| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, November 21, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | MLB To Announce Today Alliance With Professional Softball League |
| • | Prospective Sabres Owner Mark Hamister To Meet With Press Today |
| • | JPMorgan Chase Open Moving To Home Depot Center In '03 |
| • | General Association of Int'l Sports Federation Conference Opens Today In CO |
| • | Morocco Notifies FIFA Of Its Desire To Host 2010 World Cup |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
ALLIANCE PART OF MLB'S PLAN TO ATTRACT FEMALE FANS
By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large, The Sports Business Daily
MLB will announce later today a loose alliance under which it will be the "official development partner'' of the National Pro Fastpitch women's softball league, which hopes to have eight franchises in operation by '04. Its predecessor, the Women's Pro Softball League, suspended operations earlier this year, but the planned National Pro Fastpitch league is planning a multi-city all-star tour next year. MLB will help with introductions to its clubs, which could conceivably host the tour before or after MLB games. Additionally, women's softball will be included in some MLB community relations and All-Star game activities. The relationship is part of a league-wide initiative by MLB to reach female fans.
NHL ACCEPTS HAMISTER'S BID TO PURCHASE SABRES
The NHL has accepted a bid from AFL Buffalo Destroyers Owner Mark Hamister to purchase the Sabres, and BUFFALO BUSINESS FIRST reports that Hamister is "expected to discuss the sale at a news conference" today. While the proposed transaction is conditional upon approval by the NHL BOG, it is anticipated that the closing will take place in Q1 '03. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman: "[Former owner] Adelphia has been involved throughout this process, and we are anticipating their continued cooperation in completing the sale" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 11/21).
IMG, AEG NEGOTIATE DEAL TO MOVE WTA EVENT TO CARSON, CA
The L.A. TIMES reports that IMG and the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) will announce today that next year's JPMorgan Chase Open "is leaving Manhattan Beach for the Home Depot Center in Carson, a result of negotiations between IMG, which owns and operates the event," and AEG. The WTA event is scheduled for August 4-10. IMG Senior Corporate VP Eric van Dillen: "We're married and plan to stay married for a while. It took a while. We wanted to make sure our title sponsor was OK with it. It was a pretty big departure from a small boutique, a wonderful little club, to something completely different" (L.A. TIMES, 11/21).
GAISF CONFERENCE OPENS TODAY IN CO SPRINGS
The CO Springs GAZETTE reports that the General Association of Int'l Sports Federation (GAISF) will begin a four-day conference today at The Broadmoor in CO Springs. Top GAISF officials, "which features 95 sports organizations from archery to wrestling, will gather to meet, eat, network and listen to presentations" (CO Springs GAZETTE, 11/21).
TODAY THE DAILY GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH…
Think you have what it takes to manage one of the strongest brands in baseball while still minding to the needs of a newborn? To find out who faces these challenges on a daily basis, see today's Sports Industrialists section for "THE DAILY Goes One-On-One With..."
A LIGHTER BUZZ
ESPN.com reports that Morocco has "notified … FIFA of its intention to bid for the fourth time to host the … World Cup in 2010." The World Cup is due to be hosted in Africa for the first time, with Egypt, Libya, Morocco and South Africa "all in the running" (ESPN.com 11/20).
L.A. Mayor Jim Hahn and Beijing Mayor Liu Qi announced a partnership that will establish trade offices in their respective cities, enhancing business opportunities between the two cities leading up to and beyond the '08 Olympics. The agreement was reached during Hahn's 10-day trip to Asia to promote economic development, trade and tourism (THE DAILY).
The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports that several Olympians yesterday "took their places behind McDonald's counters" to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities as part of World Children's Day (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/21).
The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports that the Single A FL State League Fort Myers Miracle was named the recipient of Baseball America's annual Freitas Award, which recognizes long-term success by minor league franchises. The Miracle had the league's highest attendance this season at 109,293 total fans, a 16% increase from '01, "while the league as a whole experienced a 7.5[%] decline" over the same period (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/21).
