THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of people and entities in sports business. Here are this week's newsmakers:
WIN: CITY OF DETROIT -- The Motor City has been getting a healthy dose of sports exposure lately. The week begins with the Lions winning their first home "MNF" game since '01 to remain undefeated, while the ALCS gives the city three games of network TV exposure during the Tigers-Rangers series. Finally, in a welcome sign for the city's auto image, ROGER PENSKE and IndyCar announces the revival of the Belle Isle Grand Prix next year. Seems like some very welcome exposure for a city that definitely needed it.
LOSE: JOHN HENRY/TOM WERNER -- Mishaps on two continents land the Red Sox/Liverpool owners in the loss column this week. The media spends the first half of the week excoriating Red Sox brass for the way former manager TERRY FRANCONA's personal issues were leaked. Former P CURT SCHILLING goes so far as to say ownership has "ruined 9-10 years of goodwill." Meanwhile, Henry and Werner announce they would like to change EPL rules and see overseas TV rights sold on a club-by-club basis. The news receives almost universal condemnation from fellow EPL owners, with the move seen as a threat to the future of smaller clubs in the 20-team league.
DRAW: ESPN.COM -- The site gets some big news with the release of September comScore unique visitor figures, setting a company record for any monthly period and passing Yahoo Sports for the top spot among all sports sites for the first time in 41 months. But the site loses a well-respected college sports writer in PAT FORDE, who will reportedly move over to Yahoo when his contract expires. The loss of Forde comes in the wake of the departure of another college writer, BRUCE FELDMAN, who left ESPN under acrimonious circumstances earlier this year.
