Morning Buzz, June 2, 2003

FCC EXPECTED TO RELAX MEDIA OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS TODAY

MULTICHANNEL NEWS reports that the FCC today at 9:30am ETwill meet publicly “to adopt a slew of new rules that a diverse oppositioncoalition has called an assault on democracy by collapsing long-standingbarriers to excessive media consolidation.” At the meeting, the FCC “is expected to raise to 45% from 35% the numberof TV households a TV-station group may reach nationally.” The FCC is also expected to increase thenumber of TV stations one company can own in various sized markets, as well asemploy a “substantial repeal of the ban on the common ownership of a newspaperor a (TV) and radio station in the same market” (MULTICHANNELNEWS, 6/2).

U.S. NGB REPS TO REVIEW BID FOR 2012 GAMES AT MEETINGIN N.Y.

AROUND THE RINGS reported that representatives of the 28U.S. NGBs from the Summer Olympic sports today will begin a two-day meeting inN.Y. to review the city’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics. USOC Int’l Relations Managing Dir GregHarney said that the meeting “is meant to bolster support for the bid amongofficials who can help spread the word to their peers at the internationallevel.” The meeting will also be used“to tap the insights of the sports experts to make sure the bid is up tostandards, sport-by-sport” (AROUNDTHE RINGS, 5/23 issue).

POLLIN TO OFFER REFUNDS TO WIZARDS SEASON-TICKET HOLDERS

The WASHINGTON TIMES reported that Wizards Owner AbePollin today will send a letter “offering refunds to season-ticket holders unsatisfied with theteam’s actions this offseason.” Theteam will “pay back in full any deposits to account holders who want them afterthe offseason. Initial season-ticketdeposits are due within the next several weeks and in the past have beennon-refundable” (WASHINGTONTIMES, 5/31).

NYRRC TO ANNOUNCE NYC MARATHON TITLE SPONSOR DEAL TODAY

As first reported in The Daily, the N.Y. Road RunnersClub (NYRRC) today will announce a three-year deal with Dutch financialservices firm ING to title sponsor the NYC Marathon. NYRRC President & CEO Allan Steinfeld said that thesigning of the race’s first-ever title sponsor “reflected the realities of asoft economy.” Steinfeld: “It wasensuring our viability in tough economic times” (N.Y.TIMES, 5/31).

ST. PETE TIMES FORUM OPERATOR SEEKING TO LOWER TAX BILL

The ST. PETERSBURG TIMES reports that St. Pete Times Forumoperator Palace Sports & Entertainment today goes to Hillsborough CountyCourt “in its quest to significantly reduce its property tax bill.” The property appraiser has valued the landand the building at $83.9M, $120M and $110 M for the years ’99-’01,respectively. Palace Sports valued theland building for the same years at $20M, $20.5M and $21M. The “upshot is that the property appraisersays Palace Sports owes about $3[M] in property taxes for the final disputedyear alone, about $2.2[M] more than Palace Sports claims” (ST.PETERSBURG TIMES, 6/2).

MORNING BRIEFS

USA TODAY reportsthat Rich Eisen, whose deal with ESPN ended Saturday, “isn’t getting anew ESPN contract.” Eisen’s agent Lou Oppenheim: “It’s notlike he’s packed up his office. ... If someone were to make an offer, he wouldbe happy to be working there” (USATODAY, 6/2). ESPN Dir of Communications Mike Soltys told TheDaily, “Rich is a talented sportscaster, but he no longer wanted to focuson ‘SportsCenter,’ our signature franchise, and the area we felt he brought thegreatest value. We wish him all thebest” (THE DAILY).

The SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE reports that Moag & Co.Chair John Moag “expects to hear back today” from the NFL regarding the$500M Rose Bowl plan he is leading (SANGABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE, 6/2).

The N.Y. POST reported that Penguins Owner & C MarioLemieux is “leaning toward disposing of his financial interests in thePenguins in order to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, … [looking]immediately toward” the Rangers (N.Y. POST,6/1).

The BOSTON GLOBEreports that ACC officials will “wrap up their site visit at BostonCollege today, (and) the buzz continues to grow in the school’s athleticdepartment about the anticipated departure from the Big East with Miami andSyracuse” (BOSTONGLOBE, 6/2).

NBA Commissioner David Stern, on the possibility of a20-year-old age minimum being established: “I’m losing steam on it. … This is acrazy society when LeBron James can sign a shoe deal and a trading carddeal like he did and he is better known than any player who was in the FinalFour” (USATODAY, 6/2).

