Uncertainty about the fate of F1 CEO BERNIE ECCLESTONE has "helped make it impossible to restart stalled plans" by CVC Capital Partners to list F1 on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Ferrari President LUCA DI MONTEZEMOLO this month plans to "invite team heads to a meeting in Italy ... to start discussing the future of a sport in which many of the smaller teams are struggling to make ends meet." He said that it would be "time to move away from the 'one man show' when Ecclestone leaves and spread responsibility among a wider group of managers" (REUTERS, 1/3).
CLOWNING AROUND: BC Sports, the NFL player representation firm owned by BUS COOK, has signed Univ. of South Carolina DE JADEVEON CLOWNEY for representation in all areas. Cook will be joined by BC Sports agents DON WEATHERELL and MADISON HOWARD in representing Clowney. "We signed him for everything," Cook told SportsBusiness Journal on Thursday. Cook noted Clowney would not be involved in any marketing endeavors that would interfere with his training for the NFL draft. "He wants to focus on football," said Cook, who also represents Panthers QB CAM NEWTON, Lions WR CALVIN JOHNSON and former NFLer BRETT FAVRE (Liz Mullen, Staff Writer).
MONEY MATTERS: Among the federal tax breaks, credits and deductions that expired on Dec. 31 was a tax break that "allowed anyone who builds a racetrack to receive a small tax benefit through accelerated depreciation." Supporters "claimed the break is necessary so that NASCAR can compete on a level playing field." Congress "in theory … could still extend" these breaks for ’14 retroactively (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/2). Hearst’s minority stake in ESPN “appears to have played an oversized role in reaching a new all-time high in profit and revenue.” ESPN, which is 20% owned by Hearst and 80% owned by Disney, “appears to be generating the lion’s share of Heart’s profit” in ’13. A source estimated that the ESPN venture “cranked out around half of Hearst’s profits in the latest fiscal year” (N.Y. POST, 1/3)....Univ. of Maryland football coach RANDY EDSALL and men’s basketball coach MARK TURGEON are the state’s “highest paid” public employees. Edsall was guaranteed $2M “over each of the six years” of his current contract, while Turgeon “was promised” $1.9M per year over eight years (BALTIMORESUN.com, 1/1)....LANCE ARMSTRONG is "still fighting" Dallas-based SCA Promotions, which "wants to recoup" about $12M in bonuses Armstrong "was paid for winning the Tour de France while secretly using performance-enhancing drugs." Court documents filed in Dallas this week "show that Armstrong has asked a judge to stop an arbitration panel from considering" whether the company should "be able to recover its money" (AP, 1/2).
NAMES: Red Sox Senior Advisor of Baseball Operations BILL JAMES is profiled in the WALL STREET JOURNAL's "House Call" feature. James resides in Lawrence, Kan., and writes, "We have two TVs with satellite packages that let me watch any game live" (WSJ.com, 1/2)....WNBA Sparks C CANDACE PARKER, who led the Univ. of Tennessee to national titles in '07 and '08, "had her No. 3 jersey retired Thursday night before the fifth-ranked Lady Vols' loss to No. 16 LSU" (AP, 1/2)....NASCAR driver CARL EDWARDS will "look to help get contestants on 'The Biggest Loser' into shape" on Tuesday at 8:00pm ET (NBCSPORTS.com, 1/2).
