Closing Bell, January 3, 2005

ANGELS CHANGE OFFICIAL NAME TO LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

The Angels today changed their official name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, effective immediately. The city of Anaheim has already voted to sue the team (Angels). The L.A. TIMES reported that the stadium lease agreement “demands only that the team ‘include the name Anaheim therein.’” Many legal experts last week opined on the outcome of a possible lawsuit:

Nova Southeastern Univ. law professor Robert Jarvis: “This provision does give the team some wiggle room.”

California Western Law School professor Michael Dessent: “Courts usually don’t give the benefit of the doubt to whoever drafted it in an ambiguous way.”

Babson College professor Eli Bortman: “Courts don’t listen to people who say this is what we meant.”

Univ. of Oregon professor Carl Bjerre: “The fact that it [a requirement saying 'Anaheim' has to precede Angels] doesn’t show up in the words of the contract is not a reason not to enforce the expectation.”

Anaheim City Attorney Jack White: “It was never either party’s intention that another geographical name would appear along with Anaheim” (L.A. TIMES, 12/30).

DAN GILBERT DISCUSSES AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE CAVALIERS

Dan Gilbert, Founder & Chair of Quicken Loans Inc., which owns Quicken Loans, Rock Financial and Title Source, today confirmed during a conference call that he has an agreement in place with Gordon Gund to acquire the Cavaliers. Gilbert began the call by reemphasizing his intention to keep the team in Cleveland, and later said buying the Cavaliers will not affect Rock Financial’s presenting sponsorship of the Pistons. Gilbert: “There really is no conflict because the Rock Financial brand here is a local brand right now. ... Just because we’re competing on the court does not mean that the companies that we’re marketing couldn’t be marketed in more than one arena. I think the relationship with the Pistons continues.”

Gilbert, on whether he would have been interested in buying the Cavaliers if LeBron James did not play for the team: “Yes, I think there would be an interest in buying the team because I think as great as any one person may be, you can’t base your entire decision to buy a franchise on one person. He certainly is a big part of the attraction, but I think there would definitely be interest if he or any other one human being was not part of this.”

On whether the possibility of a work stoppage affected his interest in buying the team: “We certainly took a look at that. We know the collective bargaining agreement is up and it’s being negotiated now through the summer. I guess we take a longer-term view of this deal. We can’t buy something as valuable and rare as an NBA franchise and say we’re going to buy it or not buy it because of a potential work stoppage for part of a season or for one season. … We’re pretty optimistic [a work stoppage] won’t happen. … You can’t make your decision on that if you want to own a team for ten or 20 years" (THE DAILY).

CBS’ REGULAR-SEASON NFL BROADCAST AVERAGE UP 2% OVER ‘03

CBS today announced that its ’04 NFL game telecasts averaged an 11.3/23 local metered market Nielsen rating, up 2% from an 11.1/22 in ’03. CBS’ 16.1/27 for yesterday’s Colts-Broncos broadcast marks the highest-rated national game of the season on CBS, and the second-highest of any network this season. Additionally, the net’s 1:00pm ET regional broadcasts yesterday earned a 13.3/26, CBS’ highest-rated regional coverage in the local metered markets since the final week of the ’99 season (CBS).

“NFL PLAYERS WEEK” BEGINS TONIGHT ON “WHEEL OF FORTUNE”

Players Inc and Wheel of Fortune today will kick off “NFL Players Week,” in which 15 past and present NFL players will compete for charities.  The players will be partnered with contestants vying for a trip to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville.  The following is the appearance schedule (NFL):

BUZZER BEATERS

IOC President Jacques Rogge today announced that the IOC will donate $1M to support the victims of the December 26 tsunami in Asia (IOC).

Syracuse Univ. men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim will be featured in TV ads that begin airing today in support of the proposed $1.4B West Side stadium in N.Y. The ads will run in Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester and Albany (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 1/3).

Quiksilver has sent Skis Rossignol, the largest ski equipment manufacturer in the world, a letter of interest to buy a portion of the company (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/3).

CHANNEL SURFING

ABC will air the Nokia Sugar Bowl: Auburn-Virginia Tech at 8:00pm ET.

NBA TV will air Jazz-Grizzlies at 8:00pm ET.

ABC's Keith Jackson will appear on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 12:35am ET.

ESPN’s “OTL Nightly” will examine the NFL's policy regarding assistant coaches pursuing head coaching jobs.

HEADLINERS

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

TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The DALLAS MORNING NEWS’ Mike Heika writes of Stars broadcaster Ralph Strangis’ proposed changes to the NHL’s scheduling, “Teams would play a 76-game schedule, with 60 of those games coming in the form of two, two-game series against every conference opponent. The key to the series is that the two games would be played in the same venue either on back-to-back nights or over three days. Those series would be played on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays before Jan. 1 and then move to Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays after Jan. 1. In addition, after Jan. 1, each team would play a nonconference opponent on Monday night” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS).

The WASHINGTON POST’s Nunyo Demasio writes Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder “has been credited with making the Redskins a financial success despite a sub-par record through smart borrowing, marketing and sponsorship. Despite making the playoffs only in his first season as owner, Snyder's annual net profit through the Redskins has been estimated at [$20-25M] because of his ability to maximize revenue” (WASHINGTON POST).

• PSLs could generate nearly all of the revenue needed to finance DC ballpark.
• Big boosters using their money to give them power to call shots on campus.
• FedEx sports sponsorships deliver – and bring rewards – across the industry.
• Profile of Buccaneers Owner and Manchester United suitor Malcolm Glazer.
• Sonics bring in their own version of Billy Beane and “Moneyball.”