| • | 131st Kentucky Derby To Be Run Tomorrow At New-Look Churchill Downs |
| • | Afleet Alex Team Inks Derby Sponsorship Deal With Paradisepoker.com |
| • | NHL, NHLPA Today Conclude Two-Day CBA Negotiating Session In Toronto |
| • | MLBP, MLBPA Announce Continued Partnership With Cartoon Network |
| • | Levy Restaurants Tabbed To Manage Concessions At Raymond James Stadium |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/Closing Stat |
131st KENTUCKY DERBY TO RUN TOMORROW AT CHURCHILL DOWNS
The 131st Kentucky Derby will run tomorrow at Churchill Downs, and USA TODAY reported that Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner, with current-odds favorite Bellamy Road, can join former Pirates Owner John Galbreath as the only baseball owners to complete the Derby-World Series double. Galbreath won the event in ’63 with Chateaugay and again in ’67 with Proud Clarion (USA TODAY, 5/6).
NBC race host Tom Hammond on Steinbrenner’s entry: “There are a lot of Yankees haters out there, a lot of George Steinbrenner haters out there, it will be interesting to see if they take it out on his horse” (NBC).
The FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM reports that Steinbrenner has denied all interview requests from NBC, “something [Producer] David Michaels says has never happened in his career producing Breeders’ Cup and Triple Crown races” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5/6).
Steinbrenner’s spokesperson, Howard Rubenstein, told the N.Y. TIMES, “He doesn’t want to talk because he feels it would jinx the horse. He’s urged his daughter and anyone else in his family not to give interviews” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/6).
The RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH reported that NBC will have 26 cameras for its broadcast, and working the races along with Hammond will be co-host Bob Costas, analysts Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier, commentator Charlsie Cantey, race caller Tom Durkin and on-track reporter Donna Barton-Brothers (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 5/5).
The FINANCIAL TIMES reports that IBM has installed 320 betting-system kiosks in the reserved suites that will provide information about the horses and jockeys, the weather forecast, allow bets on races at other tracks and enable fans to order food and drinks to be delivered to their seats (FINANCIAL TIMES, 5/6).
RazorGator reported that 44% of Derby tickets sourced through their service were bought as gifts (RazorGator, 5/4).
Meanwhile, today’s Kentucky Oaks will include Sis City, which is owned by a group that includes Texans Owner Bob McNair and Yankees manager Joe Torre (N.Y. TIMES, 4/17).
AFLEET ALEX TEAM INKS SPONSOR DEAL WITH PARADISEPOKER.COM
By Liz Mullen, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
 |
| Paradisepoker.com Putting
Chips On Afleet Alex |
The jockey, trainer and owner team of Afleet Alex, the morning line second choice in the Kentucky Derby, has signed an endorsement deal with paradisepoker.com. Kelly Wietsma, agent for the team, said that jockey Jeremy Rose will wear the paradisepoker.com logo on his pants, while trainer Tim Ritchey and Chuck Zacney, managing partner of Cash Is King Stable, the horse’s owner, will wear the logo on baseball cap. However, Zacney and Ritchey would not wear the caps in the winners circle in order to comply with Churchill Downs’ rules on advertising.
Meanwhile, Wietsma said the owners of horses Bandini and High Fly nixed deals with paradisepoker.com and Wrangler, respectively. Wietsma said Bandini co-Owner Michael Tabor and High Fly Owner Charlotte Weber did not want the logos on their jockeys. She would not divulge the financial details of the deals.
NHL, NHLPA TODAY CONCLUDE TWO-DAY CBA NEGOTIATING SESSION
The NHL and NHLPA today concluded a two-day CBA negotiating session in Toronto, that was attended by the following:
| NHL | NHLPA |
| NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman | NHLPA Exec Dir Bob Goodenow |
| NHL Exec VP & CLO Bill Daly | NHLPA Senior Dir of Business Affairs Ted Saskin |
| NHL Exec VP & Dir of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell | NHLPA Associate Counsel Ian Pulver |
| NHL VP & General Counsel David Zimmerman | Outside counsel John McCambridge |
| Outside counsel Bob Batterman | NHLPA Dir of Business Relations Mike Gartner |
| Outside counsel Shep Goldfein | Canucks C & NHLPA President Trevor Linden |
| Flames Owner & NHL BOG Chair Harley Hotchkiss | Stars RW & NHLPA VP Bill Guerin |
| Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs | Avalanche D & NHLPA VP Bob Boughner |
| Predators Owner Craig Leipold | |
| Devils President, CEO & GM Lou Lamoriello | |
After the meeting today, Daly in a statement said the group “met for approximately 4 ½ [hours] today and further discussed the conceptual framework first raised at our April 4 meeting. Both sides intend to spend the next several days continuing to work internally, and at this point, we are hoping to meet again in New York on Tuesday” (NHL).
