Morning Buzz, April 25, 2005

MLB TWINS TO UNVEIL NEW MINNEAPOLIS BALLPARK DEAL TODAY

The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reported that the Twins will unveil plans today for a $360M open-air ballpark, with Twins Owner Carl Pohlad promising $125M toward the cost. No state money will be required under the team’s plan, but Hennepin County will ask the state’s permission for a 0.15% increase in local sales tax in order to raise $28M per year and underwrite $353M in county debt. Total cost for the new ballpark, which would seat 42,000, is estimated to be $478M. Under the plan, the Twins would keep revenues from concessions, naming rights and luxury suites (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/24).

WARNER BROS. TODAY TO ANNOUNCE “BATMAN BEGINS” RACE TITLE SPONSORSHIP

SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Warner Bros. will announce today it has signed a race title sponsorship with Michigan Int’l Speedway to promote the June 17 release of “Batman Begins,” marking the first time a Nextel Cup event has been sponsored by a movie. In a deal estimated “in the low to mid-seven figures annually,” Warner Bros. will sponsor the June 19 race, which will now be called the Batman Begins 400, in addition to having branding on the hoods of Mark Martin’s car and Ricky Craven’s truck for their races that weekend. The Batmobile will serve as the honorary pace car for Sunday afternoon (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/25 issue).

POTENTIAL CHANGES TO BCS ON AGENDA TODAY IN PHOENIX

The PALM BEACH POST reported that commissioners from the 11 major college conferences will meet today in Phoenix “to work out a new way to determine which two teams will meet” for the BCS national football championship.  Big 12 Commissioner and BCS Coordinator Kevin Weiberg said that there is a “growing consensus that the AP poll should be replaced with another poll.”  Weiberg added that some commissioners feel that an “NCAA basketball-type selection committee that would rank teams [has] ‘merit.’”  Also on the agenda is “whether to require coaches to reveal their final ballots in the USA Today/ESPN poll” (PALM BEACH POST, 4/23).

Fox, which will cover four of the five BCS bowls beginning in ’06, and ABC, which will retain the rights to the Rose Bowl, will be represented at the meeting (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/25).

ESPN.COM SET TO ANNOUNCE FREE FANTASY FOOTBALL OFFERINGS

By Russell Adams, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

ESPN.com in ‘05 will give away most of its fantasy football offerings, ESPN.com officials will formally announce today.  The switch from a subscription to a free model mirrors the approach that in recent years helped make Yahoo Sports a leader in the market.  ESPN.com last year charged $100 for leagues; this year only the draft kit and real-time fantasy scoreboard will be for sale.  While ESPN.com, SportsLine.com and NFL.com charged for their games last season,  an ‘04 study showed Yahoo Sports had over 3 million fantasy football participants, while ESPN.com and SportsLine.com each had just under 1 million participants.   

EAST-WEST SHRINE GAME TODAY EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE MOVE TO SAN ANTONIO

The S.F. CHRONICLE cited sources as saying that an official announcement is expected today that the East-West Shrine Game is moving to San Antonio, and “will be played there in January 2006” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/23).

The SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reported that Shrine officials had also considered moving the game to San Diego, St. Louis or Seattle, or keeping the game in San Francisco. Officials from the MasterCard Alamo Bowl will serve as the management group for the game (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/24).

Shrine BOD member Terry McGuire cited several reasons for the move, including lower overhead costs, better weather and the fact that ESPN officials felt the Central time zone would fit better with the network’s programming schedule (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 4/24).

MORNING BRIEFS

The Premier League’s Chelsea is expected to announce the league’s “biggest-ever shirt sponsorship deal,” which would be worth more than ManU’s US$17.2M-per-year deal with Vodafone.  Chelsea is “known to have been talking to Nokia, Siemens and Samsung.” The new sponsor will replace Emirates, which has a US$7.6M annual deal with the team (LONDON TIMES, 4/24).

The N.Y. POST cited sources as saying that Cablevision will double its TV ad spending this week to “nearly $350,000” in its campaign against the proposed West Side stadium. The Jets will air $200,000 worth of TV ads this week (N.Y. POST 4/23).

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, in the annual AP Sports Editors meeting with league commissioners, said of NHLers playing in the ’06 Olympics, “If we don’t have a [CBA] by the time we have to schedule, I assume it would be difficult to have Olympic participation.” Bettman: “Time is working hard against the Olympics” (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 4/23).

The NFL Giants and Xanadu developers Mills Corp. and Mack-Cali Realty will begin a 45-day negotiating period today in which the team “will try to reconcile its concerns about the traffic and parking impacts” of the Xanadu project (Bergen RECORD, 4/23).

Univ of Kansas AD Lew Perkins announced Sunday that the school and adidas have reached an eight-year sponsorship and product-allowance agreement worth $26.7M. Beginning this fall, each of KU’s 18 athletic teams will wear adidas footwear, uniforms, apparel, and accessories (University of Kansas).

The TAMPA TRIBUNE cites the London Express as reporting that Bucs Owner Malcolm Glazer’s US$1.5B bid to purchase Manchester United was refused in a secret vote by ManU’s BOD. In addition, the London Stock Exchange “may demand a statement today to quell speculation surrounding the future of the club” (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 4/25).

