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Tuesday 9:00am ET....Today's News....Columbus' Day

  • Ohio State Wins CFP In Front Of "Less Corporate" Crowd In Arlington
  • HOK Completes Acquisition Of Sports Design Firm 360 Architecture 
  • TaxAct To Sponsor Danica Patrick's No. 10 In Sprint Cup Series
  • Giants Eye Pop-Up Venue Near AT&T Park, With Beer Garden

Ohio State Wins CFP In Front Of "Less Corporate" Crowd In Arlington

Ohio State defeated Oregon 42-20 last night to win the inaugural CFP National Championship, and ESPN’s Chris Fowler set the scene from AT&T Stadium at the top of the broadcast: "The first of its kind and no other big event really feels quite like this. A far less corporate crowd than we usually see. This is college football – passionate fans in here tonight.” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit: “You can feel a buzz in the air. You know something special is about to occur.” Fowler estimated that Ohio State fans made up "perhaps 70 percent" of the crowd. After the game, CFP Exec Dir Bill Hancock presented the trophy to Ohio State coach Urban Meyer "on behalf of the conferences and schools that manage this awesome new event" ("Ohio State-Oregon," ESPN, 1/12).

Columbus Dispatch, front page, “Undisputed Champions” ... Dayton Daily News, front page, “The National Champions” ... Akron Beacon Journal, front page, “O-H, OH Yeah!” ... Portland Oregonian, A1, “History Lesson” ... Salem Statesman Journal, above the fold: “O, No” ... N.Y. Times, below the fold, “Ohio State Leaps Past Oregon” ... Wall Street Journal, below the fold, “Ohio State Defeats Oregon 42-20

REACTIONS TO ESPN COVERAGE: Dallas Morning News' Barry Horn tweeted, "Kirk Herbstreit may be the first national broadcaster in history to mention AT&T Stadium is not in North Texas or Dallas but Arlington." SI's Richard Deitsch: "Since I know ESPN suits are monitoring: Near-uniform agreement: People really like Film Room, but small box on coaches; big on game." SI's Doug Farrar: "Hey, NFL -- watch this. Get a bunch of coaches in a room and have them watch Super Bowl All-22 live. Please." Bleacher Report's Matt Miller: "Was excited about ESPN2 film room, but live game screen is way too small. Had to switch to ESPN feed."

AT&T PRESENCE: Chicago Tribune's Ed Sherman: "How much did AT&T pay to be on the screen for entire game?" ESPN's Darren Rovell: "Between stadium naming rights, headsets & presenting sponsorship of game, AT&T is getting $46.7M in value tonight, says @FRAnalytics." 

A LIGHTER BUZZ: In perhaps the most buzzed-about tweet of the night (14,000 retweets at presstime), comedian Bob Newhart posted, "In regards to my new career as head ref for #OSUvsORE - Hey, I don't have a series any more - I had to do something. #OSUvsORE"

Crowd Of 85,689 On Hand For CFP Championship; Organizers Praised

The "large crowd, clear roads and seamless ticket-related issues" made last night's CFP National Championship "a win-win-win proposition for CFP and local organizing officials, who envision making a bid to return the event" to North Texas in '20. Special Events Organizing Committee Chair Tommy Bain said, "All the feedback so far is that it's gone well. We're very happy and we are so thankful that we missed the precipitation" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/13).

The crowd of 85,689 was "as charged as any BCS national championship game." If there was "any concern that fans wouldn't travel to the championship game in the new postseason system, the packed house ... awash in Buckeyes' scarlet and Ducks' yellow, put that to rest" (AP, 1/13). Outside of the "cold and wet weather," organizers and fans "mostly praised the atmosphere and events leading up to Monday's kickoff" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/13).

Forbes' Alicia Jessop tweeted several images of sponsor activation at the game:

HOK Completes Acquisition Of Sports Design Firm 360 Architecture

By Don Muret, Staff Writer

HOK is set to announce today that it has completed the acquisition of sports design firm 360 Architecture. The merger was first announced in August. As part of the purchase, the 360 brand goes away and that company’s 200 employees will be folded into HOK’s new global sports, recreation and entertainment practice with offices in K.C., Columbus and S.F. The firm’s new sports group has already been working on several projects, including a proposed NFL stadium along the St. Louis waterfront.

