| • | NBC Averages Best Wild Card Saturday Rating In 16 Years |
| • | NBA Marketing Meeting Will Address Lockout Possibility |
| • | Tom Gores Reportedly Close To Winning Pistons Bid War |
| • | Skechers, Teleflora To Unveil Details Of Super Bowl Spots |
NBC AVERAGES BEST TWO-GAME NFL WILD CARD SATURDAY IN 16 YEARS
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NBC's Coverage Of Jets-Colts Was
Top-Rated Program On Saturday Night |
NBC averaged a 19.4 overnight Nielsen rating for its two NFL Wild Card telecasts on Saturday, marking the best two-game average for a Wild Card Saturday in 16 years. The two-game average is also up 6% from Wild Card Saturday last year, which featured Jets-Bengals and Eagles-Cowboys. Jets-Colts was the top-rated program on Saturday night and helped NBC to a primetime win among all nets.
Saturday night's Jets-Colts AFC Wild Card telecast earned a 20.8 overnight from 8:15-11:00pm ET, marking the highest rating ever for a primetime Wild Card Saturday game and best for any Wild Card Saturday game since Cardinals-Cowboys earned a 20.9 overnight in '99. The telecast was up 6% from the comparable Eagles-Cowboys game. Jets-Colts peaked at a 23.6 rating from 10:00-10:30pm. Saints-Seahawks earned an 18.3 overnight from 4:30-8:00pm, marking the best early Saturday Wild Card game in 20 years. Saints-Seahawks is up 8% from the comparable 16.9 overnight for Jets-Bengals last year (NBC).
NBA'S ANNUAL MARKETING MEETING WILL ADDRESS POSSIBILITY OF LOCKOUT
The NBA this week will hold its annual marketing meeting at the N.Y. Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, where top team and league marketing officials are "poised to discuss the impact of a potential lockout on next year's business." The sessions will "begin to address questions regarding how the league will deal with season ticket holders and sponsors given the possibility of a lockout" next season (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/10 issue).
TOM GORES REPORTEDLY CLOSE TO WINNING BIDDING WAR FOR PISTONS
Platinum Equity Chair & CEO Tom Gores "appears close to winning the topsy-turvy bidding war" for the Pistons, and sources said that the deal could close as early as this week. Gores "has 30 days to finalize the deal" with Pistons Owner Karen Davidson. The price "likely will be significantly below" the $479M value Forbes magazine placed on the team in '09. It is "possible" that late Pistons Owner Bill Davidson's son Ethan "may retain a small ownership stake" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 1/8).
SKECHERS, TELEFLORA TO ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR SUPER BOWL ADS ON FOX
Skechers today will announce that its TV spot during Fox' Super Bowl XLV telecast will feature reality TV star Kim Kardashian. Teleflora today will announce that its Super Bowl spot will feature country music singer Faith Hill. Fox in October said that it had sold out all ad inventory for the Feb. 6 game, marking the "first Super Bowl in years to sell out all available ad space so early." Advertisers are paying an estimated $3M for each 30-second slot (USA TODAY, 1/10).
HIGH DEMAND, PRICES FOR TICKETS TO AUBURN-OREGON TITLE GAME
There are "no tickets to be had anywhere" for tonight's Auburn-Oregon Tostitos BCS National Championship Game, meaning StubHub and other secondary ticket brokers are seeing the "highest prices ever recorded." The cheapest ticket on StubHub yesterday was "more than $2,000." There also is an "impending counterfeit disaster that may arise in time" for the game. ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel on Saturday tweeted: "Fan bought six BCS National Championship Game tickets in Scottsdale for $15,000. Tickets were fake. Money was real. Be careful" (FANHOUSE.com, 1/9).
An undercover operation by Glendale detectives led to a "BCS ticket-fraud bust and the arrest of eight people this weekend." More than 230 fake tickets were confiscated (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/10).
Meanwhile, Auburn has canceled plans to show the game in the new Auburn Arena basketball venue "because of expected hazardous weather conditions" tonight (AL.com, 1/8).
