Morning Buzz, September 18, 2003

SATURN TO END CYCLING SPONSORSHIP AFTER A DOZEN YEARS

The N.Y. TIMES reports that Saturn today will announce that it is “ending its 12-year sponsorship of its men’s and women’s [cycling] teams.” Saturn Sponsorships & Promotions Manager Christine Rivers said that the company’s decision “to leave cycling was based not on a lack of money, but on how best to use its marketing money.” Team Dir Tom Schuler said that the team’s budget this year, “including salaries and travel costs, was $1.2[M] for its 13 men and 9 women.” In addition to the team sponsorship, Saturn “has sponsored more than 900 local bike races in the last 12 years” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/18).

NFL BLACKOUT WATCH: COLTS, SEAHAWKS, CARDS ON THE CLOCK

With the NFL local TV blackout deadline looming today for several teams, the INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that Colts Exec VP/Sales & Marketing Ray Compton “conceded the team’s fourth blackout in the past five regular-season games is likely.” Approximately 5,400 tickets to the Jaguars-Colts game still remained yesterday (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 9/18).

The SEATTLE TIMES reports that the Seahawks need to sell “only 3,000 more tickets” to Sunday’s game against the Rams after selling 6,000 tickets yesterday. If need be, the Seahawks “will likely ask the NFL for an extension of the deadline if they are close to a sellout” (SEATTLE TIMES, 9/18).

The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that while the Cardinals “probably will have their biggest crowd of the season” Sunday against the Packers, the team is 17,370 tickets short of a sellout, “so the game probably will be blacked out locally” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/18).

OLYMPIC BEACH VOLLEYBALL QUALIFIER TO BEGIN TODAY IN CA

The ‘03 AVP Nissan Series Olympic Qualifier will begin today at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, and the L.A. TIMES reports that NBC’s coverage of beach volleyball for the ’04 Olympics in Athens “could be on par with that of – gasp – basketball.” However, NBC Olympics Dir of Marketing & Communications Mike McCarley said that it was “too early to determine how much of a coverage boost beach volleyball would get" (L.A. TIMES, 9/18).

ISC OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS PROPOSED WA COUNTY TRACK TODAY

The SEATTLE TIMES reports that ISC officials will meet today with Snohomish County (WA) representatives to discuss a proposed $150M racetrack in the city of Darrington. Darrington is one of three proposed sites, and the other sites have yet to be revealed. ISC Dir of Communications David Talley: “We think the Northwest is desirable. There’s a lot of fan interest in that area. It’s untapped and under-served” (SEATTLE TIMES, 9/18).

THE DAILY OFFERS THE MOST-MARKETABLE FEMALE ATHLETE

The Daily surveyed nearly 60 marketing, advertising and PR execs, sponsorship consultants, sports business journalists and other experts over the past two months to determine the most-marketable female athlete. To find out their choice, see today’s “Sponsorships, Advertising & Marketing” section.

TODAY THE DAILY GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH…

Which network exec joined his company in ‘78 as an Assistant to the Producer, and claims Howard Cosell to be the greatest sports broadcaster of his time? To find out, see today’s “Sports Industrialists” section for “THE DAILY Goes One-On-One With…”

MORNING BRIEFS

The WNBA yesterday announced that Tuesday night’s Sparks-Shock WNBA Finals Game Three earned a 0.81/ (886,000 HHs) Nielsen cable rating, the highest-rated WNBA game on cable since Game One of the ‘99 Finals featuring Comets-Liberty on Lifetime. The game also marked the highest rated WNBA contest on ESPN2 (WNBA).

The N.Y. POST reports that Magic F Grant Hill on Monday visited ESPN HQs in Bristol, “where he auditioned for an NBA analyst role” (N.Y. POST, 9/18).

The N.Y. TIMES reports that NCAA President Myles Brand said that he “agreed in principle with state lawmakers and a group led by former college athletes that has been pressing universities to cover all the costs borne by athletes at Division I-A colleges.” The extra money would “include costs like phone bills, transportation and even personal items like soap and toothpaste” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/18).

NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw, on Maurice Clarett: “I don’t think he should be playing in the NFL, not yet. I think he should stay in school. … I’m concerned about [him] physically being prepared to play. I would have loved to play against a guy who was 18. I probably could have whipped him” (WASHINGTON POST, 9/18).

The AP reported that the Expos have started contract negotiations with Vladimir Guerrero’s agent, Diego Bentz, “hoping to sign the star slugger to a long-term deal before he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.” Expos GM Omar Minaya: “I’ve been in contact with him, some small conversations. But [Tuesday], I can say that we pretty much got the conversations going” (AP, 9/17).