TaxAct To Sponsor Danica Patrick's No. 10 In Sprint Cup Series

By Adam Stern

Stewart-Haas Racing this morning unveiled a deal with online tax solutions company TaxAct to sponsor Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Sprint Cup Series Chevy. The company will serve as the co-primary sponsor with GoDaddy for the Feb. 14 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona Int’l Speedway and appear on the C-post of the car during the rest of Budweiser Speedweeks. TaxAct also will be Patrick's primary sponsor for the March 29 race at Martinsville Speedway.

The company will activate the deal by running an online sweepstakes on TaxAct.com/Danica, in which the first-place winner gets a behind-the-scenes meet-and-great with Patrick. Other prizes include an autographed firesuit plus a match of up to $2,500 on an IRS refund or balance due for a TaxAct-filed return.

Giants Eye Pop-Up Venue Near AT&T Park, With Beer Garden

The MLB Giants "will convert a portion" of the parking lot near AT&T Park into a "year-round pop-up venue with an Anchor Steam beer garden, coffee shop, retail stores and a waterfront deck." The team on Thursday will present plans for the 18,000-square-foot project, dubbed the Yard, to the S.F. Port Commission. It is being "pitched as a way to activate a portion of the property while the team works on winning approvals for its much bigger Mission Rock project"  (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/13).

Dolphins Hire AEG's Todd Kline As Chief Commercial Officer

By Daniel Kaplan

The Dolphins have hired Todd Kline as Chief Commercial Officer, a newly created position. He previously was Senior VP/Partnership & Media Sales at AEG. In his new position, Kline will oversee all sponsor revenue, a responsibility that previously has been under Jeremy Walls. Walls is dropping his Chief Revenue Officer title and instead assuming the chief marketing role for the club. He will direct the team’s marketing, ticket sales/operations and entertainment operations. The team also announced it has promoted Jason Jenkins from VP/Communications to Senior VP/Communications.

Dynamo Set To Name Big East’s Amber Cox New VP & CMO

By Austin Karp

The Dynamo today will announce Amber Cox as the MLS club’s new VP & CMO. Cox has been Big East Conference Associate Commissioner/Women’s Basketball since November '13. She also spent nine seasons with the WNBA Mercury, holding the role of President & COO during her final two seasons with the club. Cox rounds out a new senior management team under President Chris Canetti that will oversee the Dynamo, NWSL Dash, BBVA Compass Stadium and Houston Sports Park. Cox’ first day on the job will be Jan. 26.

MLS Kicks Off Three Days Of League Meetings In Philadelphia

By Ian Thomas

MLS will hold league-wide meetings today through Thursday in Philadelphia at the Marriott Downtown. League and club execs will meet to discuss a variety of topics, including marketing, sponsorship, ticketing, communications, information technology, community relations and club services. MLS Commissioner Don Garber, President & Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott and MLS Business Ventures President & Managing Dir Gary Stevenson will participate.

NJSEA Workers To Become MetLife Stadium Employees In March

MetLife Stadium VP & General Counsel Mark Stefanacci said that "nearly 1,000 part-time" New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority employees at the venue "will begin working directly for the stadium in March." He said that while the agreement with the NJSEA to "provide such employees for stadium events ends on March 9, agreements with the affected unions are about to be finalized to have those workers continue as before." Most of the affected jobs are for ticket-takers, ushers and security guards (Bergen RECORD, 1/13).

Phil Anschutz' First Book Explores History Of American West

AEG Chair Phil Anschutz' first book, "Out Where The West Begins," goes on sale today at Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver. Anschutz last night while accepting the '15 Citizen of the West award said that the work "profiles 50 men who 'contributed in the most impactful manner' to bringing the American West to the prominence it currently enjoys." The book covers the period of 1800-1920 (DENVERPOST.com, 1/13).

Speed Reads....

adidas today will formally introduce Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard’s first signature shoe (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/12).

