Morning Buzz

FSA SPORTS MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE WRAPS UP TODAY IN N.Y.

Ross Discusses FanVision Technology During Interview At SMT Conference In N.Y.

SportsBusiness Journal/Daily’s 12^th annual FSA Sports Media & Technology conference wraps up today at the N.Y. Marriott Marquis. This morning's agenda features two sessions: a case study on Verizon's deal with the NFL subtitled, "Providing Unprecedented Content and Mobile Experiences to NFL Fans," followed by a panel discussion on "The Future of Sports Video Gaming."

Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross yesterday sat for an interview at the conference to discuss the NFL and his FanVision technology. Ross said, “The biggest competitor of any football team, in terms of bringing fans in, is home television. … (FanVision) had all the capabilities of what we wanted. Like replays during a game, a second or two after a play, and it allowed fans to really customize their experience at the game.”

See a full agenda for the event and read today’s issue of THE DAILY for more from the conference.

MLS WIZARDS SET TO REBRAND CLUB, BECOMING SPORTING KANSAS CITY 

The MLS Wizards today are set to become Sporting Kansas City in "a move that's been long rumored and has recently been solidified by mounting evidence." Recent leaks of potential logos, plus the news that MLS has registered the domain "SportingKCGear.com," seem to "confirm any suspicion" of rebranding. The club also is expected to unveil its newest player signing: Omar Bravo. The formal announcement will take place tonight at K.C.'s Power and Light District
(GOAL.com, 11/17).

FIFA TECHNICAL REPORTS JUDGE ENGLAND'S '18 WORLD CUP BID FAVORABLY

FIFA today will release its technical reports on World Cup bids, and they "look set to boost England's hopes of hosting the 2018 tournament while potentially dashing Qatar 2022's chances." The reports "seem certain to boost" the U.S.' and Australia's hopes of hosting the '22 event (ESPNSOCCERNET.com, 11/16). The "only issue raised" for England is its "contracted hotel rooms"
(London TELEGRAPH, 11/17). The Russian report "raises questions about its transport plan" for '18
(GUARDIAN.co.uk, 11/16).

The UKPA has acquired an advanced copy of the reports and offers a list of some of the key points for each individual bid (UKPA, 11/17). 

SPORTING NEWS, COMCAST AGREE TO CONTENT PACT FOR DAILY NEWS FEED

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Sporting News and Comcast have struck a new partnership in which content from local Comcast SportsNet websites will become part of an enhanced version of Sporting News Today. Beginning today, content from CSN Philadelphia will become an additional part of SNT, with the $2.99 per month price increasing by $1 per month for the optional local content. CSN and Sporting News intend to introduce similar offerings for the other four key CSN markets – DC/Baltimore, Boston, Chicago and Bay Area – early next year.

The local content will not be gated by geolocation, meaning that fans living outside a CSN market will be able to opt into any version of the enhanced Sporting News Today. Sporting News is owned by American City Business Journals, which also owns SportsBusiness Journal and THE DAILY.

BELK WILL TITLE SPONSOR BOWL GAME IN CHARLOTTE BEGINNING IN '11

Charlotte-based Belk department stores reportedly will be the "new title sponsor" for the city's annual college football bowl game in '11. An official announcement that Belk will replace Meineke Car Care Centers is "expected in the near future." Bowl officials earlier this year announced that they were "ending their title sponsorship agreement with Meineke after six years." The final iteration of the bowl with Meineke as the title sponsor will be played on Dec. 31 (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/17).

AUSTRALIAN OFFICIAL REFUSES TO ENDORSE F1 RACE REMAINING IN MELBOURNE

Victoria Premier John Brumby today "refused to endorse" the F1's Australian Grand Prix being held in Melbourne beyond '14, when the current contract expires. After this year's race posted a record loss of US$48M, Brumby today said that a "re-elected government would have to look at whether it should remain in Melbourne." The national government "defended the event when the loss was announced in September." Melbourne has hosted the race since '96 (AAP, 11/17). 

