| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
9:00am ET | |
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| • | David Stern Today Expected To Name Donna Orender WNBA President |
| • | NHL Rejects NHLPA’s Proposal Including Acceptance Of $52M Team Salary Cap |
| • | MLBAM Today Announces Plan To Acquire Tickets.com In Estimated $66M Deal |
| • | Indiana House Committee Rejects Slots Bid To Help Pay For New Colts Stadium |
| • | XM Satellite Radio This Morning Launches MLB Home Plate Channel At 6:00am |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
DONNA ORENDER SET TO TAKE THE REINS AT THE WNBA TODAY
USA TODAY reports that NBA Commissioner David Stern today is expected to name PGA Tour Senior VP/Strategic Development Donna Orender to replace Val Ackerman as WNBA President. Orender played basketball at Queens College and in the defunct Women’s Professional Basketball League (USA TODAY, 2/15).
NHLPA AGREES TO ACCEPT SALARY CAP BUT LEAGUE REJECTS DEAL
The N.Y. POST notes that CBA negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA may resume today, despite Commissioner Gary Bettman’s scheduling of a news conference for Wednesday, where he is expected to announce the cancellation of the season (N.Y. POST, 2/15).
Following discussions yesterday, the NHLPA released a statement acknowledging that the league made an offer, including a team payroll cap of $40M and the absence of a demand that player compensation be limited to a percentage of declared league-wide revenues. The union rejected the league’s proposal and offered a deal, including a team salary cap of $52M. The league also rejected that proposal (THE DAILY).
MLBAM ACQUIRING TICKETS.COM IN DEAL VALUED AT NEARLY $66M
MLBAM this morning announced that it is acquiring Tickets.com by entering into an agreement with General Atlantic Partners, who hold about 82% of the online ticket broker's stock. MLBAM also plans to launch a tender offer for the remaining 18% of Tickets.com’s stock at an offer price of $1.10 a share (MLBAM).
The WALL STREET JOURNAL notes that the deal is estimated to be worth $66M. Tickets.com has "exclusive relationships with nearly a dozen baseball teams to sell game tickets online and through team box offices” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/15). Negotiations for the deal were first reported by sister publication SportsBusiness Journal.
MLB DRUG POLICY NOT YET IN PLACE AS SPRING TRAINING BEGINS
The AP reports that MLB’s new steroid-testing policy “won’t be ready when spring training starts today because the agreement is still being drafted by lawyers for owners and players. When the sides announced the agreement January 13, they said they hoped it would be in place by the time players reported to camps.” MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations Rob Manfred yesterday said that the agreement “was nearly completed and believed it would be ready” by March 1 (AP, 2/15).
MORNING BRIEFS
The city of Indianapolis’ bid to finance a new Colts stadium “suffered a major setback Monday night when a House committee rejected a bill to authorize 5,000 new slots at the state’s two horse tracks” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/15).
XM Satellite Radio this morning debuted the MLB Home Plate channel with “MLB This Morning” at 6:00am ET. Joining Cal Ripken Jr. as hosts on MLB Home Plate shows are Larry Bowa, Rob Dibble, Kevin Kennedy and Buck Martinez. XM will add a suite of 15 channels to carry live play-by-play coverage of every MLB game(THE DAILY).
Nike has signed Flames C Jarome Iginla to an endorsement deal, and Iginla will appear alongside Canucks LW Markus Naslund in the company’s latest hockey ad campaign, which launches today. The campaign includes murals and posters in rinks featuring the tagline, “You’ve been summoned” (Nike).
ACC ADs have unanimously approved plans to use instant replay on “an experimental basis in the 2005 football season” (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 2/15).
The AFL yesterday officially announced a three-year sponsorship deal with HealthSouth, which becomes the official health care provider of the league (AFL).
An anticipated bill to “create a workers’ compensation fund for jockeys, apprentice jockeys and exercise riders at Kentucky racetracks had not been filed as yesterday’s midnight deadline for new legislation neared” (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 2/15).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
Last night’s edition of CBS’ “Late Show” featured a skit about Yankees 1B Jason Giambi’s response to Jose Canseco’s allegations of steroid use. The announcer on the skit said, “In his new book, Jose Canseco claims that he, Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi used to sneak into bathroom stalls and inject each other with steroids. But Jason Giambi thinks it’s time America learned the truth. While he did occasionally join Canseco and McGwire in the men’s room stall, there were no steroids involved. It was strictly for the purpose of some innocent grab-ass. Jason Giambi: gay as a French horn” (“Late Show,” CBS, 2/14).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
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| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
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| Philadelphia Daily News | Newsday |
TODAY’S EVENTS
Boston College today will announce a deal with Fenway Sports Group to handle marketing for the school’s athletic teams (BOSTON HERALD, 2/15).
Sports Illustrated will launch a digital version of its swimsuit edition on SI.com. The online version will mirror the print edition and emulate the magazine layout.
The Anaheim City Council is expected to approve a legal strategy on how to proceed in its lawsuit against the Angels over their name change. Besides dropping the case, settling, appealing or proceeding to trial, attorney Sheldon Eisenberg said that the “only legal option he could envision would involve the city’s finding a way to terminate the lease and kick the Angels out of the stadium.” But Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle said that that option “is not under consideration” (L.A. TIMES, 2/15).
TNT will host a 1:00pm ET conference call to discuss its NBA All-Star Weekend coverage. Senior VP & Coordinating Producer Jeff Behnke and announcers Marv Albert, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Doug Collins will participate.
