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Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, March 22, 2004

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Monday, March 22, 2004
9:00am ET

NBC, Clear Channel Motorsports To Announce Launch Of Action Sports Tour

Univ. Of Memphis Today To Ask To Be Let Out Of Contract With The Pyramid

Bengals To Unveil New Logo During 10:00am ET News Conference Today

Newman/Haas Racing Squelches Rumors Of Leaving Champ Car World Series

George Foreman To Appear On NBC’s New Unscripted Series “The Contender”

Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/Weekend Rap/Weekend Box Office


NBC, CLEAR CHANNEL MOTORSPORTS TO LAUNCH ACTION SPORTS TOUR

SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that NBC and Clear ChannelMotorsports “will announce today the formal launch of the Action Sports Tour(AST), a five-event circuit starting next year carried on both network andcable television.”  The tour “representsthe biggest threat to date to the dominance of ESPN’s X Games as an actionbrand and sponsorship vehicle.  It alsocontinues NBC’s move toward obtaining equity in its sports programmingventures.”  Industry sources said NBC“will be the majority partner, and together the two will invest [$20-30M] overthe next year” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/22 issue).


UNIV. OF MEMPHIS TO ASK TO BE LET OUT OF THE PYRAMID CONTRACT

The Memphis COMMERICAL APPEAL reported that the Univ. ofMemphis today will ask the Shelby County Commission “to let the schoolout of its life-of-the-building contract to play basketball in ThePyramid.  The approvalwould be the first needed to clear the way for a move to FedExForum nextseason.”  The university also “seekssupport from the county for use of up to $350,000 in excess interest from thearena project to build a locker room” for the men’s basketball team in thearena.  The commission will discuss andpossibly vote on two resolutions “voicing county support for the plans” (MemphisCOMMERICAL APPEAL, 3/20).


BENGALS COACH LEWIS, QB PALMER TO UNVEIL NEW LOGO TODAY

The Bengals today will host a 10:00am ET news conference atPaul Brown Stadium to unveil a new logo for the ’04 season.  Coach Marvin Lewis and QB CarsonPalmer will field questions at the event, while modeling official teamapparel with the new logo.  The teamwill also reveal details as to when and where new merchandise will be availablefor purchase (Bengals).


MORNING BRIEFS

CBS Sports’three-day average preliminary national HH rating for its coverageof the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is a 5.3/12, up 6% from a 5.0/12 in‘02.  The average rating ties ‘00 as the best three-day tournament averagesince a 5.4/13 in ‘98 (CBS).  For more ratings news from thetournament, see today’s issue of The Daily.

AROUND THE RINGSreported that Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has “scrapped plansto build a roof over the main swimming pool for the Athens Olympics,” which wasneeded to “help shield TV cameras and competitors from the glaring Athenssun.”  Plans are “now being made to shift the time of events to early andlate in the day” (AROUND THE RINGS, 3/20).

Newman/Haas Racing co-Owner Paul Newman issued arelease stating, “Any rumor that Newman/Haas Racing is leaving the Champ CarWorld Series is a figment of somebody’s imagination.  We remain committed to the series and are looking forward to theToyota Grand Prix of Long Beach season-opener on April 18” (Newman/HaasRacing).

NBC announced late Friday that George Foreman willappear on the net’s new unscripted series, “The Contender,” which is set topremiere in January (NBC).

The CHICAGO TRIBUNEreported that the Cubs are “preparing to block the view of the playing fieldfrom the only rooftop business bordering Wrigley Field that has not agreed toshare its revenues with the team.”  Cubs President Andy MacPhail:“It will be more sophisticated than windscreens” (CHICAGOTRIBUNE, 3/21).

The ST. PETERSBURG TIMES reported that Devil Rays OF JoshHamilton Friday was “suspended without pay for the 2004 season as a resultof additional multiple violations of [MLB’s] drug program.”  Hamilton is the first player to be suspendedfor a full season for drug-related violations since Darryl Strawberry in’00 (ST.PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/20).

