Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

League Notes

The AP's Jon Krawczynski noted the NBA has "scheduled four preseason games in Canada this year, the largest slate of games in the short four-year history" of the league's Canada Series, which is "aimed at growing the game in a hockey-mad country." T'Wolves F Andrew Wiggins, a Toronto native, is "playing a headlining role in the festivities." NBA Canada VP & Managing Dir Dan MacKenzie said, "This is just a big year for the NBA in Canada." TV viewership of NBA games in Canada is up 54% since the '12-13 season, including 76% on TSN. The league has "seen its sponsorship agreements with Canadian businesses expand robustly with six new marketing partnerships over the last year and a half." MacKenzie attributed the growth of the game’s popularity "in part to Wiggins, but also to the influx of immigrants from China, the Philippines and India, where basketball is very popular" (AP, 10/2).

BORDER CROSSING: In Boston, Fluto Shinzawa reported one of the featured speakers when the NHL BOG convened in N.Y. last Tuesday, CIBC World Markets Managing Dir & Chief Economist Avery Shenfeld, "showed the level of concern the game’s bosses have regarding the league’s financial future." Shenfeld in his presentation "addressed the board’s skepticism regarding the Canadian exchange rate," but "even he could not provide a dependable forecast on how the rate will track." The Canadian dollar is currently worth 76 cents (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/4).

THE WRIGHT STUFF: Former NFLer Steve Wright, a 56-year-old who played 13 years of pro football, said of player safety, "I love the game. I'm also concerned. ... They say all this stuff -- concussions, knee injuries -- are just part of the game. They don't have to be." He added, "Look at the [Steelers QB] Ben Roethlisberger injury the other day. Here is an $8-million quarterback who gets taken down on a fairly routine play and, because he isn't wearing a proper knee brace, gets hurt. Wouldn't you think these owners, with all they have invested, would demand changes to protect their investments? But they don't. They say it is part of the game" (L.A. TIMES, 10/3).

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/2015/10/05/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/2015/10/05/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/League-Notes.aspx

CLOSE