| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Monday, July 8, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| • | Talk Of Strike Date Looms Over MLBPA Meeting In Chicago |
| • | Which MLB Team Holds The U.S.’ Most Powerful Sports Brand? |
| • | MLB, Red Sox Honor The Late Ted Williams |
| • | Is New Orleans On The Verge Of Losing ECHL Team To FL? |
| • | Billie Jean King’s Tennis Venture Begins 29th Year |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/Earnings Announcements/TV Monitor/Box Office |
WILL STRIKE DATE BE SET AS MLBPA CONVENES IN CHICAGO TODAY?
USA TODAY reports that player reps from the 30 MLB teams “meet today near Chicago to decide whether a strike date will be set for this season.” While it is “unlikely the player reps … will set an actual strike date today,” they will “discuss a walkout possibly in August as a weapon against implementation of new work rules by management after the World Series” (USA TODAY, 7/8). The N.Y. TIMES’ Murray Chass writes, “Even if the union's executive board does not set a strike date at its meeting in Chicago today, the very real possibility that baseball will face a work stoppage sometime later this season will loom over tomorrow night's All-Star Game in Milwaukee” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/8).
MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr said, '''[Setting a strike date] is not the purpose of this meeting. …We're having a board meeting that we routinely do during negotiating years at the All-Star break, and the reason for that is it's the only time we can” (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/6).
D’Backs P Curt Schilling: ''From everything I've heard, we're not going to set a strike date [Monday]. We're just going to give authority to perhaps do something in the future'' (AP, 7/8).
Marlins C Charles Johnson: "I'm going to Chicago to find out what we should do. That's the purpose of the meeting, to let the player reps know what is going on. I don't know if I would vote for a strike date or not. I'll go to the meeting and hear everything that is being said” (PALM BEACH POST, 7/8).
D’Backs P and player rep Rick Helling said that he received assurances that a strike-date vote likely would not be taken. Helling, who will miss the meeting, said, "I asked (union special assistant) Tony Bernazard point-blank about a vote for a strike date, and he said more than likely not. They'll talk about a strike and all the other issues, but more than likely not set a date. … Believe me, if we were going to set a strike date, I'd be there" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/7).
But Tigers’ player rep Damion Easley thinks players will set a strike date today: “More than likely. That’s our big chip. Obviously, it’s a big step” (DETROIT NEWS, 7/5).
Regardless of what happens, Twins player rep Denny Hocking is looking forward to getting more information on the status of negotiations, saying, “I’m excited to have this meeting, mostly just so I can have other answers to give to the media” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/5).
YANKEES SELECTED AS THE MOST POWERFUL SPORTS BRAND
Interpublic Group’s FutureBrand, a global-branding consulting firm, conducted a study of 80 U.S. professional sports teams, and listed the Yankees as the most valuable sports-franchise brand in the country. The study values the Yankees brand at about $333.8M. The Cowboys, valued at $300.5M, and Lakers, worth $272.5M, finished second and third, respectively. The complete survey is expected to be released today (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/8).
ALL-STAR GAME MVP AWARD TO BE NAMED FOR TEDDY BALLGAME
MLB announced last night that the All-Star Game MVP Award will be named in honor of Ted Williams, who passed away Friday from a heart attack at the age of 83. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig: “Ted Williams meant so much to the All-Star Game, it’s only fitting to name the MVP Award after him” (Mult., 7/8).
Meanwhile, the BOSTON HERALD reports that the Red Sox will honor Williams “with a pair of ceremonies July 22 at Fenway Park.” The first ceremony will have Fenway open to the general public from 9:00am-1:00pm ET and will feature “video tributes and displays honoring Williams.” The ballpark will be closed during the afternoon and reopen for a ticketed event beginning at 6:30pm with “guests and speakers from throughout the baseball world” (BOSTON HERALD, 7/8). The BOSTON GLOBE reports the night-time event will “benefit the Jimmy Fund, Williams’s favorite charity” (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/8).
ECHL BRASS COULD DECIDE TODAY TO MOVE TO ORLANDO
The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE reports that the ECHL Brass “have received an offer from a group that would move the team” to Orlando, FL, and a decision could come as early as today. The Brass was granted a voluntary suspension by the league on June 28, and “was bumped out of New Orleans Arena” by the Hornets’ move to the city. The IHL Orlando Solar Bears shared TD Waterhouse Centre with the Magic, but folded after the ‘00-01 season (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 7/8).