NASCENT FENCING MASTERS NYC COULD BECOME ANNUAL EVENT IF SUCCESSFUL

By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Morehouse Hopes Fencing Masters NYC Helps Raise Profile Of Sport

The Fencing Masters NYC today is expected to draw a crowd of more than 1,500 spectators at N.Y.'s Hammerstein Ballroom. The event, which was organized by Olympic silver medalist Tim Morehouse and WCMG Events, will be broadcast on SportsNet N.Y. Dec. 5 at 12:00pm ET. The competition was developed by Morehouse following the '08 Beijing Games, and he hopes to turn it into an annual event. Morehouse: "I believe if our sport is going to grow it needs a stronger platform. That means more events and getting the sport on television."

Sponsors of the event include Nike, Dayton & Sydney Wealth Strategies Group, BistroMD Sport and several endemic brands. Ticket prices range from $25-250.

SPEED READS….

As a slew of league-level meetings continue today in Orlando, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will join the GMs for their afternoon session. The GMs then will sit in on tomorrow's quarterly owners meeting (MLB.com, 11/16).

VANOC today is holding its penultimate BOD meeting, and the agenda “includes an update on the final financial reckoning, set for Dec. 17, and contemplation of VANOC’s pending dissolution” (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/7). 

The NBA announced that the Magic-Knicks game that was postponed on Nov. 2 “due to an asbestos scare” at MSG has been rescheduled for March 28 at 7:30pm ET (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/17).

QUICK HITS….

“Yesterday I ran into Glenn (Britt), who is the CEO of Time Warner. I asked him ‘why don’t you have NFL Network?' He said, ‘We’re close.’ So that’s good news” – Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross, at the FSA Sports Media & Technology conference in N.Y. (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 11/17).

"It's safe to say that we honor all our obligations, and that is one of the obligations that we will honor” – Warriors co-Owner Peter Guber, on the team having seven years remaining on its lease at Oracle Arena (“Chronicle Live,” Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 11/16).

“I had no idea there would be this kind of media blitz. Even my grandparents found out on TV that I’m racing NASCAR. I guess I’m coming in a lot less under the radar than we’d planned” – NASCAR team co-Owner and driver Travis Pastrana, on deciding to compete in next season’s Nationwide Series (ESPN.com, 11/16).

“We’ve got to get the fence sitters to get off the fence” – Jaguars Senior VP/Sales & Marketing Macky Weaver, on the team having 4,000 non-premium tickets left to sell for Sunday’s game against the Browns (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 11/17).

TWITTER ME THIS….

Ice Edge COO Daryl Jones: “Interesting to see Coyotes attendance up 8 percent year-over-year. Positive sign, even if incremental.”

KMC Consulting LLC Principal Kathy Connors: “Wishful thinking for March Madness TV. How unreal would a Gus Johnson-Bill Raftery-Charles Barkley call sound? Send it in big fellas!”

Broadcasting & Cable’s Ben Grossman: “MLS commish talking expansion today. Is the player pool strong enough to dilute it even more? Answer is no. That's #1 challenge for league.”

ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun: “Reminded every time I come to the Bell Centre how loud this place is. Best rink in the NHL to watch a game.”

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

A LIGHTER BUZZ….

Two second-chance winners of the Cowboys scratch-off game thought that they had won "seats in the team’s ‘war room’ on draft day and a couple of season tickets" for '11. But due to a clerical error, Delvin Delamar and Kathy Clark will only take part in the team’s draft day festivities. The lottery’s congratulatory letters erroneously added that “the prize includes a pair of 2011 Season Tickets … located in the Club Seat Section between the 30-yard lines” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/17).

TODAY’S EVENTS….

Time Warner Cable President & CEO Glenn Britt, News Corp. President & COO Chase Carey, Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge, Ovation CEO Charles Segars and Univision CEO Joe Uva will speak before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Capitol Hill as part of a hearing on broadcast retransmission consent reform.

IN OTHER NEWS….

General Motors today is expected to set a price for its upcoming IPO. GM yesterday reportedly “bumped up the number of shares it plans to sell by 31% to 478 million.” GM is hoping to raise at least $15.5B, which would rank as the second-largest IPO in U.S. history (USA TODAY, 11/17).

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	Newsday
Philadelphia Daily News	Boston Herald

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Opera."

"The title character of this opera addresses his son in the aria 'Sois Immobile' ('Hold Yourself Still')."

LAUGH TRACK….

Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban appeared in a taped interview with NBC's Carson Daly on "Last Call With Carson Daly" last night. Daly said he "spent some time with my favorite billionaire. Truth be known, he's the only billionaire I've ever met. But you would never know it if you ever come across Mark Cuban. He owns the Dallas Mavericks. He runs HDNet and he really is genuinely one of the nicest guys." Cuban said of Heat F LeBron James leaving the Cavaliers, "He could go whereever he wanted to. I had no problem with him picking the Heat and actually, I like the idea of the TV show. … It's just the execution. The idea was brilliant." Daly: "Event TV, it was good?" Cuban: "Event TV. The execution was horrible." With all his business interests, Cuban was asked about his appearance on HBO's "Entourage." Daly: "That wasn't a quick cameo." Cuban: "It was a blast. I mean, I went there just to do a cameo." Cuban has now appeared in three episodes of the show, saying that he likes "to get out of my comfort zone and just do things that kind of freak me out and are hard to do." Cuban said of his companies HDNet, Landmark Theaters and Magnolia Distribution, "There's a couple big media companies who want to buy us because they love the idea." Daly asked, "What sort of parent company is big enough to start smelling around you, and would you sell?" Cuban: "For the right price, everything's for sale" ("Last Call With Carson Daly," NBC, 11/16).

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS' David Letterman: "Mayor Bloomberg, he's always thinking. The guy has got stuff going on. They're having a contest to pick the taxi of the future. We're going to have a futuristic taxi. Now the problem is the taxi of the future will still be driven by the driver of today. … People are complaining about the excessive searches for airport security. You know you're having a bad day when your naked bodyscan shows up on YouTube. An extensive body patdown or the naked scan? I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'Hey, why can't we have both?' That excessive body patdown, there's your stimulus package. Speaking of touching, have you heard this? They did a sports survey and basketball and football and baseball, the teams, players, that do more touching, like the high fives and the chest thumping and the fist pumping, they say the teams that do more touching are more successful – in life. Now, the same cannot be said for the priesthood. … Prince William is getting married next year. How about that? No date set yet for the divorce. But the marriage announcement was made on a one-hour ESPN special. … President Obama, God bless him, he's so busy. He has a million things to do, getting hammered every time he turns around. Still, he writes a children's book. How does he? And just in time for Christmas. It's called 'How the Grinch Stole the Midterm Elections'" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/16).

NBC's Jay Leno: "I have an announcement to make. If you touch my junk, I will have you arrested. That San Diego man who told airport security, 'Don't touch my junk,' this guy has become a symbol for passengers just fed up with this new system. It was bad enough when they're going through your underwear when it was in your luggage. Now they go through it when you're wearing it. … You know what TSA stands for: 'Touch Someone's Ass.' Have you heard the thing? They're now saying if you're not comfortable being patted down in front of the other passengers that you can request a private area for the patdown. What's that, like the VIP room at a strip club or something? … I wonder what happens to these airport security guys when they go home to their wives, their girlfriends, and the guy goes, 'You know, not tonight, honey, I've been fondling people all day.' ... Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, boy, this guy's unbelievable. Did you guys see this fight? Defeated Antonio Margarito this past week. This guy was in bad shape. He looked like he just stepped off a Carnival cruise. How about Michael Vick? He set a big record last night: 59 points against the Washington Redskins. That was unbelievable, the most points ever on a 'Monday Night Football' game. There hasn't been an ass kicking in Washington like that since I guess the midterm elections" ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 11/16).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

ABC's Jimmy Kimmel: "Last night on 'Monday Night Football,' Michael Vick had one of the all-time greatest games ever … [studio audience applauds]. Really? No dog lovers, I'm guessing? Did you all get bitten? He became the first NFL player to throw for four touchdowns and rush for two more in a single game. He could wind up being the MVP of the league this year. … His teammate, wide receiver DeSean Jackson, said before the game, the Eagles 'were like pit bulls ready to get out of the cage,' and then everyone looked down at the ground awkwardly" ("Jimmy Kimmel Live," ABC, 11/16).

Last night's Top Ten List was "Top Ten Ways To Make Airport Security More Pleasant." Letterman: "We had a guy a year ago fly into Detroit, had a bomb in his underpants. So to find out if a guy's got a bomb in his underpants, somebody's got go get in there and take a look" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/16).

FINAL JEOPARDY….

"What is 'William Tell?'"

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

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