As of yesterday afternoon, fewer than 600 tickets had
been sold through Ticketmaster for tomorrow night's "The
Game On Showtime" in Atlantic City, NJ, according to sources
cited by Phil Jasner of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS. FAME
President/Game organizer Curtis Polk: "I'm not going to be
standing out on the corner in Atlantic City, giving away
tickets. I've got big companies that have bought blocks of
tickets and said, 'We want to direct it to this charity, you
guys tell us a charity we can give it to in our name." Polk
and Arn Tellem, who is also organizing the game, disputed a
TV report that Showtime, which will televise the game, "was
not paying a fee." An industry source put Showtime's fee at
$750,000, while some said it was higher (PHILA. DAILY NEWS,
12/18). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth writes that Showtime's fee
has "been reported" at $1.5M (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 12/18). USA
TODAY's Roscoe Nance reports that 7,000 tickets have been
sold for the game (USA TODAY, 12/18). In Detroit, Chris
McCoskey writes that "large blocks of tickets will be
purchased and given to area children" (DETROIT NEWS, 12/18).
IT'S SHOWTIME: Showtime Exec Producer Jay Larkin, on
the game: "This game does not have any weight on the
politics of the NBA. It's just a basketball game and a
once-in-a-lifetime programming opportunity for us" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 12/18). Larkin said that he "doesn't want the
game to be turned into a platform for the players to push
their agenda. Larkin: "We'll present the issue of the
lockout and how the players arrived at this game without
getting into specific issues or giving anybody the
opportunity to get on the soapbox. If we're interviewing
somebody and it goes in that direction, we would like to be
able to provide the NBA with an opportunity to make a
comment" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/18). Larkin, on whether
Showtime would air future players games: "It's a great big
question mark. We have to see how it performs as a
television product. If the season is not reinstated and
there are more opportunities to do games like this, we are
certainly interested" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 12/18).
ONE-SHOT DEAL? Showtime ran a 3/4 page ad in today's
N.Y. TIMES under the header "It's the game of the year.
Maybe, the only game of the year" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/18).
AND NOW, A WORD FROM...: TheGlobe.com, MCI Worldcom,
brokerage firm Tucker Anthony and Planet Hollywood have
signed on as game sponsors, joining Just for Feet and
Caesars Atlantic City (FAME). TheGlobe.com will conduct
online voting for the game's MVP (TheGlobe.com).