The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that Stars GM DougArmstrong “denied a reportin Sunday’s Denver Post that Owner Tom Hicks had ordered the team toslash its payroll” 25% from $66M to $49.5M. Armstrong: “There’s no credibility behind it. … Mr. Hicks has said on therecord that we will not raise our payroll, and I think it’s natural that wewill look to make deals that are best for our team” (DALLASMORNING NEWS, 6/2).

The N.Y. TIMESreports that N.Y. racing officials “are adding 1,500 reserved bleacherseats at the west end of Belmont Park’s grandstand” in anticipation of a recordcrowd for Funny Cide’s Triple Crown bid in the 135^th Belmont Stakeson Saturday. The additional seats,priced at $10, go on sale Wednesday (N.Y.TIMES, 6/2).

ESPN.com reported that Manchester United has accepted anoffer in principle from FC Barcelona to purchase MF David Beckham for$49M. However, the Barcelona club“cannot make a firm bid for Beckham until the new club president is unveiledafter the club’s elections on June 15” (ESPN.com,6/1).

The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reports that beginning today, theChicago Transit Authority is “introducing limited edition fare cards” at itsAddison stop, home to Wrigley Field, and Sox-35^th stop, home to U.S.Cellular Field. The cards represent the“first time a commemorative fare card has been issued for the yearly intracitygames,” which will take place June 20-22 at Wrigley Field and June 27-29 atU.S. Cellular Field (CHICAGOSUN-TIMES, 6/2).

The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports that the Univ. of UT todaybegins a new campaign to sell football season tickets to “a constituency thatis reputedly difficult to lure to Rice-Eccles Stadium.” In addition to a “series of [TV]advertisements,” the university began working with sales training company GameFace Inc. (SALT LAKETRIBUNE, 6/2).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• USA TODAY reports that a crowd of 44,095 attended yesterday’s Yankees-Tigers game, featuring Roger Clemens’ second attempt at his 300^th career victory. The crowd was the “largest since Comerica Park opened” in ’00 (USA TODAY, 6/2).

• The WASHINGTON POST reported that a crowd of 42,488 attended Friday night’s Rangers-Orioles game at Camden Yards, featuring Floppy Hat Night. It was the “largest crowd since Opening Day” (WASHINGTON POST, 5/31).

• The SACRAMENTO BEE reported that a crowd of 17,317 attended Friday night’s WNBA Mercury-Monarchs game at Arco Arena, “only the second Arco sellout in Monarchs history” (SACRAMENTO BEE, 5/31).

• The L.A. TIMES reports that a crowd of 11,215 attended yesterday’s second round AFL Rattlers-Avengers playoff game, a “season-low” at Staples Center (L.A. TIMES, 6/2).

• The CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports that approximately 22,000 attended Sunday’s final round of the LPGA Tour’s Kellogg-Keebler Classic in Aurora, IL, bringing the overall attendance to approximately 62,000, 20% higher than last year’s event. Annika Sorenstam defended her title in her first LPGA Tour event since playing last week’s PGA Tour Bank of America Colonial (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/2).

WEEKEND RAP…

The following are excerpts from the panelists’ “partingshots” on Sunday’s edition of ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters”:

• ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, on MLB using the QuesTec system: “Every year baseball tries to do the right thing and it never seems to work out. ... This year’s good deed is trying to achieve a uniform strike zone. ... There’s nothing wrong with using technology to upgrade officiating. ... The problem is that baseball only put QuesTec in about 13 of the 30 ballparks.”

• N.Y. Times columnist William Rhoden: “What does Byron Scott have to do to get some respect? Win a championship, of course. In three seasons, Scott has taken the Nets to the NBA Finals not once, but twice, yet he has been the most under-appreciated winning coach in the NBA.”

• K.C. Star columnist Jason Whitlock, on Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars, who is black, firing coach Rick Carlisle, who is white: “Jesse Jackson, the preacher turned coaching expert, could lose quite a bit of credibility this week if he doesn’t head to Detroit and protest the unjustified firing of Pistons coach Rick Carlisle.”

• N.Y. Daily News columnist Mike Lupica: “To have a lower profile the last couple of months, (Tigers Woods would) have to be the hockey playoffs. ... Tiger decides what his season is, and what Tiger’s season is from now until the end of the golf year is this – winning the last three legs of the Grand Slam” (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN, 6/1).

Heard elsewhere over the weekend:

• Paolantonio, on whether Annika Sorenstam has surpassed Serena Williams in recognition: “Serena doesn’t need to do what Annika did, but tennis needs Serena to do what Annika did” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 6/1).