LPGA Tour player RosieJones penned an article in Sunday’s N.Y. Times to announce that she isgay.  Jones also revealed that at the Kraft Nabisco Championship nextweek, she will be unveiling a new sponsor – Olivia – “one of the world’slargest and most respected companies catering to lesbiantravelers.”  The company’s logo will appear on Jones’ hat and shirt (N.Y. TIMES,3/22).

The AP noted that Rockets G Steve Francis “uttered a profanity during a livetelevision interview at halftime” of last night’s Rockets-Kings game onESPN.  When sideline reporter JimGray approached him for an interview, Francis “cursed at least twice andrushed off the court.  Francisapologized when he returned for the second half, saying his emotions got thebest of him” (AP,3/21).

The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reported that Charles Barkleywill go into the Basketball HOF as a member of the Suns instead of the 76ers (ARIZONAREPUBLIC, 3/21).

The ST. PETERSBURG TIMES noted that according to the NCAA’slatest graduation report, 21 of the 65 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament teams“graduated at least 50[%] of their players within six years of their initialenrollment.”  The four institutions withthe highest graduation rates are Stanford (100%), Lehigh (90), Dayton (82) andKansas (73) (ST.PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/20).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

  • The DETROIT FREE PRESS reported that a total of 6,213 fans wore Afro wigs during Friday night’s Nuggets-Pistons game at The Palace of Auburn Hills, “eclipsing the Guinness Book of World Records mark of 5,574 for people wearing wigs in a single venue.”  The game marked the Pistons’ 12th consecutive sellout of 22,076 (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/20).
  • The ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS reports that all three sessions for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Pepsi Center drew sellout crowds of 19,405 (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 3/22).
  • The L.A. TIMES reports that 267,834 tickets were sold for this year’s 12-day Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells, an increase of 54,042 over the previous best set in ’02 (L.A. TIMES, 3/22).
  • The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER notes that although there “appeared to be a crowd smaller than the announced sellout of 17,597” for yesterday’s AFL Colorado Crush-Philadelphia Soul game pitting celebrity owners John Elway and Jon Bon Jovi, “there was plenty of star appeal in the stands, with Al and Tipper Gore joining Bruce Springsteen in Bon Jovi’s private box” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 3/22).
  • NEWSDAY reported that a “club-record” crowd of 12,289 attended Saturday night’s AFL Columbus Destroyers-N.Y. Dragons game at Nassau Coliseum (NEWSDAY, 3/21).
  • The PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS reports that the “majority of the 2,000 fans, dignitaries and media invited to the [implosion of] Veterans Stadium were already in place” at 4:37am ET Sunday – “taking no chance that the 5:00am cutoff for claiming a spot would be strictly enforced” (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/22).
  • The N.Y. TIMES reports that 2,600 women competed in the More Magazine marathon for women over 40 yesterday in Central Park (N.Y. TIMES, 3/22).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The K.C. STAR noted that about 15,000 tickets for Royals full and partialseason-ticket holders “were printed up inadvertently with the ‘Cubs’ printed onthem instead of ‘White Sox’ for the first two games” of the season.  Royals VP/Marketing Charlie Seraphin:“It was done at the printer’s office, and there’s nothing we can do to recallthem at this point.  Anyone who gets oneof those ‘Cubs’ tickets, don’t panic. They’ll be honored for the first two games” (K.C.STAR, 3/20).


