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Thursday 9:00am ET....Today's News....Cable Guy

  • Sources: Fox Hiring Former ESPN Producer Horowitz To Run FS1, FS2
  • Tickets Go On Sale Today For May 2 Mayweather-Pacquiao Bout
  • Bucks Arena Group To Continue Meeting; Talks "Positive" So Far
  • FCC Recommends Move That Could Hinder Comcast-TWC Merger

Sources: Fox Hiring Former ESPN Producer Horowitz To Run FS1, FS2

By John Ourand

Fox Sports and Jamie Horowitz have agreed on a deal that will have the former ESPN producer oversee FS1 and FS2, sources say. A formal announcement is expected to come this week, perhaps as early as today. The move marks the biggest shakeup at Fox Sports since the launch of FS1 in August '13, and the net has posted lower-than-expected ratings and has not produced a breakout hit show. Horowitz will move from the N.Y. area to L.A. and report to Fox Sports President & COO Eric Shanks.

Fox Sports Exec VP & Producer John Entz, who had been overseeing both studio and event production, now will handle just event production. As part of the moves, David Nathanson moves into a business affairs role at FS1 and FS2, reporting to Shanks. Nathanson had been GM & COO over those two channels for the past 17 months.

Tickets Go On Sale Today For May 2 Mayweather-Pacquiao Bout

Tickets for the May 2 Floyd Mayweathe Jr.-Manny Pacquiao bout will be available for sale today, "just 10 days before the fight." The MGM Grand, Top Rank and Mayweather Promotions yesterday afternoon agreed to a staging contract that is "expected to be signed" today. Tickets are priced at $7,500, $5,000, $3,500, $2,500 and $1,500 (BOXINGJUNKIE.com, 4/23). There are $10,000 tickets, "but they are not among the roughly 500 tickets being made available to the public" out of 16,000 total (ESPN.com, 4/23).

Bucks Arena Group To Continue Meeting; Talks "Positive" So Far

A group of Wisconsin political leaders plans to meet again today on a proposal to finance a new Bucks arena. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Exec Chris Abele said that they "made progress" yesterday, "but did not reach a final agreement." Barrett, Abele, two state legislators and Bucks President Peter Feigin "all described Wednesday's talks as positive," but they are "still working on details." Barrett: "I think everyone in the room is operating in good faith" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/23).

FCC Recommends Move That Could Hinder Comcast-TWC Merger

The FCC yesterday "threw up a significant roadblock" to Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable. Regulators decided the "best option for the FCC is to issue a 'hearing designation order'" that would put the $45.2B merger in the hands of an administrative law judge. This "would be seen as a strong sign the FCC doesn't believe the deal is in the public interest." Some regulatory experts "describe the procedure as a deal-killer." Sources said that Comcast and TWC "may still have an opportunity to weigh in" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/23).

USWNT Players Appear On "American Idol" For World Cup Tie-In

U.S. women's national soccer team Fs Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan appeared on Fox’ “American Idol” last night. Morgan presented host Ryan Seacrest with voting results from last week and Wambach presented Seacrest with a USWNT jersey. Seacrest then announced the “winner of ‘American Idol’ is going to record the official anthem for the Fox Sports coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup” (“American Idol,” Fox, 4/22).

USA Triathlon Awards Grants To Eight Schools For Women's Programs

USA Triathlon today will unveil the first eight collegiate institutions that will benefit from a share of the newly created $2.6M Women's Triathlon Emerging Sport Grant. The multiyear funding program, the first of its kind ever offered to an NCAA Emerging Sport, is being provided by the USA Triathlon Foundation. Approximately $480,000 will be awarded this year and a total of $980,000 through the '17-18 season. Additional institutions are in the evaluation process for this year (THE DAILY).

SCHOOLS RECEIVING GRANTS
Arizona State Univ. East Tennessee State Univ.
Black Hills State Univ. North Central College
Concordia Univ. Wisconsin Queens Univ. of Charlotte
Drury Univ. Univ. of West Alabama

Speed Reads....

CSN Chicago today for the first time will produce and air four games of the city’s major pro teams in one day. CSN will show Cubs-Pirates at 11:30am CT and Bulls-Bucks Game 3 at 7:00pm. CSN+2 will air Royals-White Sox at 7:00pm, and CSN+ will broadcast Blackhawks-Predators Game 5 at 8:30pm (CSN Chicago).

AOL today is announcing the release of its upcoming NFL Draft series “Journey to the Draft,” which follows prospects Leonard Williams, Kevin White and Marcus Peters. Pro Football HOFer Deion Sanders serves as exec producer and narrator for the 10-episode series that will premiere online on April 28 (AOL).

Quick Hits....

“The league tried to do all it could to create a situation where we’re not playing back-to-back, but moving all the pieces for all the different teams, it just didn’t work this year” – Eagles President Don Smolenski, on the team playing a home game the same weekend as the Army-Navy game at Lincoln Financial Field (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 4/23).

“I’ve had Tiger chasing me for a long time. But, you know, I don’t ever, I don’t actually sit there and root for him. But I don’t root against him, either” – Jack Nicklaus, during a discussion on athletes breaking each other’s records (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 4/23).

