Morning Buzz, June 15, 2004

THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL TO TITLE SPONSOR LANCE ARMSTRONG’S TEAM

USA TODAY reports that The Discovery Channel today will hold a news conference in Silver Spring, MD, where the net is expected to announce that it will take over title sponsorship of Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service pro cycling team in ’05. The Discovery Channel replaces the U.S. Postal Service as title sponsor (USA TODAY, 6/15).

ARMSTRONG VOWS SUIT AGAINST AUTHORS WHO CLAIM HE DOPED

“L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong,” written by London Sunday Times columnist David Walsh and former L’Equipe columnist Pierre Ballester, hits retail today in Europe, and the DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that Armstrong has “vowed to initiate libel proceedings against the authors and publishers of the book,” because it alleges he used illegal blood booster EPO following his bout with testicular cancer. The book “attributes statements to Emma O’Reilly,” who worked with Armstrong from ’98-00 as a physiotherapist (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/15).

NCTC MEMBERS TODAY TO DECIDE ON COOPERATIVE’S ESPN PACT

MULTICHANNEL NEWS reports that members of the National Cable Television Cooperative have until today to “decide whether or not to participate in the co-op’s new, long-term master affiliation contract with ESPN.” NCTC VP/Public Relations Dan Mulvenon: “The vast majority of our members have chosen to participate in the new ESPN agreement, and we believe more will do so up until the Tuesday deadline.” The NCTC’s new ESPN contract, which runs through 2014, calls for “annual license-fee increases in the neighborhood of 7%, way below the 20% hikes that were part of the old contract” (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 6/14 issue).

NIKE TODAY UNVEILS OLYMPIC UNIFORMS DESIGNED TO STAY COOL

The AAP reports that Nike today unveiled the uniforms for the Australian Olympic team, which are “inspired by the hooded bodysuit” Gold medallist Cathy Freeman wore in Sydney. Designed “with the Athens heat in mind,” the uniforms “combine ventilation panels, lightweight materials and breathable fabrics.” The uniforms will be “available to all athletes around the world who are sponsored” by Nike (AAP, 6/15).

MORNING BRIEFS

The Seahawks announced a two-year deal with Belo Seattle to broadcast the club’s preseason games on KONG-Ind. The deal also includes sponsorship of the Seahawks’ Training Camp and draft day party by NorthWest Cable News (Seahawks).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that an estimated 200 million viewers watched Greece defeat Portugal in Saturday’s Euro 2004 opener. UEFA expects “cumulative viewer figures over the three-week event to top” seven billion (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/15).

The DETROIT FREE PRESS reports that national sales of Pistons merchandise in May “were double the team’s sales in May 2003, based on combined sales” at the NBA Store in N.Y. and the online store (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/15).

The DETROIT FREE PRESS reports that Oakland County (MI) prosecutor David Gorcyca yesterday decided not to charge Lakers F Karl Malone “with assaulting a front-row fan who heckled him during warm-ups” before Game Three last week (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/15).

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday said that it will hear an appeal from former Alabama high school girls basketball coach Roderick Jackson, who claims that he was fired in ’01 for “complaining about sex bias in the athletics program” (USA TODAY, 6/15).

MULTICHANNEL NEWS reports that Fox Sports World will open its feed to all systems for free July 24-26, to feature three of the 11 ChampionsWorld soccer matches being played in the U.S. (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 6/14 issue).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reports that the largest crowd in Citizen Bank Park history – 44,710 – attended last night’s Reds-Phillies game, which featured Phillies 1B Jim Thome’s 400^th career home run. (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/15). The team ran a scoreboard ad for T-shirts commemorating the homer “moments after the ball landed” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/15).

• The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that a sellout crowd of 43,067 attended last night’s Cubs-Astros game at Minute Maid Park, where Cubs P Mark Prior faced Astros P Roger Clemens (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/15).

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. Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News	Newsday

TODAY’S EVENTS

ESPN will host a noon ET conference call to discuss its Wimbledon coverage, which begins June 21 and runs through July 4. ESPN Coordinating Producer Bill Bonnell will join announcer Dick Enberg and analysts Mary Joe Fernandez and Patrick McEnroe on the call.