WEEKEND RAP…

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

  • Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom: “Sometime in the future, Keyshawn Johnson will learn that behaving like a self-righteous jerk doesn’t pay off.  But not now.  Now it paid off just fine.  Keyshawn jawed his way out of his job in Tampa Bay and right into a trade to America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys, where he’ll get $20[M] over four years.  In the NFL, it seems no bad deed goes unrewarded.”
  • ESPN’s Michelle Tafoya: “It’s been ten years since the NBA Finals went seven games.  It was 1994, when the Rockets beat the Knicks four games to three.  Well get ready, it’s about to happen again. … Is the West favored?  Absolutely.  But the Western Conference teams all have questions about them, and by the time they finish beating each other up, the winner could come into the Finals spent.  Clear your calendars, the Finals will go seven games.”
  • ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, on the Athens Olympics: “The events in Spain are a painful illustration of what happens when terrorists get their way.  That can’t happen this summer.  During World War II, the Summer Olympics were suspended in 1940 and ‘44.  Rumors are being spread in Europe that the U.S. is going to pull out of Greece, which would effectively doom the Summer Games.  Of course, nobody’s pulling out, at least not from this country.  Why?  Because the Olympic movement, marred in recent years by malfeasance and scandal, has never meant more.”
  • ESPN’s John Saunders: “This year St. John’s and Georgetown hit rock bottom. … St. John’s shouldn’t look far for a replacement.  Manhattan’s coach Bobby Gonzalez has pulled off one of the year’s biggest upsets over Florida in the tournament.  He loves, no he is, New York. ... The perfect man to lead the Hoyas is John Thompson.  No, not that John Thompson, but his son.  He won the Ivy League and led Princeton to the NCAA tournament” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 3/21).

Heard elsewhere over the weekend:

  • NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, on the deal he signed with Joe Gibbs Racing: “That’s exactly why he went back to coaching, so he could pay for it.  He is still having to work at Denny’s third shift because the football contract can’t quite cover it” (“NASCAR This Morning,” FSN, 3/21).
  • NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, on running into the car driven by Andy Hillenburg at Darlington yesterday: “I know it wasn’t Andy Hillenburg’s fault, but there’s a lot of guys out there that don’t belong out there, that are just so far off the pace.  On a narrow track like this, something needs to be done about that.  But our day’s over and we’re just going to the next one” (Fox, 3/21).
  • AFL Philadelphia Soul co-Owner Jon Bon Jovi, on the promo he made with Colorado Crush co-Owner John Elway: “We’re making buddy movies from now on” ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 3/21).
  • Bon Jovi, on what the AFL has to do next to market the league: “I think it is to get more eyes on it.  To get ESPN to cover it!” ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 3/21).
  • Saunders: “At the end of ‘The Sports Reporters’ program on February the 16th, I commented on a fire at the Tuskeegee News, a small Alabama newspaper critical of the trustees of Auburn University.  That story engendered some criticism of its own.  Now I’d like to make it clear that I did not say, nor did I intend to say, that the trustees of Auburn University had any connection to the fire, nor is their any evidence of that, or that the trustees were in any way associated with or sympathetic to the Ku Klux Klan” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 3/21).

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
Philadelphia Daily News

TODAY’S EVENTS

Former President George Bushwill host The George Bush Leadership Forum at the Bush Library inCollege Station, TX.  The formerpresident will introduce a panel featuring CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz, Texanscoach Dom Capers, Texans QB David Carr and former Astros manager LarryDierker (HOUSTONCHRONICLE, 3/22).

The World Figure SkatingChampionships begin with the men’s qualifying round and the pairs shortprogram.  The ISU yesterday proposedchanges to a new judging system aimed at improving the credibility of results (AP,3/22).


THIS WEEK IN SISTER PUBLICATION SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL…

This week’s SBJ In-Depth examines sports financing,including an interview with Allen & Co. Managing Dir Steve Greenberg.

Also in this week’sissue:

Reebok trying to negotiate new deal with Venus Williams.

LeBron James looking towards Hollywood.

Phillies and Padres added to FanTrak’s client roster.

Pepsi’s MLB campaign puts Sammy Sosa at the front.

One-on-One with Lehman Bros. Sports & Finance Managing Dir Sal Galatioto.

For these stories and more, see this week’s issue of SportsBusiness Journal.


EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

DATE

TICKER

COMPANY

QUARTER

3/25

FINL

Finish Line

Q4 2004

3/25

VANS

Vans

Q3 2004

3/26

DISH

EchoStar Communications

Q4 2003


IN OTHER NEWS….

This week’s cover of TIME offers “Al-Qaeda … The NextGeneration.”  Meanwhile, NEWSWEEK examines “TheNew Age of Google” (THE DAILY).

