| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Sony Ericsson Becoming WTA Tour Title Sponsor In Multiyear Deal |
| • | FedEx Leveraging Orange Bowl Sponsorship With Debut Of Six New Spots |
| • | BBC Says No Date Has Been Set For Proposed 2012 Candidate Cities Debate |
| • | Churchill Downs Inc. Doubles Kentucky Derby Guaranteed Purse To $2M |
| • | Red Sox Ink Partnership With State Lottery For World Series Trophy Tour |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
SONY ERICSSON BECOMING WTA TOUR TITLE SPONSOR IN MULTIYEAR DEAL
By Dan Kaplan, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
Sony Ericsson will title sponsor the WTA Tour in a deal multiple tennis sources said was for $88M over six years. It is scheduled to be announced Wednesday or Thursday. The WTA declined to comment.
The deal, which will begin right away, is expected to be the biggest sponsorship in women's tennis history, and for that matter women's sports. It may also be the single largest sponsorship in professional tennis. The company will become the eighth title sponsor in WTA history, and the first since '03 when body care brand Sanex ended its backing of the tour. In that time, the WTA has signed a slew of regional sponsorships, maintaining no company could take on a global deal. The sponsorship may also cover the season ending women's tennis championships, which are scheduled to be in L.A. and did not have a sponsor in '04.
Sony Ericsson, a venture formed in '01 by the merger of the mobile-phone businesses of Sony and Ericsson, had terrific financial success in '04, reversing years of red ink. But the U.S. remains a hole in its business, so the WTA deal is a stateside branding opportunity (THE DAILY).
TROJANS VS. SOONERS: FEDEX LEVERAGING ORANGE BOWL SPONSORSHIP
By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large, The Sports Business Daily
Title sponsor FedEx will break six new spots on ABC’s broadcast of the Orange Bowl starting at 8:00pm ET tonight. The half-dozen spots continue the “Relax, it’s FedEx” campaign from longtime agency BBDO, N.Y., which debuted in September ‘03. The new spots will tout the company's core overnight delivery capabilities, along with its international, ground, FedEx Kinko’s and FedEx.com offerings. Ironically, competitor DHL will have its array of signage at Pro Player Stadium covered up tonight, in deference to the FedEx Orange Bowl entitlement (THE DAILY).
TROJANS VS. SOONERS: TOP-RANKED TEAMS TO SETTLE NATIONAL TITLE
ABC will air live coverage of the game, with Brad Nessler and Bob Griese in the booth. ESPN will air a one-hour “College GameDay” pregame special at 7:00pm ET, with the usual crew of Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit anchoring the coverage from the stadium. Mark May and Trev Alberts will also provide analysis alongside Rece Davis, while reporters Jill Arrington, Steve Cyphers and Tom Rinaldi will be on the field. Univ. of Arizona coach Mike Stoops will be a guest analyst on the program.
While showing highlights during halftime, ABC will use a two-minute version of a new U2 song – “All Because of You” – as backdrop music. ESPN will use the full version with complete highlights on “SportsCenter” (L.A. TIMES, 1/4).
Meanwhile, during his “State of the BCS” address this morning in Miami, Big 12 Commissioner & BCS Coordinator Kevin Weiberg said, “I really do not see an NFL-style playoff coming to college football any time soon.” Weiberg added that he is “very interested” in the BCS forming a selection committee that would be similar to the one used to select the field for many other NCAA championships (AP, 1/4).
On a lighter note, if USC wins the game, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry will send a side of Oklahoma beef and other Sooner state products to California National Guard troops. Should Oklahoma prevail, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will send a hodgepodge of California-grown food products, as well as tickets to ski resorts and other tourist attractions (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 1/4).
NO DATE SET FOR PROPOSED DEBATE BETWEEN 2012 CANDIDATE CITIES
AROUND THE RINGS reports that the BBC has not set a date for a proposed debate among the five cities in the race to host the 2012 Olympics, despite an announcement from Madrid that the program will be taped on January 27 in Turin. Meanwhile, IOC rules “prevent the contenders from attacking each other or even making comparisons, no matter if the comparisons are accurate” (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 1/4).