IN OTHER NEWS….

Visa USA has appointed Susanne Lyons as its new Exec VP & CMO. Lyons, a former CMO at Charles Schwab & Co., was most recently a partner at Exec Recruiter Russell Reynolds Associates. She replaces Becky Saeger, who stepped down to join Schwab as Exec VP/Brand Management and Branding Communications (ADAGE.com, 6/14).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the ’04 upfront ended yesterday with both ABC and CBS saying sales “were in line with projections.” CBS booked approximately $2.4B in commitments, up from $2.2B a year ago. CBS finished with “average cost-per-thousand rate increases in the 9-11% range, compared with 6-8% for its Big Four competitors.” Broadcasters said that it was a victory to “essentially maintain last year’s sales volume" of $9-9.3B. The nets "typically book commitments for 80-85% of their total inventory” during the upfront (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/15).

MULTICHANNEL NEWS reported that EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network service “now has more than 10 million subscribers.” Dish reached the milestone “in less than 99 months after activating its first subscriber in early March 1996, adding an average of more than 100,000 new net subscribers each month” (MULTICHANNEL.com, 6/14).

The WASHINGTON TIMES reports that XM Satellite Radio has passed the two million subscriber mark, a “rapid pace that will bring the DC company closer to profitability” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/15).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "On Exhibit."

"The Chinese government, which controls all of these in the U.S., won't let a new one be named until it's 100 days old."

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS' David Letterman: "Happy birthday to Donald Trump. Today, he is 58-years-old. This was great. A bunch of his friends got together and surprised him by jumping out of his hair. ... According to this information, high school girls and college girls, when they graduate, are being given breast enhancement surgery as presents. ... Wow, this really gives new meaning to the phrase, 'D student.' ... The Supreme Court has preserved the use of the word 'God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. This next part makes no sense to me. They also for some reason changed the word 'flag' to 'monkey.' ... ‘Shrek 2’ is the most successful animated film ever. To give you an idea just how popular this 'Shrek 2' is, President Bush keeps asking to meet him. ... The State Department releases a memo saying that terrorism has gone down, and so it turns out that the only reason that they released that statement was because of a mathematical error. ... Mathematical error? Isn't that how Bush became President? ("Late Show," CBS, 6/14).

NBC's Jay Leno: "It was so hot today, I was sweating like Lakers fans with tickets to Game Six. I'm sure you know the Lakers lost to Detroit 88-80 last night. Let me tell you, this is a great time to be a sports fan in Detroit, because the Pistons are playing well, the Tigers are playing well and the Lions aren't playing at all yet. The Lakers did not play well at all. In fact, Luke Walton fouled out with zero points. After watching Luke, Larry Bird changed his mind and said, 'That's it, the NBA has too many white players.' ... Kobe got a technical last night, but he claims he didn't foul the other player. He said it was consensual. I don't want to say Kobe was ineffective, but after the game when he went back to the hotel, he couldn't even get through to room service. ... Jennifer Lopez said if the Lakers don't win tomorrow, she will give each and every player on the team one of her wedding rings" ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 6/14).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

Last night's Top Ten list was "Top Ten Things Going Through Former President Bush's Mind At This Moment" ("Late Show," CBS, 6/14).

CBS’ Craig Kilborn: “A true story. I’m eating in a trendy Los Angeles restaurant the other night, and I start choking. I start choking, ladies and gentlemen, and Jack Nicholson comes up and makes me an honorary Laker. Former President Bush, the older one, parachuted with an Army Ranger, the Ranger holding on to him so he doesn’t get hurt, this to celebrate his 80^th birthday. This is the same method they use when his son rides a bike. Rumor has it that J-Lo and Marc Anthony, their marriage is already off to a shaky start. They can’t agree on a date for the divorce. Speaking of divorce, Rush Limbaugh and his wife are divorcing and experts say this could get ugly. I’m confused, are they splitting up or having sex?” (CBS, Late, Late Show, 6/14).

LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"What are giant pandas?"

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

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