ATTENDANCE WATCH

An Angel Stadium-record crowd of 43,915 attended yesterday’s A’s-Angels game, besting the 43,911 who attended a July 15, 1999 game  The A’s-Angels series also set a three-game attendance record of 131,605, breaking the record of 131,544 set in July ‘03 against the Yankees (O.C. REGISTER, 4/25).

A season-high crowd of 33,220 attended Saturday’s Red Sox-D’Rays game, which beat the high of 30,530 set the night before (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 4/24).  The combined three-game series attendance was 93,986, the largest three-game crowd since July 16-18, 2000, against the Braves that drew 100,958 fans (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 4/25).

A sell-out crowd of 27,000 attended the MLS Chivas USA-Galaxy game at The Home Depot Center, the first meeting between the teams (SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE, 4/24).

An estimated crowd of 105,000 attended Saturday night’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix Int’l Raceway, the first time the race was held at night (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 4/24).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The AP reported that a Colombian funeral parlor is offering “to bury people in the colors” of their favorite soccer clubs for around $300, a 10% increase over the normal casket price.  The funeral parlor offers caskets in green for AtleticoNacional and red for IndependienteMedellin, and fans “can also have an embroidered club emblem stitched to the inside lining of the casket lid” (AP, 4/23). 

WEEKEND RAP

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

Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan, on Vince Carter: “Remember Vin-sanity?  It’s back. …He (Carter) needed a fresh start and he got one last December 17, when he was traded to the New Jersey Nets and put in the same lineup as Jason Kidd, who knows how to make full use of a man with the scoring talents of a Vince Carter. …Can they beat Miami?  Probably not, but it will great fun watching them try.”  

N.Y. Daily News columnist Mike Lupica, on the season-long ‘Shaq sidekick’ comparisons of Dwyane Wade to Kobe Bryant: “Let’s see Wade deliver the way Kobe Bryant did before his fall from the playoffs and his fall from grace when the money was on the table.”

Miami Herald columnist Dan LeBatard, on fan behavior at sporting events:  “Fans ought to treat the sports arena like the lion’s cage. If you stick your hand in there, don’t be too surprised if you get bitten.”

ESPN’s John Saunders, on the death of former Winston-Salem State Univ. basketball coach Clarence “Big House” Gaines: “He didn’t coach basketball, he coached life. …Gaines was prouder of the people he turned out. …He was a mentor to someone I consider a mentor, former Georgetown Coach John Thompson” (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN, 4/24).

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

Calder Race Course will open its 181-day meet with Phil Saltzman, who retired after calling races at Calder for the last 21 years, being replaced in the announcer’s booth by Bobby Neuman, who has handled the paddock show for the past six years.  Also new this meet is the track offering a guaranteed $100,000 Pick 9, starting this weekend (MIAMI HERALD, 4/25).

CBS’ Jim Nantz will host a conference at Texas A&M that features former President Bush and Duke Univ. basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/22).

Yankees P Mariano Rivera will ring the American Stock Exchange opening bell at 9:20am ET in N.Y.

The NCAA begins its annual Gender Equity and Issues Forum at the JW Marriott in New Orleans.  About 200 college administrators and coaches are expected to attend (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 4/25).

THIS WEEK IN SISTER PUBLICATION SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL…..

This week’s One-on-One features Grizzlies President of Basketball Operations Jerry West.

• This week’s In-Depth examines the 20 most influential women in sports business.
• Deal for NFL’s Sunday night games restores NBC’s clout.
• IMG awaits Ted Forstmann’s changes.
• NASCAR comes to Gotham.

IN OTHER NEWS….

The N.Y. TIMES reports that Google today “will test changes to its advertising program that will give advertisers more control over where their ads are shown, how they pay for them and what they look like.”  The biggest change “will be the option to pay Google simply to show an ad … rather than paying only when an Internet user clicks on the ad and is sent to the advertiser’s Web site” (N.Y. TIMES, 4/25).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Friday night’s "Final Jeopardy!" category was "New Laws.”

“CEOs must personally certify their corporate books following a July 2002 law named for these 2 men."

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

Wendy’s has a new slogan, that’s not our finger. Remember that woman that said she found a finger in a bowl of chili, what’d we do, about a million jokes about that. Wendy’s is completely innocent. ... She might do ten years in prison. The next time she finds a strange finger, it might not be in the chili. ... What’s worse than finding a finger in your chili at Wendy’s. Finding your hands in your pants at the Neverland Ranch. ... The NYSE is merging with an electronics company, so it will become high speed with faster trades. So this way, instead of waiting hours, you’ll be able to lose your life savings in seconds. The Department of Agriculture introduced the new revised food pyramid. The old pyramid collapsed under the weight of fat-ass America. ... ABC giving up broadcasting Monday Night Football after over 30 years. Apparently they can’t afford to feed John Madden and turn a profit too. The Lakers season is done, and I got a good idea for Kobe Bryant. He should take his TV, put it in the driveway, and run around it while Shaq is playing so he can feel like he’s playing in the playoffs” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 4/22).

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the estimated total for the top 12 films was $83.3M, down 1% from the comparable frame last year. The total for all films is forecast to be in the low- to low- to mid-$90M range, down slightly from last year’s $98.4M (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 4/25).

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who are Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley?”

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.