The L.A.TIMES reports that a pact in which McDonald’s “would provide fast-food dinerswith free songs from Sony’s online music store, Sony Connect,” is expected tobe announced this week.  Sources saidthat McDonald’s is “expected to commit about $30[M] to advertise the program inthe U.S. and beef up the launch of Sony Connect, which will charge [$0.99] persong when it starts up this spring” (L.A.TIMES, 3/22).

DAILYVARIETY reports that North American concert revenue increased 20% in ’03 fromthe previous year to $2.5B (DAILYVARIETY, 3/22).

The SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reported that Clear ChannelCommunications CEO L. Lowry Mays “received total compensation valued at$7.2[M] in 2003, more than double his pay from a year earlier” (SANANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 3/20).


FINAL JEOPARDY!

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “PresidentialNominees.”

“He wrote a report of the exploring expedition to the RockyMountains in the year 1842.”


LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES:

NBC’s Jay Leno:“We make jokes about it, but the truth is this presidential election reallyoffers us a choice of two well-informed opposing positions on every issue.  Okay, they both belong to John Kerry, but still, they’re stillthere. ...  As the presumptiveDemocratic nominee, Kerry is protected by the Secret Service.  I don’t want to say Kerry is boring, but hissecret service code name is Al Gore.  Okay, that is not a good sign.  But he’s quite an athlete.  They showed him snowboarding.  He’s in Idaho and he’s snowboarding.  Did you see him on the news?  He’s a good snowboarder.  Man, he was going downhill faster than Howard Dean. ... A skier collided withhim and knocked him to the ground. Kerry got up; called the guy a son-of-a-bitch.  That’s what he called the guy. In fact, today the FCC fined him half-a-million dollars and told him thenext time he goes snowboarding, it has to be with a five-second delay. ...Actually, Kerry blamed his fall on Bush’senvironmental policies.  He said Bush’sglobal warming has made the snow too wet and more slippery than normal. ... Iwas watching one of the cable shows today, and they had one of Kerry’s adviserson.  This guy said there’s really twoJohn Kerrys.  He said there’s the indoorJohn that agonizes over decisions and the outdoor John, who takes bold,decisive action.  Outdoor John?  Isn’t that a porta-potty? ... The price ofoil has hit a 13-year high.  What acoincidence.  Wasn’t it 13 years ago thelast Bush was president?” ("TheTonight Show," NBC, 3/19).


SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

ESPN’s 11:15pm ET “SportsCenter” led with UAB-Kentucky, followed by Vanderbilt-NC State and Xavier-MississippiState.  The first non-NCAA Men’sBasketball Tournament report, at 9:26 into the broadcast, was Pistons-Cavaliers.  The first report on the NCAA Women’sBasketball Tournament was Middle Tennessee State-North Carolina at42:01.


WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the weekend “marked the fourth consecutive up frame at thebox office, a positive trend that coincided with the release of ‘Passion.’ Thetop four films grossed more than $10[M] each, and in a very rare instance, thetop three films all carried an R rating.” The estimated total for the top 12 films was $109.7M – up a “robust 32%from the comparable weekend last year.” The projected total for all films this weekend is in “the low- tomid-$120[M] range, up considerably from last year’s $97.5[M]” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 3/22).

Title

Weekend

Cumulative

“Dawn of the Dead”

$27.3M

$27.3M

“The Passion of The Christ”

$19.2M

$295.3M

“Taking Lives”

$11.4M

$11.4M

“Starsky & Hutch”

$10.7M

$67.7M

“Secret Window”

$9.6M

$33.1M

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

$8.6M

$8.6M

“Hidalgo”

$8.5M

$48.5M

“Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London”

$6.0M

$17.3M

“50 First Dates”

$4.3M

$113.2M

“Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen”

$1.5M

$27.6M


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who is John C.Fremont?”


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

The Morning Buzz provides anearly update of the news and headlines each Monday through Friday atapproximately 9:00am ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert tothe Morning Buzz, go to MyAccount and personalize your e-mail alert options.

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