for an entry in eight Busch Series races during the ’05 season. The sponsorship marks Smith & Wesson’s first formal entry in NASCAR (Smith & Wesson).
SAFEWAY NAMED PRESENTING SPONSOR OF GOLDEN BASEBALL LEAGUE
The independent Single-A Golden Baseball League, which begins play in the spring, today announced a three-year presenting sponsorship deal with Safeway, which receives exclusive rights to “Name Your Team” contests, sponsorship of team mascots and specific on-field activities. Additionally, Safeway will have a presence at each league ballpark and on all league and team marketing collateral (Golden Baseball League). SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Safeway will pay the league $1M under the deal (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/8 issue).
DAKTRONICS TO UPGRADE COORS FIELD WITH $2M LED SYSTEM
Daktronics today announced an agreement with the Rockies, under which it will install a $2M LED system, including three ProAd digital advertising displays, at Coors Field prior to the beginning of the ‘05 season. Daktronics installed much of the existing scoring and display system in ’95. The Rockies become the eighth MLB franchise to operate a Daktronics super system. Twenty-four MLB teams use Daktronics (Daktronics).
SPEED CHANNEL UNVEILS PLANS FOR NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES
Speed Channel today announced that it will launch a 60-minute unscripted series in February. “Unique Whips” follows car customizer Will Castro as he modifies celebrities’ cars. Castro’s clientele includes athletes like Jermaine O’Neal, Carmelo Anthony, Yao Ming, Steve Francis, Latrell Sprewell, Curtis Martin, Santana Moss and LaVar Arrington, and entertainers such as Eminem, Jennifer Lopez, Wyclef Jean and Fat Joe. N.Y.-based Hollywood East Entertainment will produce the series (Speed Channel).
LONDON UNVEILS DESIGN PLANS FOR 2012 OLYMPICS FACILITIES
London 2012 today unveiled design plans for the proposed Olympic Park the city would build if awarded the 2012 Games. Foreign Office Architects’ Alejandro Zaero-Pollo is the chief designer. The proposed Olympic Park complex includes an 80,000-seat stadium, aquatics center, velopark, indoor sports arenas, training facilities and accommodations for athletes and officials (London 2012).
BUZZER BEATERS
In an FCC filing, CBS has “opposed the proposed $550,000 federal fine for airing indecent material on the Super Bowl halftime show, saying it didn’t know in advance of plans to expose singer Janet Jackson’s breast” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 11/8).
Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva today inked an endorsement deal with Centertelecom. Zvonareva will display the Centertelecom logo on her sleeve during tennis events, make public appearances on behalf of the company and appear in ads throughout Moscow (SFX Sports Group).
Callaway Golf President & COO Patrice Hutin today resigned, effective immediately. Callaway Chair & CEO William Baker will assume Hutin’s responsibilities (Callaway Golf).
Construction of an indoor arena that would seat up to 12,000 and “host sporting and cultural events is being proposed in Hoffman Estates on land near Sears’ corporate headquarters” at Prairie Stone Business Park in Chicago (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/8).
Saucony has extended its sponsorship of the L.A. Marathon through ’08 (Saucony).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
Hawks players and staff and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will participate in the 4:30pm ET “Restart” Pep Rally at Underground Atlanta. The pep rally is a warm-up for the team’s game against the Cavaliers tomorrow (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 11/8).
Coyotes Senior Exec VP/Hockey Operations Cliff Fletcher and former NHLers Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The USOC and the L.A. Sports Council will co-sponsor a welcome home gala for members of the U.S. Olympic team that competed in Athens during Disney’s world premiere of “National Treasure” at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium at 7:00pm PT.
The National Women’s Law Center will honor U.S. women’s soccer team member Julie Foudy and Ensley High School (AL) girls basketball coach Roderick Jackson, who has taken a Title IX case against the Birmingham Board of Education to the U.S. Supreme Court, during its annual dinner in DC (USA TODAY, 11/8).
