| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, May 22, 2003
9:00am ET | |
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| • | USA Network Ready To Go As Annika Prepares To Tee Off This Morning |
| • | LeBron James Agrees To Seven-Year, $90M+ With Nike; Upper Deck As Well |
| • | Advertisers On Pace To Spend Record Amount As Media Upfronts Wind Down |
| • | Outdoor Life Network To Air Live Mt. Everest Summit Attempt Today |
| • | American Airlines Reduces Payments On Arena Naming Rights Deals |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
USA NETWORK, CBS CAPITALIZING ON ANNIKA’S COLONIAL ENTRY
USA Network today will begin its coverage of the Bank of America Colonial at 9:58am ET to coincide with Annika Sorenstam’s tee time. USA will remain on the air through the conclusion of Sorenstam’s round, then return for its regularly scheduled 4:00-6:00 pm coverage.
USA TODAY reports that both USA and CBS have capitalized on the Annika buzz by selling additional commercial slots. CBS is selling the additional slots for its weekend broadcasts “on a no-return basis, … up about 10% for 30 seconds to $70,000 per spot on Saturday and $100,000 on Sunday.” CBS has sold about 90% of its 154 ad slots for this weekend. Meanwhile, USA “is only selling current advertisers – including General Motors, Chrysler, Ford Motor and Home Depot.” Callaway, as Sorenstam’s largest sponsor, “has bought nine ad spots on USA and six on CBS,” versus just two on CBS for the ‘02 Colonial (USA TODAY, 5/22).
An editorial in today’s N.Y. TIMES reads in part: “Now the real game begins between Ms. Sorenstam and her male competitors, the media, the course and, ultimately, herself. To play as well as some people hope, she will have to win each of these games” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/22).
DESPITE REEBOK TALK, NIKE SIGNS LEBRON TO SEVEN-YEAR DEAL
ESPN.com reported that LeBron James has agreed in principle to a seven-year deal with Nike “worth more than $90[M], but less than the five-year, $100[M] deal Tiger Woods signed with Nike” in September 2000. The deal also includes a $10M signing bonus. James’ publicist said that an announcement would be released today (ESPN.com, 5/21).
The Upper Deck Company late yesterday announced that it has signed James to a multi-year exclusive trading card and memorabilia agreement that includes autographs, premium packaging and promotional rights (THE DAILY). ESPN.com reports that the deal is worth “at least $1[M] per year plus a $1[M] signing bonus” (ESPN.com, 5/22).
ADVERTISERS TO SPEND RECORD $8.7-8.9B AT MEDIA UPFRONTS
The N.Y. TIMES reports that the media upfronts “are about half to mostly finished … and are likely to be wrapped up today or tomorrow.” The demand for commercial time “is a bit more robust than had been expected” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/22). The L.A. TIMES reports that advertisers “are on pace to spend a record [$8.7-8.9B] this week for prime-time commercials during the upcoming television season.” Network execs “have been stunned by the amounts advertisers are paying – in some cases agreeing to rates more than 15% higher” than last year. NBC and Fox execs “predicted that the bulk of their available ad time would be sold out by this morning” (L.A. TIMES, 5/22).
OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK TO AIR LIVE EVEREST SUMMIT ATTEMPT
Outdoor Life Network (OLN) today will air a live attempt by the Global Extremes Summit Team to reach the summit of Mt. Everest – 29,035 feet – beginning at 3:30pm ET through the climb’s conclusion. The broadcast is part of OLN’s new adventure series “Global Extremes: Mt. Everest – 4Runners of Adventure.” The ascent is in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first climb to the summit. OLN has established a studio at Base Camp – 17,060 feet. Additionally, OLN tomorrow at 10:00am ET plans to broadcast one-minute reports, at the top of each hour, on the team’s descent until it reaches Advanced Base Camp – 21,000 feet (THE DAILY).