MLB.com reports that a spectator at last night’s Padres-Giants game at Pac Bell Park fell to his death during the game. Giants VP/Communications Staci Slaughter: “What eyewitnesses are telling us, and we’re still investigating it along with the SFPD, is that he dropped something and he tried to climb down the outside wall to retrieve it, a light post or something, and he slipped and fell” (MLB.com, 9/18).

The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is meeting this week with his stepmother and DEI Owner Teresa Earnhardt to “work out the final details of a new contract with DEI.” Dale Jr. said that reports of a rift between the two “are not true” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/18).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that a crowd of 17,526 attended last night’s Braves-Expos game at Olympic Stadium, the final home game of the season for the Expos (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 9/18).

• The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports that a walk-up crowd of approximately 13,000 raised the attendance at last night’s White Sox-Twins game at the Metrodome to 40,304, eclipsing the mark set a day earlier as the “largest midweek September crowd” since ‘91 (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/18).

THE BACK PAGES

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

N.Y. Post	N.Y. Post Magazine
N.Y. Daily News	Philadelphia Daily News

TODAY’S EVENTS

The Philadelphia Chapter of the National Sports Marketing Network will host a panel discussion, “The Art of the Deal – Naming Rights: Why The Philadelphia Phillies And Citizens Bank Are Banking On It,” from 8:00-10:30am ET at the Citizens Bank Park Preview Center. The Sports Business Daily/SportsBusiness Journal Editor-at-Large Terry Lefton will moderate a panel that includes Phillies VP/Marketing & Advertising Dave Buck and Citizens Bank VP & Dir of Corporate Sponsorships Kristin Tallman.

MLBPA Associate General Counsel Gene Orza will meet with Expos players, in an attempt to reach a consensus on agreeing to a split-schedule for the ‘04 season. Players are requesting more meal money and “significant additional indemnification” for agreeing to play another split-schedule season (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 9/17).

The Minor League Baseball Promotional Seminar begins at the Cincinnati Convention Center. Baseball HOFer Johnny Bench will deliver the keynote address to open the three-day event, which also includes a panel discussion featuring Reds Dir of Promotions & Entertainment Amy Schneider, Pacers Marketing Exec Jeff Scalf, Blue Jackets Senior VP/Business Operations Mike Humes and MLS Crew Senior Dir of Marketing Suzy Pavone Christopher.

Toyota will host a media luncheon and tour of the Toyota Racing Development Facility in Costa Mesa, CA, from 11:30am-2:45pm PT, in advance of the Toyota Indy 400 at California Speedway.

IN OTHER NEWS….

The N.Y. TIMES reports that Levitra “has in less than a month captured half of Viagra’s market share among new prescriptions.” GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer, co-marketers of the impotence drug, “boldly admit that they are focusing on men who may have successful sexual relationships but who simply want to improve the quality or duration of their erections” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/18).

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that ratings for “CBS Evening News” have been declining, and some CBS rivals suggest that the net “was unable to take advantage of a potential large audience during the war with Iraq” because of its coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. “CBS Evening News” host Dan Rather: “I regretted that the basketball tournament came at the precise wrong moment for us. It was kind of a perfect storm – in terms of what we wanted to do covering the war and the airtime available to us” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/18).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Academy Award History.”

“‘Chicago’ was the first musical to win the Best Picture Oscar since this film won in 1968.”

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

NBC’s Jay Leno: “Al Gore is coming to California trying to help the Gray Davis campaign. They’re a pretty good team, Al Gore and Gray Davis. You put those two together, you almost have a personality. Kind of like Yanni going on tour with John Tesh. ... Did you know they named a school after President Clinton here in Los Angeles? The William Jefferson Clinton School, that’s the name of it. In fact, at this school, condoms are not only free, they are mandatory. ... You can see the Clinton influence on the young people at this school. Like yesterday, one kid banged the erasers and denied he did it. ... I had the best dream last night. I dreamed I spent the night in a place called Bed, Bath and Beyonce” ("Tonight Show," NBC, 9/17).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

NBC’s Jay Leno said Mike Tyson “is in talks now to host his own TV show. ... It’s going to be like a Charles Kuralt ‘On The Road’ thing where Tyson goes around to different areas.” Leno aired a skit with Tyson’s head superimposed on someone’s body saying, “This is Mike Tyson at Mount Rushmore, a whole mountain dedicated to a bunch of dumb-ass white men. They should carve my ass on the side of a mountain, but they won’t because everybody hates me. Well, I hate them too. Where’s my (expletive) Zoloft?” ("Tonight Show," NBC, 9/17).

WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What was ‘Oliver?’”

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

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