HOWARD, WADE, LEE JOINING NBA'S HOOPS FOR ST. JUDE WEEK INITIATIVE
The NBA today will announce that Magic C Dwight Howard, Heat G Dwyane Wade and Warriors F David Lee are set to join the St. Jude initiative in March, "adding some All-Star clout" to the charitable program. The annual Hoops for St. Jude Week is slated for March 4-11. The initiative, which falls under the league's NBA Cares charitable arm, "raises awareness and funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital" (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/8).
SPEED READS….
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Cotton Bowl Ratings, Viewership Helps
Fox Earn Its Best Friday Night In A Year |
Fox earned a 5.8 fast-national Nielsen rating and 10.0 million viewers for Friday's AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic featuring LSU-Texas A&M. The game, the first Cotton Bowl played in primetime, gave Fox its best Friday night in a year (THE DAILY).
SMU football coach June Jones will “help introduce the College Football Assistance Fund, a nonprofit foundation that will aid college players who have sustained serious injuries.” Jones: “We want to help these athletes function again with a normal life” (N.Y. TIMES, 1/8).
Stats LLC has signed a pact with Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo to incorporate its SportVU real-time player tracking system into the network's coverage of the Campeonatos Carioca and Paulista soccer leagues this month and Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A in May (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
The Argentina-U.S. men’s national soccer team exhibition on March 26 will “likely be held at the New Meadowlands Stadium.” The Argentina Football Association had announced the game “would be played in Seattle, but the sides instead decided on the Meadowlands and are in the late stages of negotiating a contract” (AP, 1/7).
A crowd of 41,063 attended last night's Nevada-Boston College Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park, marking the second largest attendance in the bowl's history behind 42,268 for the California-Miami game in '08. Nevada won this year's contest 20-13 (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/10).
ESPN is running a full-page ad in today’s Wall Street Journal touting its coverage of tonight’s Auburn-Oregon Tostitos BCS National Championship Game at 8:00pm ET (THE DAILY).
QUICK HITS….
“With what I am paying him, I am not going to let him go and pay him a lot of money” – Titans Owner Bud Adams, saying he never strongly considered firing coach Jeff Fisher in part because of Fisher’s contract (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 1/9).
“Certainly, it could. We would love to have it here, to show the growth of the California market” – Sharks Exec VP & GM Doug Wilson, on the NHL Winter Classic possibly being played in the Bay Area (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/8).
“It’s kind of like a restaurant menu. People won’t like every single thing on the menu. Some people might want harder NFL stuff, some people might want music, some might want to philosophize, some might want to talk about words. It’s an amazing medium in that respect” – Colts Owner Jim Irsay, on Twitter (WASHINGTON POST, 1/8).
OVERHEARD ON WEEKEND NFL SHOWS….
"This is also a case where we see billionaires who have been very, very successful in other businesses, they come into this business – this business is totally different. But, you can write a check to cover up for your mistakes" – ESPN’s Cris Carter, on Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross shopping for a new coach despite having Tony Sparano under contract ("Sunday NFL Countdown," ESPN, 1/9).
"Today, you may see a new rule implemented in the playoffs. My question to the league: Why did you wait until now?" – ESPN's Tom Jackson, on the new overtime rules in the NFL playoffs ("Sunday NFL Countdown," ESPN, 1/8).
"I don't think they should have put the coaches in this position where they've got to think about this the first time. They should have done it in the regular season" – NBC’s Tony Dungy, on the overtime rules ("FNIA," NBC, 1/8).
"It explains why the Bills are still the Bills” – Fox' Curt Menefee, on Jay Glazer's report that the Bills could have traded RB Marshawn Lynch to the Saints and gotten more in return than what they received from the Seahawks, but the Bills never contacted the Saints ("Fox NFL Sunday," Fox, 1/9).
TWITTER ME THIS….
Bergen Record’s Steve Adamek: “Pre-game sight: Knicks owner Jim Dolan chatting w. Jeannie Buss. To be fly on that wall.”
Golfer John Daly: “My cell hasn't stop ringing from celebrity friends wandering why I DID NOT get spot in the Hope--oh well, they're passing on it too now!”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst: “LeBron has gone from not understanding the road boos to asking for them. Not a way to win people over you wouldn't think.”
Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rosenthal: “Message to people in CBS Sports truck in KC: Please tell Phil Simms to stop using the term ‘by no means’ as a crutch.”
