| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Thursday, November 11, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Madison Square Garden Today Announces Architect For Renovation |
| • | MLS Today Announces First Collective Bargaining Agreement In League History |
| • | Capitals Owner Tonight Talking To Select Message Board Posters Over Dinner |
| • | Quinnipiac Univ. Poll Shows Slight Dip In N.Y. Support To Host Olympics |
| • | NBA Today Announces Agreement To Air Games In Middle East |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
MSG ARCHITECT TO RENOVATE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS ARENA
By Don Muret, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
Madison Square Garden announced today that Brisbin Brook Beynon of Toronto will design a major renovation of the arena. The design firm has been consulting with MSG and won the contract over HOK Sport of K.C. The renovation, scheduled to begin in ’06, will cost $350-$400M (THE DAILY).
MLS, PLAYERS UNION REACH FIRST CBA IN LEAGUE’S HISTORY
MLS and the MLS Players Union (MLSPU) today announced that the two sides have reached a CBA, the first in league history, to run through the end of the ‘09 season. The agreement includes graduated minimum salary increases, 401k, guaranteed health benefits, improved life insurance and a neutral arbitration system. In addition, the league and the union will enter into a five-year group license sharing agreement which will increase by over 300% the amount paid by MLS for players’ images (MLSPU).
BOUND BY A COMMON THREAD: LEONSIS HOSTS DINNER FOR FANS
Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis has invited 25 fans to a complimentary dinner at Signatures Restaurant in DC tonight at 6:30pm ET so they can offer suggestions on how the organization can improve. The fans were selected based on the frequency of their posts on the Capitals’ official online message board since the end of last season. The more postings, the more likely the fan was to be invited. Capitals Senior Dir of Communications Kurt Kehl and New Media Manager Sean Parker will also attend (THE DAILY).
RECENT N.Y. POLL NUMBERS SUGGEST NYC2012 BID LOSING SUPPORT
The AP reports that a Quinnipiac Univ. poll of registered N.Y. voters conducted November 5-8 found that 64% of respondents “supported the city’s Olympics ambitions while 30[%] were opposed.” Nearly half of surveyed voters - 47% - disagreed with N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s claim that the city must build the proposed $1.4B West Side stadium to secure the Games (AP, 11/11).
CRAINS N.Y. BUSINESS notes that support for the bid has dropped since July, when 67% of respondents supported the city’s bid while 25% opposed (CRAINSNY.com, 11/11).
BUZZER BEATERS
The NBA announced today it has reached a new agreement with satellite provider Alhurra Television to air NBA games in the Middle East for the first time. Alhurra will air one game each week and customized episodes of “NBA Jam” (NBA).
Lakers Owner Jerry Buss will not be participating in his annual interview with reporters. A team spokesperson said that Buss’ “assessment of the Lakers’ state came during a July teleconference” after trading Shaquille O’Neal (Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM, 11/10).
With TOROC President Valentino Castellani withdrawing his plans to resign at the end of the month, Italian Deputy Sports Minister Mario Pescante, who last week was appointed by the government to oversee the Games, will now “supervise media events and act as the liaison with the government.” Castellani announced his intention to resign “because he felt Pescante’s role conflicted with his own” (AP, 11/11).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air NCAA football: Florida State-NC State at 7:30pm ET.
Gabrielle Reece will appear on Fox’ “North Shore” at 9:00pm ET.
Don King will appear on Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes" at 9:00pm ET.
TNT will air Mavericks-Heat at 8:00pm ET and Pistons-Nuggets at 10:00pm.
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will appear on Speed Channel’s “Wind Tunnel” at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air coverage of the WTA Championships at 11:00pm ET.
Venus Williams will appear on CBS’ “Late Late Show” at 12:30am ET.
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” will focus on Maurice Clarett and Ohio State.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Matthew Broderick |
| “The Tonight Show” | Dana Carvey |
| “The Late Late Show” | Venus Williams |
| “Late Night” | Pierce Brosnan |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Dick Clark |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell writes of the Jordan-Nike partnership, “Twenty years later, nothing in sports marketing has matched the magnitude of their alliance, which laid the foundation to the modern-day formula that pairs athletes with companies in hopes of luring fans to buy their products” (ESPN.com).
Author Charles Euchner writes in a WASHINGTON TIMES Op/Ed, “Independent studies show that no matter how glorious the team and how grand the stadium, sports adds little to the local economy. … The D.C. Council should start by voting down the exorbitant deal. Tell baseball that the mayor is not king, that local democracies must respond to a wide range of voices and choices” (WASHINGTON TIMES).
The L.A. DAILY NEWS’ Rich Hammond writes Scott Boras is “far and away, the most accomplished and feared agent in baseball. He’s a tireless worker, a constant presence at stadiums to make sure his clients are happy, and a tenacious negotiator who never fails to make general managers curse him under their breath. In the last decade, his hardball tactics have paid huge dividends for Kevin Brown, Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Williams. This winter, Boras’ fingerprints will be all over the free-agent market” (L.A. DAILY NEWS).
- Michael Phelps is the latest victim of society’s child-star syndrome.
- Waste Management turns to NASCAR to improve image.
See The Daily Insider’s
Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports Business: Who was the first corporate title sponsor of a PGA Tour tournament in the U.S.?
IN OTHER NEWS…
Coca-Cola today lowered long-term earnings and sales forecasts “amid continuing weakness in key markets including North America” and plans to “boost spending on marketing its core brands.” The company plans to spend an additional $350-400M on marketing next year, and there “could be more sponsorship deals” in North America. Coke execs said that the company will “shift its ads from local, promotional types to big-media buys that could span an entire country or continent” (AP, 11/11). As of press time shares of Coke were trading at $52.98, down .01% (THE DAILY).
THE DAILY STAT: BILLBOARD CHARTS
The following lists Billboard Magazine’s top-selling CDs for the week ending November 4 (BILLBOARD.com, 11/11).
| RK | ALBUM | ARTIST | LABEL |
| 1) | Now 17 | Various Artists | Sony BMG/Universal/EMI/Zomba |
| 2) | eMOTIVe | A Perfect Circle | Virgin |
| 3) | Suit | Nelly | Derrty/Fo’ Reel |
| 4) | Confessions | Usher | LaFace |
| 5) | Stardust…The Great American Songbook Vol. III | Rod Stewart | J |
| 6) | 50 Number Ones | George Strait | MCA Nashville |
| 7) | Genius Loves Company | Ray Charles | Hear |
| 8) | Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets | Trick Daddy | Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic |
| 9) | Ray (Soundtrack) | Ray Charles | WMG Soundtracks/Atlantic |
| 10) | Unfinished Business | R. Kelly & Jay-Z | Jive/Def Jam |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
According the PGA Tour’s Web site, the Hershey Chocolate Company sponsored the 1933 Hershey Open.
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dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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