TODAY THE DAILY GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH…
Which team exec admires the passion of European soccer fans and is often confused with his brother, another heavyweight in the industry? To find out, see today’s “Sports Industrialists” section for “THE DAILY Goes One-On-One With…”
MORNING BRIEFS
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that Gerard Arpey, CEO of American Airlines parent AMR Corp., said yesterday during AMR’s annual meeting in Fort Worth that the airline has “reduced what it pays for naming rights at sports facilities in Dallas and Miami.” The airline did not “disclose how much it would save by recasting the deals, which together” cost $8.6M year (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/22).
NCAA President Myles Brand, on the possible national impact of ACC expansion: “I would be careful to project that there will be a major ripple. There may or may not be. There certainly will be in the ACC and the Big East and possibly Conference USA. But will it spread? Maybe. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge” (ESPN.com, 5/21).
One ACC source said of the conference courting Miami, Boston College and Syracuse, “Contrary to what you read, this thing has not been driven by economics. That plays a role, but in reality, what happens in the next 10 years? How will the landscape change? When the power brokers are sitting around a table discussing those changes and you raise your hand, will somebody call on you?” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/22).
The WASHINGTON POST reports that Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD, will be one of five worldwide qualifying locations for the ’04 British Open, which will be played July 15-18 at Royal Troon in Scotland (WASHINGTON POST, 5/22).
USA TODAY reports that the choice between the U.S. and Sweden to host the ’03 Women’s World Cup “could come as early as the weekend.” FIFA Media Dir Andreas Herren: “I would say the [U.S.] is a front-runner insofar as they’ve gone a long way toward giving a professional presentation that holds very close to the original timetable” (USA TODAY, 5/22).
The L.A. DAILY NEWS reports that an unannounced number of Stanley Cup Finals tickets went on sale yesterday in Anaheim at 10:00am PT, and “the coveted tickets – priced at $95 and more – … were gone 75 minutes later” (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 5/22).
The FLORIDA TIMES-UNION reports that the Jaguars today will announce that CBS play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson will join former Jaguars radio analyst Matt Robinson in broadcasting the team’s four pre-season games on WTEV-CBS (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 5/22).
The L.A. TIMES reports that Oakley has “settled lawsuits accusing bigger rival Luxottica Group of copying patented lens designs.” The dispute began “shortly after” Luxottica bought Sunglass Hut in April ’01 (L.A. TIMES, 5/22).
Churchill Downs yesterday released wagering figures from the Kentucky Derby. Total wagering for the 12-race card, which includes on-track and simulcast betting, totaled over $140M, a 13% increase over the record established last year for an 11-race card. Total int’l wagering for the 12-race card grew 47.6% from last year to $4.3M, while wagering on the Kentucky Derby grew 20.2% from last year to $1.7M (THE DAILY).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- The BOSTON GLOBE reports that the sellout crowd for last night’s Yankees-Red Sox game “pushed the three-game attendance to 105,109, the largest at Fenway in 13 years” (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/22). In Boston, Dan Shaughnessy writes, “In another stroke of genius by [Red Sox Exec VP/Public Affairs Charles Steinberg], composer John Williams was in the house to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Williams, of course, composed all the ‘Star Wars’ music. This gave the Sox a chance to play themes from the Evil Empire when Clemens strolled in from the bullpen. Pretty good” (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/22).
- As noted in yesterday’s Closing Bell,the Pirates distributed talking bobbleheads of late Pirates radio announcer Bob Prince during last night’s game against the Cubs, and the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE reports that a crowd of 35,086 attended the game at PNC Park, “the second-largest crowd of the season” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/22).
- The CP reported that the Canadian Baseball League debuted last night as the London Monarchs defeated the Montreal Royales, 13-3, before “an enthusiastic crowd of 5,100, just 300 short of capacity” at Labatt Park in London (CP, 5/21).
- The CINCINNATI ENQUIRER reports that a crowd of 33,355 attended last night's Braves-Reds game at Great American Ball Park, the "biggest crowd since Opening Day" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 5/22).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The BOSTON HERALD reports that lifelong Red Sox fan Jodi Purdy-Quinlan “will celebrate with the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium today, 100 years after her long-lost relative smacked the first home run in Yankee history.” Her relative, John Henry Ganzel, hit the home run in Chicago while he was playing for the New York Highlanders, “precursors to the hated Yanks” (BOSTON HERALD, 5/22).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
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| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
TODAY’S EVENTS
Nautica will host a 9:00am ET press conference at the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers in N.Y. with ’00 Olympic Men’s Volleyball Gold Medalists Eric Fonoimoana and Dax Holdren and women’s volleyball players Elaine Youngs and Misty May to announce the company’s apparel sponsorship with the players (THE DAILY).
