| • | NBA Sets Record For First-Round Playoff Sellouts; Posts Gains In Cable Viewers |
| • | NBPA Confirms Today That LeBron James Severs Ties With Agents |
| • | Bob Costas, Ross Greenburg Discuss New HBO Show To Debut Friday |
| • | AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Nature Valley Announce Sponsorship Deal |
| • | Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery Will Not Be Invited To European Meets |
| • | Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market Inks Promotional Deal With Antawn Jamison |
NBA SETS ALL-TIME RECORD FOR FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF SELLOUTS
The NBA said today that this postseason set an all-time record for the number of first-round playoff sellouts, surpassing the previous mark of 31 set in ’03, as 40 out of 43 games sold out. Average attendance in the first round was 19,293, the highest since ’01 (19,839), and a 2.36% increase over last year (18,848).
 |
| NBA Sets Record With 40 First-Round Playoff Sellouts |
Meanwhile, TNT and ESPN both posted increases in viewers per game for the first round, with TNT up 6% to 2.72 million from 2.57 million a year ago, and ESPN up 1% to 2.44 million from 2.42 million last year. TNT’s Nielsen cable rating averaged a 2.4, up 4% from a 2.3 last year, while ESPN’s rating was unchanged from a year ago at 2.1. ABC’s national ratings for its three games fell, however, from 4.0 a year ago to 2.7 this year. ABC had two first-round games last year (THE DAILY).
LEBRON JAMES TODAY SEVERS TIES WITH AGENTS AARON AND ERIC GOODWIN
ESPN.com reports that NBPA Dir of Communications Dan Wasserman confirmed today that Cavaliers F LeBron James fired his agents, Aaron and Eric Goodwin. James’ friend and former high school teammate Maverick Carter, who has worked as a consultant with Nike the past two years, “will be part of a team that will take over deal-making responsibilities” for James. James “must wait at least 15 days” before he can hire new representation. James’ road manager Randy Mims may also be part of the new representation group (ESPN.com, 5/10).
BOB COSTAS, ROSS GREENBURG DISCUSS HBO'S “COSTAS NOW”
Bob Costas and HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg hosted a conference call this afternoon to discuss HBO’s “Costas Now,” the new 60-minute monthly show debuting this Friday at 9:00pm ET. Greenburg, on moving Costas from the weekly run of “On the Record” to this new, monthly format: “We felt some frustration over the years that once the 12-week run of ‘On the Record’ concluded, we could not tap into Bob’s unique abilities and skills for long periods of time. So we came up with the idea of airing the show on monthly basis, so that when the major news breaks, Bob’s going to be there.”
Costas, on what differentiates the show from the bevy of sports-related shows currently on the air: “Because of the people involved and because it’s HBO, and HBO always has a different mission and a different approach than the broadcast networks, or for that matter the other sports cable shows” (THE DAILY).
AVP PRO BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOUR, NATURE VALLEY INK SPONSOR DEAL
The AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour and Nature Valley today announced a sponsorship agreement making the granola bar company an official sponsor of the AVP Nissan Series through the ’06 season. Under the agreement, Nature Valley will have a presence at all events, in addition to gaining cable and network commercial spots, stadium and outer-court signage, a presence in the sponsor village and rights to AVP images, footage and athletes (AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour).
BUZZER BEATERS
The Euro-Meetings Group, whose members organize nearly 50 track & field events, has agreed not to invite Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery “to any European [meets] this year because of their association” with BALCO (REUTERS, 5/10).
Roush Racing and Scotts Team Racing today announced that the NASCAR Nextel Cup No. 99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards will sport Roundup Extended Control as its primary sponsor for the May 14 Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond Int’l Raceway and the May 28 Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway (Roush Racing).
FSN today announced that Sun Sports VP & GM Cathy Weeden will add overseeing FSN Florida to her responsibilities at Sun Sports, which was recently acquired by News Corp. (FSN).
The Red Sox grounds crew recently posed for an SI cover story (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/10).
 |
| Paris On Top Of
Olympics Bid Power Index |
AROUND THE RINGS today unveiled its first Olympics Bid Power Index, which rates the 2012 bid cities in 11 categories. The first release has Paris leading London, and N.Y. ahead of Madrid and Moscow in a second tier. Around The Rings Editor Ed Hula developed the Index using information from the cities’ bid books, his own observations and multiple visits to all five bid cities (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 5/10).