WE ARE THE WORLD: SUMMER TENNIS LEAGUE BEGINS 29TH YEAR
World Team Tennis (WTT), the coed summer league started by Billie Jean King in ’74, begins its three-week summer season today. The N.Y. TIMES reports the league “is looking to expand and remains a popular draw to some of the top players and to a new generation of rising stars.” WTT spokesperson Mickey Ryan said the league “is hoping to expand over the next two seasons to maybe 12 or 16 teams. We’re averaging two to three thousand fans. We’ve got regional television deals. We’ve had a lot of requests and interests from people who have seen the viability of the league” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/8).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
ATTENDANCE WATCH: The final round of the U.S. Women’s Open in KS drew 20,599, bringing the total attendance for the week to 101,098 (Mult., 7/8).
CART’s Molson Indy Toronto drew a three-day crowd of 168,421, including 73,160 who showed up on race. The TORONTO SUN reports the attendance numbers “are beyond startling for almost anything else in sport, and yet they are just another weekend at the box office for the Indy.” The race enjoyed big crowds despite CART being able to only “start 18 cars, down from 26 a year ago” (TORONTO SUN, 7/8).
The K.C. STAR reports that “for the second straight year, more than 75,000 fans endured 90-degree-plus temperatures and filled Kansas Speedway for both Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series and Sunday's Indy Racing League races” (K.C. STAR, 7/8).
The DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL noted that a crowd of “about 180,000” attended Saturday night’s Pepsi 400 (DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL, 7/7).
A bobblehead giveaway of HOF P Catfish Hunter, who played for the A’s in both K.C. and Oakland, helped draw 31,676 fans to Sunday’s Royals-A’s game (K.C. STAR, 7/8).
The ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE reported that the AHL “is expected to adopt safety standards for its arenas similar to those passed by the NHL last month” during its BOG meetings, which are being held this week in Hilton Head, SC (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 7/7).
TODAY’S EVENTS
HOF OF Dave Winfield will appear from 11:00am-noon CT at the All-Star FanFest’s RealNetworks booth to demonstrate Condensed Games on MLB.com (THE DAILY).
Former White Sox P Jack McDowell and his band stickfigure will perform at The Rave in Milwaukee to benefit children with AIDS. Mike Mills of REM is among the artists expected to donate their time to the cause (THE DAILY).
Bills President & GM Tom Donahoe will join representatives of Choice One at 10:00am ET in Orchard Park, NY, to recognize the company’s 100,000th client. Andrew Hilton, Managing Partner of Andrew Hilton Attorneys, will receive a trip to an October Bills’ game in Miami in recognition of the milestone (THE DAILY).
EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS
Below are this week’s confirmed earnings announcements for sports-business related companies (THE DAILY).
| DATE | TICKER | COMPANY | QUARTER |
| 7/10 | ISCA | International Speedway | Q2 2002 |
| 7/10 | YHOO | Yahoo! | Q2 2002 |
| | | | | | | |
IN OTHER NEWS….
This week’s cover of TIME features the headline “Should You Be a Vegetarian?” This week’s issue of NEWSWEEK features a cover story on insomnia, under the headline “Why We Can’t Sleep” (THE DAILY).
USA TODAY reports “the second-hottest topic” among the media moguls “convening this week in Sun Valley, Idaho, for investment bank Allen & Co.’s exclusive annual soiree” will be the fate of Vivendi Universal (USA TODAY, 7/8).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Friday's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "19th Century Presidents."
“He was the first U.S. president who never had a vice president.”
SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
ESPN’s 12:00am ET “SportsCenter” led with Giants-D’Backs.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
The estimated total for this weekend’s top 12 films was $142.4 million – up a solid 17% from the comparable frame a year ago (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/8).
| Title | This Weekend | Cumulative |
| Men in Black II | $54.1M | | $90M | |
| Mr. Deeds | $18.8M | | $74M | |
| Like Mike | $13M | | $20M | |
| Lilo & Stitch | $12.7M | | $103.1M | |
| Minority Report | $12.4M | | $96.8M | |
| The Bourne Identity | $9.1M | | $89.1M | |
| Scooby Doo | $7M | | $137.5M | |
| The Sum of All Fears | $3.7M | | $111.9M | |
| The Powerpuff Girls | $3.6M | | $6.1M | |
| Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | $2.8M | | $61M | |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“Who was John Tyler?”
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