| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, March 25, 2004
9:00am ET | |
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| • | Jets To Unveil West Side Stadium Plans During 11:00am ET News Conference |
| • | Monster Today To Unveil Activation Plans For NCAA Men’s Final Four |
| • | Senate Commerce Committee Today To Conduct Hearing On Cable Rates |
| • | The Players Championship Begins Today At TPC At Sawgrass With $7.5M Purse |
| • | AHL, The Hockey Company Today Announce Multiyear Equipment Partnership |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
JETS TODAY TO UNVEIL WEST SIDE STADIUM PLANS AT 11:00am ET
The Jets today will unveil plans to build a new stadium onthe west side of Manhattan during an 11:00am ET news conference at the Jacob K.Javits Convention Center. As noted yesterday,N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NY Gov. George Pataki will speakat the event (THE DAILY).
The N.Y. POST notesthat it is “still not clear how the Jets plan to raise their share” of theproject, reportedly $800M (N.Y. POST, 3/25).
Former MSG PresidentRobert Gutkowski said of Jets Owner Woody Johnson, “He’s probablylooking at anywhere from [$64-80M] a year just to service his debt” (NewarkSTAR-LEDGER, 3/25).
MONSTER TODAY TO UNVEIL ACTIVATION PLANS FOR MEN’S FINAL FOUR
By JenniferLee, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
NCAA corporate partner Monster today is expected to unveilplans to use a mascot rodeo and a rock concert as featured elements in itsactivation at this year’s NCAA Men’s Final Four in San Antonio. According to Monster officials, the activitywill include a concert by Smash Mouth and the Monster Mascot Rodeo, an eventfeaturing Monster’s mascot, Trumpasaurus, and other NCAA mascots.
Beyond the concert and rodeo, Monster will take over MadDogs, a Riverwalk bar, and turn it into the “Monster Den at Mad Dogs” duringFinal Four weekend. The Monster Denwill be the venue for the Smash Mouth concert. Tickets to the show will be obtainable only by being seen by a Monstermystery spotter, who will give tickets to select fans wearing Monster hats orvisors. The hats and visors, along withinvites to hang out at the Monster Den, will be distributed by Monster Squads,street teams of three to four people dressed in green Monster basketballjerseys and oversized orange foam cowboy hats.
SENATE COMMITTEE TO CONDUCT CABLE RATES HEARING TODAY
The Senate Commerce Committee today will conduct a hearingentitled, “Escalating Cable Rates,” and BROADCASTING & CABLE reported thatamong the witnesses are Cox Communications President James Robbins andESPN President George Bodenheimer. The pair had an “extended and heated war at the bargaining table and inthe press over ESPN’s pricing before finally striking a carriage deal severalweeks ago” (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 3/19).
Commerce Committee Chair John McCain (R-AZ), on theYES-Cablevision ruling: “It appears that the decision strikes another blow toconsumer choice” (NEWSDAY,3/25).
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP TEES OFF TODAY AT TPC AT SAWGRASS
The PGA Tour’s The Players Championship begins today at TPCat Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and USA TODAY notes that the purse forthe tournament is $7.5M, “up from $6.5[M] in 2003 and still topping the WorldGolf Championships, which increased to $7[M].” The winner receives $1.35M, up from $1.17M last year (USA TODAY, 3/25). ESPN begins its two-day coverage of the event at 11:30am ET (THEDAILY).
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that PricewaterhouseCoopershas “pumped up its presence” around the event. The company has “underwritten all of the on-course print media,including the event program, the spectator guide and the daily pairingssheet. Usually filled with ads of allsizes from myriad sponsors and suppliers, the media is now ad-free except for afew PwC pages” (SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL, 3/22 issue).
USA TODAY offers a special tournament section today. Full-page advertisers include the Hawaii Visitors & ConventionBureau, AT&T Wireless and MasterCard. The Players Championship itself runs a half-page ad (THE DAILY).
LPGA’S FIRST MAJOR OF SEASON BEGINS TODAY IN RANCHO MIRAGE
The LGPATour’s Kraft Nabisco Championship begins today at Mission Hills Country Club inRancho Mirage, CA, and the L.A. TIMES notes it is a major despite beingplayed three weeks into the season. Kraft Nabisco does not “want the event to be moved to another date,later in the calendar, because it’s a good time to entertain clients andvendors.” LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw,on checking with the sponsor about a move: “Every year we respectfully ask andevery year they respectfully decline.” ESPN2 begins first-round coverage at 5:00pm ET (L.A.TIMES, 3/25).