CHANNEL SURFING
Former NFLer Joe Ehrmann will appear on CNBC’s “Kudlow & Cramer” at 5:00pm ET.
Rogers SportsNet will air “Lest We Forget: Hockey’s True Heros,” the first in a four-part seriesdetailing the effect of WWI and WWII on the NHL, at 6:30pm ET.
NBA TV will air Warriors-Mavericks at 8:30pm ET.
Chargers QB Doug Flutie will appear on CBS’ “Listen Up” at 8:30pm ET.
ABC will air “MNF”: Vikings-Colts at 9:00pm ET.
Serena Williams and Giants DE Michael Strahan will appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
ESPN’s “OTL Nightly” will examine fathers working for their sons in the sports world at 1:00am ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Tom Hanks |
| “The Tonight Show” | Nicolas Cage |
| “The Late Late Show” | Jason Lee |
| “Late Night” | Matthew Broderick (r) |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Rhys Ifans |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The WASHINGTON POST’s Nunyo Demasio writes of Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder, “Despite Washington’s lackluster record, Snyder, 39, has remained in the background, according to several people in the organization, belying his reputation as a hands-on – at times meddlesome – owner. Since signing [Joe] Gibbs, 63, to a five-year, $28.5[M] contract to become coach and team president, Snyder has kept his distance from the team perhaps more than any time in the five years he has owned the Redskins. The team’s direction, according to these accounts, is emanating solely from Gibbs” (WASHINGTON POST).
The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH’s Vahe Gregorian writes, “As one of basketball’s great spectacles, the NCAA Tournament Final Four, returns to St. Louis in April for the first time since 1978, the game is on vastly different terrain than it was then – and not just because of the advent of ESPN, the shot clock and the 3-point line. Many have profound concerns about the state of basketball in general and particularly the college game, where recruiting scandals, academic fraud and a ‘look at me’ attitude have tarnished the image of the game in recent years” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports: Prior to the ‘04 NFL season, which team had the highest winning percentage for “Monday Night Football” games, with a minimum of ten games played?
IN OTHER NEWS……
The N.Y. TIMES reports that approximately 6,500 videogame stores will host midnight events tonight to celebrate the release of Microsoft’s Xbox-exclusive game, “Halo 2.” The release is the “latest and perhaps the best indication of how the blockbuster mentality of Hollywood has pervaded the video game industry. As development budgets for the most advanced games approach $20[M], the stakes for producers have risen accordingly. According to Microsoft, the marketing budget for ‘Halo 2’ is ‘tens of millions of dollars,’ perhaps more than the cost of developing the game itself” (N.Y. TIMES, 11/8).
THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION
The following presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending November 7 (NYTIMES.com, 11/8):
| RK | HARDCOVER NONFICTION |
| 1) | AMERICA, Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin & David Javerbaum (Warner) |
| 2) | THE LAST SEASON, Phil Jackson w/ Michael Arkush (Penguin Press) |
| 3) | HOW TO TALK TO A LIBERAL, Ann Coulter (Crown Forum) |
| 4) | WHEN WILL JESUS BRING THE PORK CHOPS?, George Carlin (Hyperion) |
| 5) | CHRONICLES: VOLUME ONE, Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster) |
| 6) | HIS EXCELLENCY, Joseph Ellis (Knopf) |
| 7) | A PAPER LIFE, Tatum O’Neal (HarperEntertainment) |
| 8) | EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES, Lynne Truss (Gotham) |
| 9) | MIRACLE, Anne Geddes & Celine Dion (Andrews McMeel) |
| 10) | WILL THEY EVER TRUST US AGAIN?, Michael Moore (Simon & Schuster) |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
The Seahawks (12-7/.632), followed by the Raiders (36-21-1/.629), 49ers (37-22/.627), Steelers (31-20/.608), Cowboys (36-26/.581) and Chiefs (18-13/.581).
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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