NBC Sports and the XFL will announce today that MN Gov.
Jesse Ventura will be an commentator for NBC Sports' XFL
Saturday night telecasts between February 3 and April 21.
In a press release announcing the move, NBC Sports states
that the former wrestler has a 71% job approval rating in
MN, which is the highest of any governor in state history
(NBC). News of Ventura's hiring was first reported by the
AP's Howard Fendrich last night (AP, 11/15). In St. Paul,
Ragsdale, & Sweeney call Ventura "a politician who won't
give up his second job as a celebrity". Although "it was
not immediately known whether Ventura would be paid, his
critics [in MN] were already wary of the new arrangement"
(PIONEER PRESS, 11/16). MN State Senator Dean Johnson, who
has been "critical" of Ventura in the past, said Ventura
"essentially defined the governor's job as 9 to 5 Monday
through Friday, and the people are accepting of that by
virtue of his popularity." In Minneapolis, Weiner, Whereatt
& Zulgad note that Ventura was an analyst on Bucs radio
broadcasts in '89 and '90 and spent a season doing Vikings
games on KFAN-AM in '91 (STAR TRIBUNE, 11/16). This morning
on the WinStar Radio Network, Keith Olbermann said, "Sure,
politicians make their job seem more difficult and more awe-
inspiring than they really are, but this is ridiculous. If
Jesse Ventura wants to get down into the gutter again with
Vince McMahon and his new P.R. firm, NBC Sports, that's his
career he's destroying" (WinStar Radio Network, 11/16).
SCORE ONE FOR XFL: In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich reports
that yesterday's announcement that the WWFE will purchase up
to a 10% stake in Headline Sports/The Score TV Network (see
THE DAILY, 11/14) "is being hailed as a slam-dunk victory
for both sides" (TORONTO STAR, 11/16). Also in Toronto,
Perry Lefko writes that the partnership will feature
wrestling and XFL programming, as the net will broadcast XFL
games "exclusively in Canada on Sundays, plus playoff games
which also will be available on NBC" (TORONTO SUN, 11/16).
The CP's Dan Ralph puts the deal at three years, with the
XFL portion of the deal covering two years. The Score "is
in the upper-tier cable package and reaches about" 4.5
million homes in Canada, 3.3 million less than TSN (CP,
11/16). In Toronto, Stephen Brunt wonders what impact the
XFL may have on the CFL, and concludes that it is "more
likely" that there will be "such a world of difference
between the products, that the new viewers [young wrestling
fans] will still be compelled to make a choice, between that
which is old and familiar and grounded in tradition, and
that which is new and different and outrageous and off-
putting to their parents" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 11/16).