TODAY'S EVENTS
The National Sports Marketing Network will host a members-only event titled "Sports Licensing Bounces Back!" from 8:00-10:30am ET at the NBA Store in N.Y. The Daily's Editor-at-Large Terry Lefton will moderate a panel that includes MLB VP/Int'l Licensing & Sponsorship Shawn Cummings, Haddad Apparel President Jack Haddad, NFL VP/Consumer Products Mark Holtzman, NHL VP/Consumer Product Marketing Brian Jennings and NBA Senior VP/Global Merchandising Group Sal LaRocca (THE DAILY).
The U.S. Department of Education's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics today will conclude the final of its four town hall meetings on the future of Title IX at the Wyndham Emerald Plaza hotel in San Diego (THE DAILY).
The Sports Authority will host a 10:00am ET conference call to discuss its Q3 '02 results, which were released this morning (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that AOL CEO Jonathan Miller "will take center stage" at AOL Time Warner's BOD meeting today, "as he lays out a road map for the turnaround of the ailing online service in his first board presentation" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 11/21).
Swiss-based World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has demanded that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) pay $90M to settle alleged damage claims of $360M for use of the WWF moniker, and is using a U.K. court to block the sale of WWE video game products for Christmas (THE DAILY).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Americana."
"Baptist Minister Francis Bellamy penned this oath in 1892 to reflect his Christian socialist beliefs."
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: "Today is Wednesday or as we like to call it, Hump Day. ... Earlier tonight right here on CBS it was Victoria Secret's Underwear Show. ... We're all very excited, very proud that it was right here on our network, and that's pretty risqué programming for the CBS Lipitor audience. ... U.N. weapons inspectors have arrived in Baghdad and they're looking for Saddam Hussein's bio-terror labs on wheels. ... So far they've only found an unsanitary falafel truck" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/20).
NBC's Jay Leno: "We are having a heat wave (in L.A.). ... It was so hot today Jennifer Lopez got engaged to Ted Williams. It was so hot today Michael Jackson was dangling his kid over an air conditioner. ... While he's over there in Berlin, Michael Jackson also visited the Berlin Zoo, and they said it was the first time anybody's walked through the zoo where the animals were going, 'What the hell is that?' ... A huge oil tanker has split in half off the coast of Spain. They're saying that 20 million gallons of oil could leak out of this thing. 20 million gallons! They said tonight on the news that that is enough oil for a soccer mom to drive her SUV for the entire season. ... Jesse Jackson has threatened to protest The Masters golf tournament. Jesse wants Augusta National to be open to women. Let me tell you something. If it's one thing that Jesse stands for, it's being open to women. ... You figure if Jesse Jackson is upset about anything about The Masters, it would be the name. ... Hey folks, if you're looking for a holiday gift for someone for under $10 ... you can't go wrong with Lakers tickets. They're very cheap now. ... I'm giving a great Christmas gift to my staff this year. I think they're going to love it. It's the box set of Jennifer Lopez wedding videos" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 11/20).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night's "Top Ten" list was "Top Ten Least Impressive James Bond Gadgets" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/20).
| 10 "Remote-control squirrel." |
| 9) "Digital clock that is also a radio." |
| 8) "A refreshing soda that combines both lemon and lime." |
| 7) "Cufflinks shaped like dice." |
| 6) "Panasonic wet-dry beard trimmer with night vision." |
| 5) "Football-shaped phone." |
| 4) "An illegal cable box." |
| 3) "Shampoo and conditioner in one." |
| 2) "Futuristic green liquid that fights bad breath." |
| 1) "Delicious low-fat cheesecake." |
WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:30pm ET "SportsCenter" led with 76ers-Grizzlies, followed by Pacers-Raptors.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is 'The Pledge of Allegiance?'"
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