• WWOR-TV Sports Dir Russ Salzburg, on the success of the Devils and Nets: “The excitement of hockey and the excitement of basketball in the (N.Y.) metropolitan area is really tied to the success of Knicks and the Rangers, but that doesn’t prevent the New Jersey teams from taking care of their business” ("OTL Nightly," ESPN, 5/30).

• Lupica, on the Nets-Spurs NBA Finals: “The good thing is, we’re going to settle the championship for the ABA once and for all” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 6/1).

• MGM Mirage Race & Sports Book Dir Robert Walker, on the Nets-Spurs NBA Finals: “We’re fortunate it’s the (Nets-Spurs), instead of the (Pistons-Spurs) because if it was the (Pistons-Spurs), I think we might have gotten more play on the WNBA games than we would have had on the NBA Finals” (ESPNews, 5/30).

• Fox MLB analyst Tim McCarver, on Braves RF Gary Sheffield’s decision to fire agent Scott Boras: “How many baseball GMs giggled to themselves when they read that?” ("MLB on Fox," 5/31).

• Three-year old Reebok endorser Mark Walker Jr. appeared on Friday night’s broadcast of “BDSSP,” and when asked who his favorite NBA player is, he replied, “Allen Iverson.” Iverson is a well-known Reebok endorser (FSN, 5/30).

THE BACK PAGES

The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sportscovers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:

N.Y. Post	N.Y. Daily News

Philadelphia Daily News

TODAY’S EVENTS

ABC will hold a teleconference at 3:00pm ET to discuss thenet’s coverage of the NBA Finals, which begin Wednesday night. Coordinating Producer Jamie Reynolds,play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler, analysts Tom Tolbert and BillWalton and “NBA Shootaround” host Mike Tirico are scheduled toparticipate (THE DAILY).

The DETROIT FREE PRESS reports that the Pistons willintroduce Larry Brown as the team’s new coach at a 2:00pm ET newsconference at The Palace at Auburn Hills. Brown’s deal is valued at five years, $25M (DETROIT FREEPRESS, 6/2).

The Mountain West Conference continues its annual meetingsin Carlsbad, CA, which began yesterday, and the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reported thatas the conference is seeking to gain “a slice of the Bowl Championship Series,[it] is likely to expand before the BCS contract expires” in ’05 (SALT LAKETRIBUNE, 6/1).

Preliminary interviews for athletes seeking a role as aplayer, coach or umpire in Disney’s “Mr. 3000” will be held at Miller Park at2:00pm CT (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL, 5/27).

THIS WEEK IN SISTER PUBLICATION SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL…

This week’s cover story previews the“Showdown In Lausanne,” where the IOC will meet to determine the winning bidfor the U.S. media rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympics.

Also in this week’sissue:

EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Below are thisweek’s confirmed earnings announcements for sports-business related companies (THEDAILY).

INOTHER NEWS….

This week’s cover of TIME offers a look at the rising costs ofmalpractice insurance with “The Doctor Is Out.” Meanwhile, NEWSWEEKexamines “Should A Fetus Have Rights?”

The N.Y. TIMES reports that TiVo today plans to begin“selling information about the viewing patterns of its customers to advertisersand programmers. The company says thereports offer far more precise data than traditional rating methods.” The information will be “gathered inaggregate and filtered through a third party … so the habits of individualusers will remain anonymous” (N.Y. TIMES,6/2).

DAILY VARIETY reported that for the week of May 19-25, Foxwon “in all key demo categories,” including 18-49 with a 5.7/17 Nielsen rating,68% higher than runner-up NBC, which posted a 3.4/10. Fox won five nights, “led by the two-hour conclusion” of“American Idol,” which set “all-time Wednesday records for the network” with a14.9/36 rating in the 18-49 category and 34.2 million viewers overall (DAILYVARIETY, 6/1).

The ORLANDO SENTINEL reported that effective yesterday,Disney raised one-day ticket prices for the Magic Kingdom by $2, to $52 foradults and $42 for children (ORLANDOSENTINEL, 5/31).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “U.S. Cities.”

“It’s the largest U.S. city in population that’s named foran American individual.”

SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

ESPN’s 11:00pm ET 90-minute edition of “SportsCenter” ledwith Yankees-Tigers, highlighted by Roger Clemens’ secondattempt at his 300^th career victory, followed by the Pistons planningto name Larry Brown coach today, and Red Sox-Blue Jays.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the estimated total boxoffice revenue for the top 12 films rose to $165.6M, “a sensational 42%expansion from the comparable session in 2002.” It is the “biggest weekend year-over-year increase at the boxoffice in 2003 by far, giving a significant boost to the lagging year-to-datecume” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 6/2).

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is Houston?”

If you haveany questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com

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