Tough Mudder has signed a two-year deal for A-B InBev’s Shock Top to be the endurance race series’ beer sponsor, replacing a previous pact with Heineken’s Dos Equis. The pact covers “more than 60 events in the U.S. and Canada" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/13).

The Seahawks this morning will make "about 1,200 tickets" available to the general public for Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the Packers. The allotment is expected to be “sold out in minutes” (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 1/13).

Under Armour this spring will “open a Brand House store in the Mall of America" in Minnesota, part of the company’s plans to “open 100 of its branded stores this year” (Baltimore SUN, 1/13).

The Saskatoon City Council yesterday “unanimously approved the move” to rename Kinsmen Arena after Hockey HOFer and Saskatoon native Gordie Howe. The venue will be called Gordie Howe Kinsmen Arena (Saskatoon STAR PHOENIX, 1/13).

Quick Hits....

“It was a spectacular playoff. This was a special night for the players and coaches and Ohio State. And great for the conference” – Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, following Ohio State’s victory over Oregon in the CFP title game (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/13).

“I mean, as a fan, it’s great fun, I love the college game, but the incredible money underlines that we are truly the engines of a multibillion-dollar industry” – Former Northwestern QB Kain Kolter, who organized the players union movement at the school last year (N.Y. TIMES, 1/13).

“I’m still getting over that. I don’t think I ever really will. That was a tough one” – Lions Vice Chair Bill Ford Jr., on his team’s playoff loss to the Cowboys (ESPN.com, 1/12).

“Golf can be a good business if you know what you’re doing and you have good places. If you don’t have good places and courses, it’s not a good business. Golf in the right location can do very well” – Donald Trump (MIAMI HERALD, 1/13).

Twitter Me This....

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

Night Moves....Buckeye For You

Last night’s 1:00am ET editions of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and FS1’s “Fox Sports Live” led with the Ohio State-Oregon CFP National Championship. The game was the lead-in to the ESPN broadcast, during which no other reports were presented. FS1 followed 35 minutes into the broadcast with Rockets-Nets, Pistons-Raptors and Magic-Bulls.

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann called out his “world’s worst” persons in sports: A Roy Halladay fan wearing a Phillies jersey tee being oblivious that Halladay was taking a picture with the fan. Olbermann was also critical of 64 Dartmouth students, including an unspecified number of varsity athletes, that were caught cheating in a “Sports, Ethics and Religion” class, and Roma MF Francesco Totti for taking a selfie as a goal celebration.

Spanning The Global....

The most-read Global stories today on SportsBusinessDaily.com:

1) Repucom Study: Middle East, Asia Boost Investment In Top Football Clubs
2) Man City To Open Kit Deal Renegotiation Talks With Nike
3) Australian Football League Players Set Sights On Broadcast Rights
4) Qatar Wants Formula 1 Grand Prix On Lusail Street Circuit By 2016
5) Sporty Solutionz Signs Multi-Year Media Rights Deal With New Zealand Cricket

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 HeraldToronto Sun

Final Jeopardy!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “20th Century Brits.”

Dr. Hugh Cairns, who tried but couldn’t save the life of this man in May 1935, became a pioneer in the use of motorcycle helmets.”

Laugh Track....Clown Move

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon: “Yesterday, ESPN reporter Hannah Storm was about to go live on-air when her makeup artist tried to get in one last touch-up.” A clip was shown of Storm pushing the hand of the makeup artist out of the frame. Fallon: “Probably not a good idea smacking your makeup artist. Take a look at Hannah later in the broadcast” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/12).

Laugh Track....Men (Not) At Work

Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Excuses of the Guy Who Didn’t Show Up For Work for 25 Years.” CBS’ David Letterman said, “In India, an electrical engineer was fired from his job after it was discovered he had not been to work for 25 years” (“Late Show,” CBS, 1/12).

10) “I had a thing.”
9) “Greg said he'd cover for me.”
8) “Meant to tell you I was working from home.”
7) “Still reeling from cancellation of 'Falcon Crest.'”
6) “I didn't want to be labeled a 'suck-up.'”
5) “I'm pretty sure I put in for it.”
4) “Couldn't find a place to park.”
3) “I was there in spirit.”
2) “Uhh...maternity leave?”
1) “I'll get back to you in 2040.”