OLYMPIC FLAME LIGHTED TODAY AMID ANCIENT RUINS IN OLYMPIA
The AP reports that the flame that will burn at the AthensGames was lighted today “amid the ruins of the ancient sanctuary where theOlympics were born 2,780 years ago. Ina ceremony held at an altar to Hera, a Greek goddess worshipped in Olympiaduring the original games, the torch was lit by a Greek actress playing therole of a high priestess.” Earlier,clouds had “threatened to mar the lighting as thousands of peoplegathered.” More than 11,000torchbearers will carry the flame inside Greece and around the world (AP,3/25).
NBC’s “Today” examined construction delays and security preparationsfor the Games, and interviewed live ATHOC President GiannaAngelopoulos-Daskalaki (“Today,” NBC, 3/25).
AHL, THE HOCKEY COMPANY TODAY ANNOUNCE EQUIPMENT DEAL
The AHL and The Hockey Company (THC) today announced amultiyear, multimillion-dollar partnership under which THC – and its CCM, Jofaand Koho brands – will be the exclusive supplier of sticks, helmets, gloves,pants to 26 AHL teams beginning with the ’04-05 season, and of jerseys andsocks beginning with the ’05-06 season. The partnership includes a joint marketing commitment, including apledge by THC to purchase thousands of tickets to be used in community-driveninitiatives. THC receives exclusiverights to supply and market authentic AHL apparel, signage in every AHL arena,TV advertising, e-commerce opportunities and other promotional activities. Additionally, THC will be a major sponsor ofthe AHL All-Star Classic (AHL).
TODAY THE DAILY GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH…
What financing exec has worked as an advisor on the sales ofthe Redskins, Mighty Ducks and Angels, among others, and calls Yankees Owner GeorgeSteinbrenner the most creative man in sports? To find out, please see today’s issue of The Daily.
MORNING BRIEFS
The L.A. TIMES reports that Dodgers Senior VP/CommunicationsDerrick Hall yesterday “reiterated his plans to leave the club April13.” Hall: “I have not reconsidered,because I am a firm believer in making decisions for good reasons and stickingto them. This is not about the McCourts. This is about opportunities that may be outthere for me” (L.A.TIMES, 3/25).
Pacers President & CEO Donnie Walsh said that auniform design change for the club “is likely for the 2005-06 season.” Walsh: “We’re definitely consideringit. We’ve put in for it. But we haven’t come up with the design. We want to do something that favors our olddesign” (INDIANAPOLISSTAR, 3/25).
The Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL reports that the Marlinsyesterday urged Florida legislators to “give them a $60[M] state sales taxbreak,” which Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria and President David Samsonsaid would “help fill a $115[M] gap in their $325[M] plan for a 38,000-seat,retractable-roof ballpark in Miami-Dade County” (Ft.Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 3/25).
ESPN yesterday announced that ESPN Radio has surpassed the250 full-time affiliate milestone. Thenetwork now has full-time stations in 25 of the top 50 markets, and 61 of thetop 100. More than 700 stations carrybranded ESPN Radio programming (ESPN).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that WWE will “start shoppingto its cable, satellite and other TV partners immediately” a subscription VODservice, WWE 24/7. Monthly prices forthe service “should come in at $6-10, with WWE hoping for a majority of therevenue split.” WWE expects to “developits own digital network over the midterm” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 3/25).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
GOLFWEEK reports that a veteran PGA Tour caddie said that hehas a friend “who walked into a Las Vegas sports book in 1997 and said hewanted to bet that Tiger Woods someday would marry a Caucasian blondewoman. After checking with his bosses,the sports book clerk issued 14-1 odds. So the man bet $1,000 and has the slip in a safe-deposit box. The ticket, of course, stands to be worth$14,000 when Woods marries fiancée Elin Nordegren” (GOLFWEEK, 3/27issue).
New ESPN baseballanalyst John Kruk, asked yesterday during an ESPN conference callif Tom Arnold had anything to do with him leaving FSN’s “BDSSP,”joked, “No, I like being sweated on by fat people. It’s verypleasant” (THE DAILY).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sportscovers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
| | |
| Philadelphia Daily News | Philadelphia Daily News |
| | |
| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Post |
TODAY’S EVENTS
Onlinevoting to name the Bombo Sports & Entertainment-produced filmchronicling the ’03 Red Sox ends at 11:00am ET. The options are “Another Season,” “Fenway Blues,” “Red Sox Blues”and “This is the Year.”