ESPN and ABC Sports will host a Stanley Cup Finals conference call at noon ET. ESPN/ABC NHL Coordinating Producer Larry Kristiansen will participate along with ESPN/ABC NHL analysts Bill Clement and Barry Melrose (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
DAILY VARIETY reports that “The Matrix: Reloaded” earned $151.9M through Tuesday in its first six days of domestic release, an increase over the previous first-week record of $151.6M attained by “Spider-Man” in ’02 (DAILY VARIETY, 5/22).
The Nielsen overnight ratings for last night’s 2-hour “American Idol” finale on Fox, in which Ruben Studdard narrowly edged Clay Aiken to win the competition, will not be available until later today, but the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that even before the numbers come in, Fox is poised “to nose past NBC on the final night of the May sweep to take its second consecutive sweeps victory in the key adults 18-49 demographic” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 5/22).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “World Cities.”
“The food item that some named for Vienna, others named for this city 400 miles away.”
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: “I don’t want to alarm anybody, but the terror alert system here in New York is now at level orange. So, have a great holiday everybody! ... (Because of that) level orange, everybody in New York is a little edgy. Today, I’m driving to work and my cab driver panics when he spotted himself in the mirror. ... If you’re visiting New York from out of town and you’re looking for an inexpensive meal, do me a favor. Right after the show, stop by Rupert G’s ‘Hello Deli’ for their big Canadian beef blowout. ... You have SARS, you have Mad Cow disease, you have the orange alert. The news is so bad the New York Times doesn’t have to make it up. ... Crime in New York is down. ... I’ll tell you how low the crime rate is right now. It must have been about a month since the last time I had to say, ‘Now, did he fire five or six shots?’” ("Late Show," CBS, 5/21).
NBC's Jay Leno: “What was it, 92 degrees today? ... I was sweating like a guy who found out his hamburger was made out of Canadian beef. ... Our Department of Homeland Security has moved us up to an orange or high alert, but they said this is just a temporary precaution until Martha Stewart calms down after that movie they made about her. She is mad. I don’t want to say Martha’s upset, but today on her TV show she was showing how to make an AK-47 out of paperclips, duct tape and some old pinecones. ... Five Cubans who tried to sail to Florida got lost and ended up in Mexico. Oh, they’ll never make it to this country now! ... Yesterday was election day here in Los Angeles. In case you haven’t heard the results, ‘Who Cares’ beat out ‘Someone I Never Heard Of.’ Over 300 people voted. ... Nearly 13,000 high school seniors in Florida will not graduate this year because they failed the state achievement test. However, many of them will go on to play football for Florida State” ("Tonight Show," NBC, 5/21)
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Chapter Titles In Jayson Blair’s Autobiography” ("Late Show," CBS, 5/21).
| 10) “My journey from writing for the ‘New York Times’ to delivering ‘The New York Times.’” |
| 9) “Quoting dead people: my word against theirs.” |
| 8) “How Morpheus trained me to fight ‘The Matrix.’” |
| 7) “I nailed Jennifer Lopez.” |
| 6) “All the tools a reporter needs – a copy of ‘The Washington Post’ and a pair of scissors.” |
| 5) “‘New York Times’; you’ve been punk’d.” |
| 4) “The ‘y’ in ‘Jayson?’ I made that up, too.” |
| 3) “How the modern reporter can be in two places at the same time.” |
| 2) “Chapter 6: ‘Chapters 1 through 5 were a load of crap.’” |
| 1) “At least I’m not Geraldo.” |
WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” led with Mavericks-Spurs Game 2, followed by Yankees-Red Sox and Senators-Devils Game 6.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is Frankfurt?”
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