If you see a tweet we won’t want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
A LIGHTER BUZZ….
The Chicago Sun-Times on Saturday was among several news outlets that reported on the Cubs trading for Rays P Matt Garza with a back-page photo of Rays P Joaquin Benoit (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 1/8).
THIS WEEK IN SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL….
This week’s in-depth takes a look at the road ahead for facility design firms.
- SBD/SBJ unveils the '11 class of Champions in Sports Business.
- IMG College Chair Pat Battle stepping down in June when contract expires.
- UFC this week lobbying to have MMA sanctioned in state of New York.
- Several execs offer their sports business, personal resolutions for '11.
TODAY'S EVENTS….
See a full list of events in THE DAILY’s Week Ahead.
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 | Newsday |
| | |
| Philadelphia Daily News | Boston Herald |
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Friday's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "World Languages."
"Of all the countries with Spanish as an official language, this one is last alphabetically."
LAUGH TRACK….
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: "New blockbuster movie coming out. … It's called 'Season of the Witch' with Nicolas Cage and here's what happens. Nicolas Cage is a medieval knight and he must save the world from ancient dark forces. Isn't that every Nicolas Cage movie? … Happy birthday Elvis Presley tomorrow. He would have been 76 years old and his fans are already converging on Graceland for a candlelight buffet. … Elvis, of course, changed the face of modern music and also movies. Elvis was in movies. He made 35 movies. Were you aware of that? And in every one he played a singing race car driver. … Hugh Hefner, who is in his 80s, married his 24-year-old girlfriend, and isn't the dream of every 24-year-old girl to marry an aging smut king? Hef and his beautiful wife will live in Hef's beautiful, beautiful estate. You've probably heard of it: Castle Levitra. … Think about this: An 84-year-old guy with a really good-looking blonde. Oh no, wait a minute. That's Regis. … Like we don't have enough problems, down in Arkansas over New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight, a thousand birds dropped out of the sky dead. A thousand birds: Boom, hit the ground, bounced a couple of times, dead. Now if you're like me, what do you think of first? Here's what I think of first: High school kids … screwing around" ("Late Show," CBS, 1/7).
NBC's Jay Leno: "Playmate Crystal Harris is engaged to 84-year-old Hugh Hefner, or as she calls it, bed panning for gold. … He's 84, she's 24. In six years she'll be 30, and he'll be dead. Do you know what Hef likes in bed at his age? Guardrails. … The Obama administration announced that the economy added 103,000 new jobs in December. Do you know who most of those jobs went to? Homeless radio announcers. … That's the other feel good story that has dominated the news this week, the 53-year-old homeless man from Ohio with the golden voice. Somebody put him on YouTube, he wound up on the 'Today' show, then he got a job with the Cleveland Cavaliers. More good news today: He was adopted by Angelina Jolie. They are calling this the greatest success a homeless man has had since Mickey Rourke was nominated for an Oscar. … John Edwards is denying reports in the National Enquirer that he asked his mistress, Rielle Hunter, to marry him. He is denying it. Well, who are you going to believe: a sleazy purveyor of lies or the National Enquirer? … House Democrats say their goal now is to bring Nancy Pelosi back as Speaker of the House. That's got to be comforting to people out of work. Instead of their priority being getting your job back, we got to get Nancy's job back. Let's give the captain of the Titanic another crack at the iceberg, too" ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 1/7).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Friday's Top Ten list was "Top Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Marrying A 110-Year-Old Man." A 110-year-old Malaysian man, Ahmad Mohamad, is set to marry an 82-year-old woman ("Late Show," CBS, 1/7).
| 10) "Should we just date for a while?" |
| 9) "Do I get along with his parents?" |
| 8) "Should I just marry two 55-year-olds?" |
| 7) "Why?" |
| 6) "I thought he said he was 104 on Match.com." |
| 5) "Is the adjustable bed large enough for two?" |
| 4) "Am I ready to raise his 88-year-old son?" |
| 3) "Seriously, why?" |
| 2) "Wait a minute, I thought Regis was married?" |
| 1) "Am I just in this for the sex?" |
FINAL JEOPARDY….
"What is Venezuela?"
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
pbounds@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
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