MLBP, MLBPA CONTINUE PARTNERSHIP WITH CARTOON NETWORK
MLB Productions and the MLBPA today announced they are continuing to partner with Cartoon Network for the second year of a program designed to promote youth interest in baseball and baseball card collecting. New TV spots with characters from “Codename: Kids Next Door” will air on Cartoon Network and in MLB ballparks through July ’05. The spots will include visuals of officially-licensed baseball card companies Donruss, Fleer, Topps and Upper Deck, and will be tagged with information about either Toys “R” Us, Target or the Shop at MLB.com. The first spot features Yankees SS Derek Jeter and Phillies 1B Jim Thome (MLB).
BUZZER BEATERS
The Buccaneers today announced a deal making Chicago-based Levy Restaurants manager of all food and beverage operations at Raymond James Stadium. Levy Restaurants owns, manages or operates 95 locations, including 71 sports and entertainment venues (Buccaneers).
The Nets’ e-mail ticket campaign during the ’04-05 season, which featured Nets F Vince Carter, Nets President Rod Thorn and Nets Sports & Entertainment President & CEO Brett Yormark sending messages directly to people in the team’s fan database, generated $1.3M more in ticket sales than the previous season. The e-mails encouraged fans to purchase tickets and often included discount offers (Nets).
Henkel will sponsor NASCAR drivers Terry and Bobby Labonte’s No. 44 Loctite Doran Racing Pontiac/Doran entry in the June 30 Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona Int’l Speedway (Just Marketing).
Attorney Rob Becker has joined the Fox Sports Radio Network as legal analyst. Becker currently practices law with Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C. in N.Y., and also serves as legal analyst for FSN, www.FoxSports.com and Rogers Sportsnet (Fox Sports Radio).
MediaZone.com and OLN today announced that the ’05 Giro d’Italia cycling race will be offered live on www.mediazone.com/cycing. U.S. broadband users will be able to watch all weekday stages live or on demand for a flat fee of $5.95 (OLN).
LIGHTER BUZZ
Northern League St. Paul Saints manager George Tsamis will wear a White Castle restaurant manager’s uniform for all ’05 games as part of a sponsorship deal with the restaurant. His first appearance in the outfit will be at tomorrow’s 4:05pm CT preseason home opener against Sioux Falls (St. Paul Saints).
WEEKEND EVENTS
FRIDAY
Miami Herald columnist Edwin Pope and SI’s William Nack will receive A.J. Leibling Awards for excellence in boxing journalism at the 80th annual Boxing Writers Association of America Awards Dinner at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (MIAMI HERALD, 2/9).
Select NHL players will take part in the All-Star Shootout at Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. Proceeds from the game go to the Blues Alumni Scholarship Fund, The Fourteen Fund, which is the Blues’ charitable foundation, and the Siteman Cancer Center (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/4).
SATURDAY
White Sox fans will be able to play catch on the U.S. Cellular Field outfield grass during the second annual Family Field Day and Garage Sale, from 9:00am-2:00pm CT (White Sox).
adidas-Salomon AG CEO Herbert Hainer will be joined by Anna Kournikova, Laila Ali, Jeremy Shockey, Sebastian Telfair, Josh Smith and Jeff Agoos to open the company’s new Sports Performance Store in Manhattan at 10:15am ET (adidas-Salomon).
Lakers Owner Jerry Buss will receive an honorary Juris Doctor degree in law from the Univ. of Wyoming (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 5/2).
ESPN Chair Emeritus Herbert Granath will receive the Honorary Rose d’Or Award at the 45th Rose d’Or festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. Tele Munchen CEO & Chair Herbert Kloiber will present the trophy (VARIETY, 4/4).
SUNDAY
MLB and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation wrap up the week-long “Strikeout Challenge” on Mother’s Day at ballparks around the country. MLB runs a full-page ad today in USA Today with the header, “This Mother’s Day, help strike out breast cancer” (MLB).
CHANNEL SURFING
FRIDAY ESPN will air horse racing: Kentucky Oaks at 5:00pm ET.
USA Network will air “The Good Life of Golf Superstars,” which examines the lives of Greg Norman, Mike Weir, Peter Jacobsen, Jerry Kelly and Rory Sabbitini when they are not on the golf course, at 7:00pm ET.
Sun Sports will air “Under The Lights: Urban Meyer” at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air Bulls-Wizards at 8:00pm ET.
FX will air NASCAR Busch Series Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at 8:00pm ET.
The Game Show Network will debut “Poker Royale,” which is hosted by Ducks broadcaster John Ahlers, at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN’s “OTL” examines the details that led to the conviction of boxing promoter Bobby Mitchell for bribery at midnight ET.
Horse trainer Bob Baffert, NBA free agent G Michael Redd and Spurs F Bruce Bowen will appear on “BDSSP.”
SATURDAY ESPN will air “Today at the Kentucky Derby” at noon ET.
NFL Network will air NFL Europe: Hamburg Sea Devils-Rhein Fire at 1:00pm ET.
CBS will debut “Golf’s Ultimate Road Trip,” a reality series in which eight contestants compete to play the PGA Tour’s 18 most famous holes, at 2:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air third-round coverage of the LPGA Tour "Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill” at 2:00pm ET.
CBS will air third-round coverage of the PGA Tour Wachovia Championship at 3:00pm ET.
ESPN will air “Kentucky Derby Special” at 3:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air MLS: Earthquakes-MetroStars at 4:00pm ET.