MLS will host a 1:30pm ET conference call to preview the ’04season with Earthquakes coach Dominic Kinnear, F Landon Donovanand DC United coach Peter Nowak and F Freddy Adu.
ESPN will host a 3:00pm ET conference call to discuss thetwo-hour “Dream Job” finale with ESPN VP/Talent Negotiation & ProductionRecruitment Al Jaffe and the four “Dream Job” finalists.
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS notes that developers will beginconstruction on the W Dallas Victory Hotel & Residences next to AmericanAirlines Center. The Victorydevelopment “has been planned by [Rangers/Stars Owner] Tom Hicks and RossPerot Jr. since the voters approved funding for the arena” in ’98. The development is expected to open in ’06 (DALLASMORNING NEWS, 3/25).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that a Turner Broadcastingreport released yesterday “projects that basic cable is on course to top thebroadcasters in aggregate primetime household ratings during the 2003-04 seasonfor the first time.” The reportpredicts that basic cable “will grab a 50.1 share vs. a 47.3 from the sevenbroadcast networks across the traditional September-May season span” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 3/25).
The BOSTON HERALD reports that at the Boston College ChiefExecutives’ Club luncheon yesterday, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said thatit is “unlikely Comcast would sweeten its offer for Disney.” Also, Comcast plans to “launch a massive adcampaign next month, featuring the slogan ‘That was then – this is Comcast,’ todraw attention to its new services. They include the ‘video on demand’ programs it offers and the TiVo-styledigital video recording services it will roll out later this year” (BOSTONHERALD, 3/25).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Word &Phrase Origins.”
“This term was first used in an ice cream trade journal in1937; it began to appear in the nuclear power industry in the ‘60s.”
LAUGH TRACK
THEMONOLOGUES:
CBS’ DavidLetterman: “I hate talking about people when they’re not here, but theaudience we had last night was a rough crowd. In fact, the crowd was so rough the show could have been stopped if the Bushadministration had heeded the warnings. ... I’m walking through Central Parktoday and I finally realized it’s allergy season because I see a squirrelsneezing on his nuts. ... Now that Martha Stewart has been convicted,the only question remaining now is, will Rosie O'Donnell and BillCosby show up on Visitors Day? I’mDave Letterman and I approved that joke. ... The Mars rover is now perched onthe edge of an ancient Martian sea. That’s phenomenal, and today they’re going to activate it and it willtravel up the beach with a metal detector looking for change. ... MichaelJackson took him and the kids to Hawaii, and the reason that MichaelJackson likes to go to Hawaii is because he can go up to the volcanoes thereand dangle the kids” ("Late Show," CBS, 3/24).
LATENIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Perks Of BeingAmerica’s Next Top Model,” read on-stage by Yoanna House, winner ofUPN’s “America’s Next Top Model” ("Late Show," CBS, 3/24).
| 10) “I can wear any crap and suddenly it’s ‘in style.’” |
| 9) “Never again have to go on one of those pageants where you’re hit on by Donald Trump.” |
| 8) “All the chaw a girl can stomach!” |
| 7) “I’m third in line after Bush and Cheney.” |
| 6) “Instead of walking down the runway, I get to use a conveyor belt.” |
| 5) “Finally drunk, annoying, cheesy guys will start hitting on me.” |
| 4) “Nice to be on a reality show without having to deal with that British twit.” |
| 3) “Guess who’s the new leader of Iraq?!” |
| 2) “Hopefully you get to meet Jay Leno.” |
| 1) “Now that I won I’m gonna sit my ass on the couch and eat Ruffles.” |
WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | East Rutherford region | St. Louis region; Atlanta region |
| ESPN | “PTI” | St. Louis region | East Rutherford region; Atlanta region |
| ESPN | 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” | Kobe Bryant case | Kings-Lakers; Mavericks-Pacers |
| FSN | “BDSSP” | 76ers G Allen Iverson | Wake Forest-St. Joseph’s preview; NCAA graduation rates |
| FSN | “Pittsburgh Sports Tonight” | Pitt G Julius Page | Pitt-Oklahoma State preview; Pirates starting rotation |
| FSN | “Detroit Sports Report” | Red Wings’ slump | Michigan State basketball review; MSU spring football |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is meltdown?”
If you haveany questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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