BUZZER BEATERS
YES Network today formally announced a multiyear agreement with Fox TV Stations to broadcast as many as 21 Yankees games per season on WWOR-UPN. Most of the broadcasts, which YES Network will produce, will air on Friday nights (YES Network).
Churchill Downs today announced that it is increasing the Kentucky Derby purse from $1M to $2M guaranteed, with the winner taking home $1.24M (Churchill Downs).
The Red Sox today announced a partnership with the Massachusetts State Lottery to be the presenting sponsor of the team’s ongoing World Series Trophy Tour, which will stop at each of the 351 locales in Massachusetts that requested a visit before next season (Red Sox).
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America today elected Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg to the National Baseball HOF. Boggs and Sandberg will be formally inducted on July 31 (MLB.com, 1/4).
Former NBAer John Crotty has joined play-by-play announcer Mike Inglis at WIOD-AM as an analyst for all remaining Heat home games (Heat).
Fox Sports Radio and radio host J.T. “The Brick” have agreed to a multiyear contract extension for him to continue hosting his two nationally syndicated shows (Fox).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
The World Junior Hockey Championships end tonight at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports that the tourney is “expected to be the most successful of the four World Juniors held in the United States,” as 172,402 people had attended through Monday’s games. Tonight’s Gold Medal game between Canada and Russia is expected to sell out the 11,500-seat venue. The event is expected to make a profit, and it has “generated invaluable publicity for the arena and kept local hotels and restaurants humming” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 1/4).
The AFL’s ’05 AFL Preview magazine hits retail today for $3.95 (AFL).
CHANNEL SURFING
Falcons Owner Arthur Blank will appear on NFL Network's "NFL Total Acess" at 7:00pm ET.
ABC will air the FedEx Orange Bowl: Oklahoma-USC at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN will air a “Tilt” preview special at 8:00pm ET.
NBA TV will air Lakers-Spurs at 8:30pm ET.
Brandon Stokley, Kurt Warner and Warrick Dunn will appear on Wheel of Fortune’s “NFL Players Week.”
Ben Roethlisberger, Wade Boggs and Jalen Rose will appear on “BDSSP.”
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Ethan Hawke |
| “The Tonight Show” | Kate Winslet |
| “The Late Late Show” | Jon Cryer |
| “Late Night” | Brad Pitt (r) |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The INDIANAPOLIS STAR’s Matthew Tully writes the RCA Dome “was built before the premium seats became the norm, meaning [the Colts were] forced to awkwardly configure 4,199 club seats during a 1998 renovation. Still, the seats have increased the team’s cash flow. At $154 per ticket, the seats are nearly double the price of any other. But the price has been kept in check by the inability to offer amenities found in other stadiums.” The team plans to have 7,100 club seats in its new stadium (INDIANAPOLIS STAR).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS…
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that Citadel Broadcasting Corp. has dropped Howard Stern’s radio show “because of his constant references to his planned move to Sirius Satellite Radio.” Citadel had carried Stern’s show on four stations (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/4).
THE DAILY STAT: TOP SELLING REEBOK NFL PLAYER JERSEYS
The following presents the top ten NFL player jerseys sold since the beginning of the ’04 NFL season, according to Reebok (AP, 12/30):
| RK | PLAYER |
| 1) | Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger |
| 2) | Falcons QB Michael Vick |
| 3) | Eagles WR Terrell Owens |
| 4) | Eagles QB Donovan McNabb |
| 5) | Raiders DT Warren Sapp |
| 6) | Chiefs RB Priest Holmes |
| 7) | Patriots QB Tom Brady |
| 8) | Packers QB Brett Favre |
| 9) | Redskins RB Clinton Portis |
| 10) | Colts QB Peyton Manning |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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