Industry observers feel that Morris Communications'
antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour (see THE DAILY,
10/13) "could have significant implications for the way the
media covers sporting events," according to Paul Pinkham of
the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Morris filed suit against the
Tour, claiming the Tour monopolized real-time scores on its
own Web site and prohibits Morris from selling its scoring
package to a third party. Jacobs & Associates Managing Dir
Harvey Jacobs said that he "doesn't expect Morris to prevail
because it would strike at the heart of sports
organizations' control over their property." Meanwhile,
documents filed with the suit show that CNNSI.com paid the
Augusta Chronicle, a Morris newspaper, $460,000 to provide
real-time scores from Tour events this year, and "an
unspecified amount for the next two years." Morris said
that it has a "multimillion-dollar investment" in the
Internet and has spent $200,000 developing software to
syndicate "real-time golf scores." Morris Communications
Dir of Online Services Michael Romaner: "If the PGA Tour
restrictions on dissemination of this data were removed, we
would be able to grow a multimillion-dollar business."
Pinkham noted that both sides were reluctant to go to court,
with one reason being the Morris newspaper, the FL Times-
Union's, coverage of the PGA Tour in FL. In a letter last
month to Times-Union Publisher Carl Cannon, Commissioner Tim
Finchem cited the "special relationship between the Times-
Union and the Tour" and the "many millions of dollars" they
have raised for charity (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/14).