NBC will air The Kentucky Derby at 5:00pm ET.
OLN will air cycling: Giro d’Italia at 5:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA baseball: Notre Dame-St. John’s at 6:00pm ET.
Fox will air NASCAR Nextel Cup Dodge Charger 500 at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air Pacers-Celtics at 7:00pm ET and Rockets-Mavericks at 9:30pm.
ESPN will air NCAA softball: Washington-Arizona at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA Men’s Volleyball Finals at 11:00pm ET.
SUNDAY NBA TV will air the ’05 Euroleague Championship at 10:30am ET.
CBS will air F1: Gran Premio de Espana at 1:00pm ET.
NBC will air regional coverage of AFL: Colorado Crush-New Orleans VooDoo or Tampa Bay Storm-Georgia Force at 1:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air motorcycle racing: THQ AMA Supercross Series at 1:00pm ET.
CBS will air final-round coverage of the Wachovia Championship at 3:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air final-round coverage of the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill at 3:00pm ET.
NFL Network will air NFL Europe: Frankfurt Galaxy-Amsterdam Admirals at 3:00pm ET.
NBC will air equestrian: Rolex Championships at 4:00pm ET.
ESPN will air NCAA softball: Washington-Arizona at 4:00pm ET.
NBC will air equestrian: World Cup Jumping Finals at 5:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA baseball: Texas-Kansas at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN will air Dodgers-Reds at 8:00pm ET.
TNT will air Sonics-Spurs at 8:00pm ET.
NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and former NASCAR driver Richard Petty will appear on Speed Channel’s “Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain” at 9:00pm ET.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS’ Mark Purdy writes, “This weekend, the Washington Nationals visit SBC Park for the first time. You know what that means. It means San Jose has a chance. Can’t help myself. Every time I see a Washington Nationals uniform, I see a San Jose A’s uniform. Know why? Two years ago, the power brokers of baseball were rejecting any notion of the Montreal Expos moving to the D.C. area. Forget about it. A fantasy. Orioles owner Peter Angelos was dead set against another team playing less than 40 miles away. … Wasn’t going to happen. Well, it happened” (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS).
The Baltimore SUN’s Laura Vecsey writes, “When the Mayor of Baltimore stands in front of the greatest painting of a thoroughbred horse, as Martin O’Malley did yesterday to kick off Triple Crown season, and issues a warning about the gloomy future of horse racing in Maryland, something’s up. Welcome to the home of the Preakness … for now. That, essentially, was the message” (Baltimore SUN).
Also:
CLOSING STAT: FORBES.COM BEST PLACES FOR BUSINESS AND CAREERS
The following presents the best places for business and careers, according to FORBES.com. Cost of doing business is based on cost of labor, energy, taxes and office space. Job growth is based on five-year annualized figures. Educational attainment is based on the share of the population over age 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher. FORBES.com ranked a total of 150 metro areas (FORBES.com, 5/5).
| BEST PLACES FOR BUSINESS AND CAREERS, ACCORDING TO FORBES.COM |
| RK | METRO AREA | COST OF DOING BUSINESS | JOB GROWTH | EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT | POP. |
| 1 | Boise, ID | 22 | 8 | 57 | 488,000 |
| 2 | Raleigh, NC | 10 | 53 | 6 | 1,313,000 |
| 3 | Austin, TX | 16 | 58 | 9 | 1,402,000 |
| 4 | Washington, DC-Northern VA | 105 | 20 | 2 | 5,292,000 |
| 5 | Albuquerque, NM | 1 | 38 | 39 | 764,000 |
| 6 | Huntsville, AL | 11 | 42 | 22 | 362,000 |
| 7 | Fayetteville, AR | 15 | 4 | 99 | 346,000 |
| 8 | Norfolk, VA | 51 | 31 | 79 | 1,646,000 |
| 9 | Atlanta, GA | 37 | 70 | 16 | 4,541,000 |
| 10 | Madison, WI | 67 | 40 | 3 | 454,000 |
| 11 | Lexington, KY | 2 | 121 | 35 | 502,000 |
| 12 | Phoenix, AZ | 63 | 23 | 63 | 3,664,000 |
| 13 | Houston, TX | 41 | 50 | 49 | 4,573,000 |
| 14 | Richmond, VA | 60 | 51 | 29 | 1,045,000 |
| 15 | Provo, UT | 35 | 33 | 18 | 406,000 |
CRITICS WEIGH IN: “HOUSE OF WAX” AND “KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”
In the horror flick, “House Of Wax,” two carloads of college students, including Carly Jones (Elisha Cuthbert), Paige Edwards (Paris Hilton) and Nick Jones (Chad Michael Murray), are in route to a football game when they become stranded along the way. In “Kingdom of Heaven,” Director Ridley Scott’s period epic about The Crusades follows Balian (Orlando Bloom) and his quest for fame and fortune in Jerusalem.
| | ————Movie———— |
| | House of Wax | Kingdom of Heaven |
| Chicago Sun-Times | | |
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| Hollywood Reporter | | |
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| N.Y. Times | | |
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| USA Today | | |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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