Specialty food store Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market today announced a promotional agreement with Wizards F Antawn Jamison, who helped design the store’s “Antawn Jamison Double-Down Sandwich” that is available in the D.C. market for $6.99. Balducci’s plans to unveil a follow-up promotion with Jamison this fall (Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market).
FSN Pittsburgh today announced it will debut the inaugural season of “McDonald’s High School Football Thursday,” a ten-week schedule of live Pennsylvania high school games, on August 25 at 7:00pm ET.
BellSouth has inked a title sponsorship deal with the Southland Conference for the conference’s ’05 baseball championship and ’06 softball championship (Southland Conference).
Hanover Insurance Company announced a three-year sponsorship agreement today with the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball’s newest team, the Worcester (MA) Tornadoes, beginning with the ’05 season. The deal includes naming rights at Fitton Field (Hanover Insurance Company).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
Patriots Owner Robert Kraft will address a group of 30 NFL players finishing up a workshop at the Harvard Business School that “is designed for players interested in running their own businesses” (USA TODAY, 5/10).
CHANNEL SURFING
TNT will air Wizards-Heat at 7:00pm ET and Sonics-Spurs at 9:30pm.
Broncos RB Tatum Bell and Vikings CB Fred Smoot will appear on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access” at 7:00pm ET.
Bills RB Willis McGahee, Eagles WR Terrell Owens, BMXer Dave Mirra and Heat Gs Damon Jones and Dwyane Wade will appear on “ESPN Bowling Night” at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA baseball: Houston-Texas A&M at 8:00pm ET.
Braves 3B Chipper Jones will appear on Turner South’s “Off The Menu” at 8:00pm ET.
ABC’s “The George Lopez Show” centers on a high school football and baseball player who is using steroids, at 8:30pm ET.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia, Suns coach Mike D’Antoni and Indians CF Coco Crisp will appear on “BDSSP.”
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Helen Hunt |
| “The Tonight Show” | Matt LeBlanc |
| “The Late Late Show” | Rose McGowan |
| “Late Night” | Matt Dillon |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Jonathan Winters |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The CONTRA COSTA TIMES’ Neil Hayes writes, “The sports world would be a saner place if people would just honor contracts, which is the point of a written agreement in the first place. … The Browns can’t decide whether they should demand between $4 and $5 million in damages [from injured TE Kellen Winslow II]. They don’t want to alienate Winslow, you see. Good grief. If they weren’t going to uphold the hazardous activity clause, why did they put it in the contract in the first place?” (CONTRA COSTA TIMES).
Also:
See the Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
CLOSING STAT: NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION LEADERS
The following presents newspaper circulation leaders for the six-month period ending March 31, according to AD AGE. Papers are ranked by percent increase in daily circulation (AD AGE, 5/9 issue).
| NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION LEADERS |
| RANK | NEWSPAPER | DAILY | %+/- | SUNDAY | %+/- |
| 1) | Washington Times | 103,017 | 2.8% | 42,775 | -2.2% |
| 2) | Boston Herald | 250,440 | 1.8% | 150,352 | -1.5% |
| 3t) | Sarasota Herald Tribune^ | 123,231 | 1.6% | 145,084 | -1.1% |
| 3t) | Raleigh News & Observer | 176,112 | 1.6% | 211,231 | -0.1% |
| 5t) | Harrisburg Patriot-News^ | 102,710 | 1.2% | 151,583 | -0.4% |
| 5t) | St. Louis Post-Dispatch^! | 284,473 | 1.2% | 445,713 | -2.0% |
| 5t) | Kansas City Star^ | 278,937 | 1.2% | 383,123 | -1.4% |
| 8) | Salt Lake Tribune^ | 130,351 | 0.7% | 226,058 | 0.5% |
| 9t) | St. Paul Pioneer Press^ | 190,374 | 0.5% | 247,495 | -2.3% |
| 9t) | Sacramento Bee^ | 305,394 | 0.5% | 341,157 | -4.2% |
NOTES: ^ = Weekday averages include Saturday. ! = Figures adjusted by AD AGE to indicate average weekday circulation.
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