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Franchises

MLB Franchise Notes: Blue Jays President Paul Beeston's Status For '15 In Question

FOXSPORTS.com's Ken Rosenthal wrote the Blue Jays' "entire dynamic could change" if President & CEO Paul Beeston departs. The 69-year-old Beeston is in the final year of his contract and sources said that he is a "strong supporter" of GM Alex Anthopoulos. It would "appear a long shot, but Beeston’s uncertain status is attracting attention in the industry." Some MLB insiders "believe that he signaled his intention to leave the Jays when he joined a group of ownership representatives" who tried to elect Red Sox Chair Tom Werner as commissioner over Rob Manfred (FOXSPORTS.com, 9/28). 

ROCKY ROAD? In Denver, Patrick Saunders wrote the "key concerns" for the Rockies are Owner Dick Monfort's "input in the day-to-day baseball decisions, the lack of accountability" for Exec VP, Chief Baseball Officer & GM Dan O'Dowd and the scope of Senior VP/Major League Operations & Assistant GM Bill Geivett's job. Monfort, "fiercely loyal and at times just as stubborn, has consistently backed O'Dowd and Geivett." He has "not talked to the media since midsummer, when he got into a running feud with Rockies fans via e-mail." It is "not believed Monfort will fire O'Dowd, to whom he has shown more loyalty than anyone else in the organization, but there is a chance O'Dowd might leave to take a position with another team" (DENVER POST, 9/28). Also in Denver, Woody Paige wrote, "Nobody in Colorado will stand in O'Dowd's way if he wants to join the Braves" (DENVER POST, 9/28). 

WORK TO BE DONE: In Ft. Worth, Randy Galloway noted '14 was the second season for Rangers President of Baseball Operations & GM Jon Daniels "on his own." Galloway: "Be careful what you wish for and backstab to get. Gawd, what a mess the Rangers have become." With another offseason "now upon us, and with the bottom falling out on attendance, and with the toughest season-ticket sell in years coming up this winter for a business-side office led by people with no baseball expertise" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/28).

NATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: In DC, Thomas Heath reports Nationals Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Valerie Camillo "would not detail season-ticket numbers" for '14, but it is "probably north of 15,000, closing in on 20,000." That would "place the Nationals among the top 10 teams" in MLB. But the Nationals are "still working to match their attendance" from '05, the club's first year in DC, when it drew 2.7 million fans. After that '05 season, "it was mostly downhill." The team "had a resurgence and hit 2.4 million when Nationals Park opened in 2008, but it fell again below 2 million for several years." It "rebounded last year to 2.6 million, but has dropped again." The Nationals are "on track to draw 2.5 million this year" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/29). 

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.

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