“The thing that bothers me the most is that the American public will not appreciate what he has done until he’s long retired. He’s dominated more rounds than any fighter in the top of their division. Any weight class” – Trainer Johnathon Banks, on heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko (N.Y. TIMES, 4/23).

“It’s brutal. You turn on the TV every night and expect to see something different, and I know one of these nights we will” – Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio, on the poor play of his team (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/23).

Night Moves....Beyond Gotham

Last night’s 12:00am ET edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” led with a New York state of mind with Rangers-Penguins, followed by Braves-Mets, Yankees-Tigers and an NBA report on Spurs-Clippers. Last night’s 12:00am ET edition of FS1’s “Fox Sports Live” led with Spurs-Clippers, followed by Trail Blazers-Grizzlies, Rangers-Penguins and the NFL suspending Cowboys DE Greg Hardy.

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann called out his “world’s worst” persons in sports: The Wall Street Journal’s Brian Costa for not including former Phillies manager Dallas Green in his expletive-rant chart following Reds manager Bryan Price's recent tirade. Olbermann also derided M1 Global, a Russian MMA company, for staging medieval fights with competitors wearing armor and shields, and Red Sox DH David Ortiz for being ejected for arguing a strike call on a check swing. Olbermann: “It breaks his streak of five years of having argued on every single check swing but not getting ejected once.”

Morning Hot Reads: Gate Control

S.F. CHRONICLE: "The official super-hype machine cranked up this week for Super Bowl 50. ... San Francisco will have the parties, fan zone, network headquarters, tourists, sold-out hotel rooms and buzz. And Santa Clara gets the fuzzy end of the pickle."

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: "For all the controversies, the heated competition, the rivalries and the rule-breaking, there remains one undeniable bond in NASCAR and, I suspect, racing in general. It’s a family."

GRANTLAND profiles Lee Gause under the header: "Mouth Full of Gold: The Manhattan Dentist Behind Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s Extravagant Mouthguards."

Also:

Twitter Me This....

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

Today's Events....

The Patriots will visit the White House to be honored for winning Super Bowl XLIX.

Spanning The Global....

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

1) Hisense Pays $7M Over Three Years For Infiniti Red Bull Racing Partnership, Source Says
2) Chinese Consortium Plans Purchase Of Aston Villa Hours After FA Cup Final
3) Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, ManU Dominate Twitter's Follower Map Of Global Popularity
4) SportAccord President Marius Vizer Apologizes For IOC Attack, Defends Content
5) EPL Side West Ham United Reduces Ticket Prices To Fill Olympic Stadium

Back Pages....

The Morning Buzz offers today's back page sports covers from some of North America's major metropolitan tabloids:

N.Y. Post N.Y. Daily News Newsday Philadelphia Daily News Boston HeraldChicago Sun-Times Toronto Sun

Final Jeopardy!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “American Poetry.”

“This 1883 poem says, ‘Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman...’”

Laugh Track....Making An Entrance

Boxer Manny Pacquiao appeared on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last night, with host Jimmy Kimmel noting he is “finally going to fight Floyd Mayweather. We’ve been talking about this since 2009, which was like five iPhones ago." Kimmel noted, “You took the unusual step of recording your own entrance song. Now this is the song you enter the ring. I happen to love that song and I’ve been driving everyone crazy around the office because I play it over and over and over again.” Kimmel asked if he could sing the entrance song from inside the ring and told Pacquiao to “imagine me right there” in the ring. Kimmel: “I got the hat on, I got the sunglasses on, just like Justin Bieber. What do you think? I'd love to be a part of your entourage. I really would. Will you consider this?” Pacquiao: “I will.” Kimmel added, “I'll sing, I’ll walk beside you, I’ll do whatever I have to. I’ll fight Justin Bieber” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 4/22).

Last night’s edition of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” featured video of television personality Dr. Phil offering counseling to Manny Pacquiao for his upcoming fight with Mayweather. Both men were guests on the program last night (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 4/22).

Last night’s edition of CBS’ “Late Show” featured a fictitious “breaking news story” about the Eagles signing QB Tim Tebow, with the announcer reporting, “Quarterback Tim Tebow has officially been signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. He will report to training camp…he has just been cut. We now return you to ‘Cash Crab’” (“Late Show,” CBS, 4/22).

Top Ten....Phone A Friend

Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Things You Don’t Want To Hear From A Receptionist” and was read by Art Kelly, the receptionist for CBS’ David Letterman. Letterman said, “Like I need to tell you today is Administrative Professionals Day” (“Late Show,” CBS, 4/22).

10) “Larry’s out of the office. Let me connect you to a different Larry.”
9) “Please stay on the line while I finish this muffin.”
8) “Will someone answer the damn phone?”
7) “I’d love to send you some materials about Scientology.”
6) “(Cough cough cough)”
5) “I have a telephone, you have a telephone; we should hang out.”
4) “Would it kill you to ask who I want to talk to?”
3) “I’ve been told to pretend that he’s in a meeting.”
2) “Sit on your phone and I’ll guess your weight.”
1) “I’ll transfer you now.” Kelly then throws the phone.

Final Jeopardy....

“What is ‘The New Colossus?’”

The poem is etched onto the Statue of Liberty.