In St. Paul, Charley Walters notes the NBA guaranteed the T'Wolves "$750,000 plus expenses for moving Wednesday night's home game to Mexico City" to play the Spurs. But after the game was cancelled, the T'Wolves and the NBA "need to negotiate how much of the $750,000 the team is due." It is unclear whether the game "was insured against arena malfunction." The game will be rescheduled for Target Center, but among concerns for the T'Wolves is where the league "will try to squeeze it in during an already-busy schedule." The T'Wolves want to "avoid having to play back-to-back games after traveling" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/6). Meanwhile, ESPN's Dan Le Batard said Mexico City is a "great market for the NBA to get into if they want to expand globally and not have to do what the NFL is doing which is flying people over to London." Le Batard: "There are a lot of people in that market with a lot of money and a lot of interest in basketball" ("Highly Questionable," ESPN2, 12/5).
GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT: In Vancouver, Jim Jamieson notes tickets to the March 2 Senators-Canucks NHL Heritage Classic game were "being gobbled up by fans on Thursday," providing the league with "no worries about the event being overpriced or under-appreciated." An NHL spokesperson on Thursday said that 75% of BC Place "had already been sold out for the game." It is "not hard to see why the league opted to go with six of these events this season" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 12/6).
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT: The AP's Dan Gelston noted UFC has "hunkered down in New Jersey and latched on to the NFL for Super exposure in perhaps the biggest weekend in sports." New York is the "lone state running against the trend of holding regulated MMA cards," so UFC will hold its Super Bowl weekend show at Prudential Center in Newark. With all the media opportunities in and around Super Bowl week, holding the PPV card "in the same state helps Fox and the UFC to work together and align themselves with the country's biggest sporting event." The opportunity is there for UFC "to attract even more fans, and maybe sway some New York lawmakers" (AP, 12/5).
SHOW ME THE REPLAY: In S.F., John Shea wrote now that the time has come for MLB to "join the expanded-replay party, the fans need to be invited." Baseball is "opening the door to a whole new technological world with a new type of fan, one who demands replays right away." The modern fan will "turn to his smartphone, anyway." So put it "on the scoreboard." Shea: "Controversial/challenged call or no controversial/challenged call. No more need to deprive him/her when luxury-suite revelers can see the replay anyway" (SFGATE.com, 12/4).