Women In Sports & Events will hold an 8:00-10:00am ET panel discussion, “The Economics of Sports… What You Need To Know,” at the N.Y. Times Building. Soccer United Marketing Exec VP/Business Development Kathy Carter, Octagon Exec VP & CMO Lisa Murray and NBC Sports & Olympics CFO Lois Nix will participate.
National Pro Fastpitch will announce that Tucson entrepreneur Dale Hixon will take over the Arizona Heat franchise. Speculation is that D’Backs Dir of Tucson Operations Jack Donovan “will be a partner in owning the team” (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 2/15).
A memorial service for John Gaines, who led the push for the Breeders’ Cup, the Kentucky Horse Park and a national marketing and TV office for horse racing, which eventually formed as the NTRA, will be held at the Catholic Newman Center in Lexington, Kentucky (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 2/15).
IN OTHER NEWS….
USA TODAY notes that CBS’ broadcast of the 47th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday drew 18.8 million viewers, the lowest since ’95, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings. The show drew an 8.1 among adults 18-49, compared with a rating of nearly 12.0 last year. ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” “beat the Grammys, with 22.1 million viewers to the 19.2” in the 9:00pm ET hour (USA TODAY, 2/15).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “State Symbols.”
“In 1993 it became the first state to adopt an official flavor, which, incidentally, comes from its state tree.”
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS’ David Letterman: “I had a miserable, horrible, horrible weekend. Listen to what happened. I was ratted out by Jose Canseco. ... On ’60 Minutes’ he talks about all the players in baseball that he helped use steroids, and then he goes nuts and he injects steroids right into Andy Rooney’s eyebrows. ... What better place to have the Grammy Awards than right here on CBS, the hip-hop network. ... The show was so long and so boring I thought I was hosting. ... Every Valentine’s Day I have my assistant send me a big box of chocolates so it doesn’t look like I’m a loser. Gosh, I hate Valentine’s Day. Here’s what happens: you buy your girlfriend flowers and chocolates, and the next thing you know your wife takes you to court” (“Late Show,” CBS, 2/14).
NBC’s Jay Leno: “Happy Valentine’s Day, or as Robert Blake calls it, Monday. ... Whatever you do, don’t give your valentine a box of those Jose Canseco Chocolates. They’re filled with steroids. It will make her ass really huge. For Valentine’s Day today, I understand Bill Clinton sent two dozen red roses to Hillary. Well, Hillary Duff. ... I was watching ‘Bride of Chucky’ over the weekend, and then I realized, no, it was Camilla talking about her marriage to Prince Charles. ... Charles first met Camilla at a polo match back in the early ‘70s when he mistakenly tried to mount her. ... Did you all see Jose Canseco on ’60 Minutes’ last night? I had to watch it on my big screen so I could fit his entire head in the picture. Canseco admitted that he and many other players took steroids. He said when he was playing there was almost as many chemicals in his body as there are in Mike Wallace’s hair” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 2/14).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Things Overheard At The Grammys” (“Late Show,” CBS, 2/14).
| 10) “It’s too bad Snoop Dogg didn’t win for ‘Best Izzle.’” |
| 9) “Special thanks to CBS for letting us preempt...uh...whatever the hell it is they usually show at this time.” |
| 8) “Here to perform with Green Day, please welcome poisoned Ukranian President Viktor Yushchenko.” |
| 7) “I didn’t know the ‘Z’ in Jay-Z stood for ‘Zellman.’” |
| 6) “They should give a Grammy to the artist whose CD is easiest to open.” |
| 5) “If James Mallinson doesn’t win Classical Producer of the Year, this thing is fixed.” |
| 4) “Christina Aguilera is in her limo making the Los Lonely Boys a little less lonely.” |
| 3) “I like Bjork’s new album, but her last one seemed Bjorkier.” |
| 2) “Coming up next, an illegal downloader will be beaten to death by U2.” |
| 1) “What a surprise, Madonna’s dressed like a slut.” |
Last night’s edition of “Late Show” featured a regular segment called “More With Les,” where Letterman phones Viacom co-President & co-COO Les Moonves. Letterman told Moonves he watched the Super Bowl on Fox and said, “I saw their halftime show. Man was that dull. That was deadly dull.” Moonves: “They played it a little bit safer than we did a year earlier.” Letterman: “By the way, it was Les’ idea to use nudity in the Super Bowl halftime show last year. Genius idea, Les, and I hope we’re going to see more of that.” Moonves: “All I know is our halftime show rated a lot higher than Fox’ did.” Moonves, on Tiger Woods not playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which was broadcast on CBS: “You have to be a special type of player to play with amateurs because it takes a long time. You play golf for like six hours and you have to play with guys who are hitting the ball into the woods and into the sand while you stand by and pretend like you’re having a good time.” Letterman: “That perfectly describes my relationship with network executives” (“Late Show,” CBS, 2/14).
LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | Jose Canseco’s steroids allegations | T’Wolves firing head coach Flip Saunders; Pro Bowl |
| ESPN | “PTI” | Jose Canseco | T’Wolves; 76ers G Allen Iverson |
| ESPN | 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” | Knicks-76ers | Pittsburgh-Syracuse; NHL nearing cancellation of season |
| FSN | “I, Max” | NHL nearing cancellation of season | Jose Canseco; Cavaliers F LeBron James |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is Vermont?” The sugar maple tree is Vermont’s state tree.
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