Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

League Notes

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard on Friday said that it "will take being a legend for a former IndyCar driver to be eligible" for the $5M challenge in October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Bernard said that the "key to making the bonus available ... is showcasing the Izod IndyCar Series to drivers in other motor sports genres, and vice versa." He added that he has "limited the opportunities to five because that's how many IndyCar teams he thinks could provide an extra car capable of winning the season-ending Oct. 16 race" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/26). NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya, an Indy 500 winner, said, "It's just impossible logistics-wise." He added, "If you were really going to try and win the $5 million, you would have to get all the practices down and do it right. ... I think a lot of people are going to going ohhh, but being realistic it’s impossible. Are you going to show up on Sunday and race without practice and hope for the best? Who the heck is going to win that?” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/26).

READY OR NOT ... In Phoenix, Paola Boivin notes NASCAR has been "quick to market" Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. Four hours before yesterday's Sprint Cup Series Subway Fresh Fit 500, Bayne "took Golden Globe nominee Emmy Rossum, who sang the national anthem, for a couple of fast laps around the track." Boivin writes, "It's impressive what Bayne is willing to do before competition. Most pitchers in Major League Baseball won't do interviews on days they start. NFL players are unavailable before games" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/28).

REMEMBER THE TITAN: In Nashville, Jim Wyatt reports Jeff Fisher has "accepted the NFL's invitation to assist the competition committee as a consultant." Fisher, who stepped down as Titans coach this offseason, previously served as co-Chair of the committee alongside Falcons President Rich McKay. Fisher said that he "would rejoin the committee as a non-voting member at next month's meeting in Florida." NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello said Fisher might serve as consultant for "some period of time" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 2/28).

BREAK POINT? In a Q&A with the N.Y. TIMES' Joe Brescia, U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier spoke about tennis' popularity in the U.S. and said, "Tennis chose international popularity over U.S. popularity many years ago when the circuit moved more U.S.-based pro events offshore. When the best players participate on U.S. soil four times a year, it’s unlikely to see growth in TV ratings, which is the metric most use to judge the game’s relative popularity. Imagine how the PGA Tour would fare, relatively speaking, if there were only four U.S.-based events each year which attracted the game’s best." But he added, "From a participation standpoint, tennis is at its highest levels in 25 years in the U.S., which is very encouraging" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/27).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/02/28/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/League-Notes.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/02/28/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/League-Notes.aspx

CLOSE