MLBPA Exec Dir Don Fehr makes the first of his seven stops
around the country today at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta. Fehr's
goal "is to not only update the players, but also get a handle on
their feelings." Braves Player Rep Tom Glavine and players from
other clubs who live in the area will attend. After Atlanta,
Fehr heads to Tampa on Wednesday and New York on Friday. Next
week, he will be in Chicago, L.A., Phoenix and Grapevine, TX
(I.J. Rosenberg, ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/20). Fehr, Acting
Commissioner Bud Selig and others will appear before House
hearings on baseball's antitrust exemption on Thursday.
WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO? AD AGE's Jeff Jensen examines the
options for advertisers forced to reallocate funds originally
targeted for baseball: "Some time is left in NFL broadcasts on
Fox and NBC but at more than $200,000 per spot. College football
on ABC and cable sports networks, as well as [NHL] broadcasts on
ESPN and Fox, stand to benefit." While execs at The Baseball
Network will have to release about $95M of the $130M in sales
reached for the '94 season, they claim they're seeing "brighter
prospects" for '95. One TBN exec said, as of now, '95 sales are
30% ahead of where they were going into '94. Others hard hit:
Dorna USA will have to return 30% of '94 revenue from rotating
signs; and Anheuser-Busch, which had allocated an estimated $30M
for the post-season. Anheuser-Busch Senior VP/Corporate Media &
Sports Marketing Tony Ponturo: "We lost a showcase marketing
vehicle that averages a 20 rating in prime time for at least four
nights in the fall" (AD AGE, 9/19 issue).
AD AGE'S BASEBALL STRIKE WINNERS AND LOSERS:
WINNERS LOSERS
Ken Burns' "Baseball" The Baseball Network
Fox's rookie NFL season Griffey, Thomas, Williams
Football Anheuser-Busch, Texaco
USA Today Baseball Weekly
KENNEDY ON BOARD: In a candidates forum in Boston, Sen. Ted
Kennedy (D-MA) "indicated he was prepared to support eliminating
the anti-trust exemption ... even though he voted earlier this
year to retain it." Kennedy: "I'm more inclined to do it after
the way (the owners) behaved this year than I was before" (BOSTON
HERALD, 9/17).
CREDIBILITY GAP: Braves pitcher Greg Maddux: "I heard that
by canceling the season, the owners can also get out of their
deal with that new Baseball Network, the one that wasn't for a
lot of money. And then they can open up the bidding to the Fox
network that's buying up football and hockey. How's that if it's
true. And it's always us who are greedy" (Beb Verdi, CHICAGO
TRIBUNE, 9/20).
LOOKING BACK: Astros Owner Drayton McLane, asked whether he
would still buy a sports franchise knowing what he knows now:
"Absolutely not, or I wouldn't be standing here. I'd be selling
groceries somewhere. ... I've never been around so much conflict
as I've seen in the two years I've been in baseball. ...But now
that I'm in, I'm going to stay." McLane maintains his "hard-
line" position: "We're going to work hard to reach an agreement,
but if not, we'll implement our plan. We're going to have
baseball next spring, if you see nothing more than [GM] Bob
Watson and [manager] Terry Collins and me running around in
shorts, we're going to play baseball (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/18).
MORE STAFF LAYOFFS: The Mets fired 28 of remaining 79 full-
time administrators, totaling 66 employees laid off since the
strike began. The Astros have laid off 19 and the Padres have
let 25 go ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 9/19). Mets' layoffs included
Asst Media Relations Dir Craig Sanders and Traveling Secretary
Bob O'Hara (N.Y. TIMES, 9/20).
