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Monday 9:00am ET....Latest News....The Tide Is Turning

  • Arizona's Greg Byrne To Replace Bill Battle As Alabama AD
  • Cowboys' Playoff Loss Causes Dip In Super Bowl Ticket Demand
  • Severe Weather Keeps Some Fans At AT&T Stadium After Game
  • Australian Open Looks To Improve On Last Year's Record Crowds

Arizona's Greg Byrne To Replace Bill Battle As Alabama AD

By Michael Smith

Arizona AD Greg Byrne will replace the retiring Bill Battle as Alabama AD, with Byrne expected to begin his new job March 1. Battle, 75, is retiring after almost four years at his alma mater, and he is expected to transition into an advisory role with the school once Byrne takes the reins. Alabama, which hired Turnkey Sports & Entertainment to lead the search, began talking to potential candidates over the last two months in anticipation of Battle’s retirement, sources said. Byrne, 45, was believed to be the frontrunner all along. Battle last night said that his retirement is not directly related to his bout with multiple myeloma, which caused him to miss work during parts of June and July last year.

Read Byrne's SBJ Forty Under 40 profile from '11 and Battle's Champions profile from '12. See today's issue of THE DAILY for more.

Cowboys' Playoff Loss Causes Dip In Super Bowl Ticket Demand

The Super Bowl ticket resale market "slumped" minutes after the Cowboys lost to the Packers. Before yesterday's game at AT&T Stadium, the "cheapest ticket to Super Bowl LI on StubHub was $4,195." But after the Packers' win, the get-in price was down 20% to $3,349, while tickets in the lower end zone dropped 18% to $4,307. Eventellect co-Founder Patrick Ryan said, "The threat of the Cowboys playing in a Super Bowl within a four-hour drive of their home stadium was propping up get-in ticket prices to unprecedented levels" (ESPN.com, 1/16).

Severe Weather Keeps Some Fans At AT&T Stadium After Game

Fans who "lingered around AT&T Stadium" yesterday after the Packers' playoff win over the Cowboys were "barred from leaving because of severe weather." With the area under tornado and flash flood warnings, the stadium was "placed under an order to 'shelter in place' and fans were told to move away from doors and windows." Clearance to leave came just before 10:00pm CT, "almost three hours after the game ended" (USATODAY.com, 1/15). There was "no obvious damage to the stadium" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/16). The roughly 1,000 fans stuck at the venue "passed the time away by watching" the Steelers-Chiefs game (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/16). Total attendance for the game was 93,396 (DALLASNEWS.com, 1/15).

Meanwhile, an announced crowd of 75,678 attended the Steelers-Chiefs playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. The "threatened storm" that pushed kickoff time back from 1:05pm ET to 8:20pm "never materialized." Tailgaters "filled the Truman Sports Complex hours before kickoff" (K.C. STAR, 1/16).

Australian Open Looks To Improve On Last Year's Record Crowds

Play is under way at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where tournament organizers are "aiming to surpass" last year's record attendance of 720,363. There are some "notable absentees: Juan Martín del Potro in the men’s tournament; Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and the still-suspended Maria Sharapova in the women’s event." But there are "plenty of stars to populate the main show courts under their retractable roofs" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/16). Early matches included Australian-born Nick Kyrgios' "first match at an official tournament since he was suspended for his Shanghai meltdown" (SMH.com.au, 1/16).

Meanwhile, the N.Y. TIMES' Christopher Clarey shares his "Wish List" for tennis in '17.

Cubs To Visit White House Today During Obama's Final Week In Office

The Cubs today in the wake of their World Series title will visit the White House for the "final sports celebration" of President Obama's tenure. Cubs co-Owner Laura Ricketts, a "prominent fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in her failed presidential bid, was the key to getting the deal done" to visit prior to Obama leaving office. Ricketts: "I just sent a couple of emails saying, 'Please make this work. We'd love to do it.'" The Cubs flew to DC last night (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/16).

Meanwhile, the CHICAGO TRIBUNE goes with the header, "Donald Trump Will Continue Long Association Of Sports And The White House." But Trump "won't be quite the same as the sports enthusiasts before him." No other president has "had people calling for sporting events to be kept from venues bearing his name" or athletes "looking to get out of staying at his hotels."

H-E-B Debuts Cereal Featuring Former NBAer Tim Duncan

Spurs sponsor H-E-B today plans to releases a "limited edition Tim Duncan-themed breakfast cereal." Demand for Slam Duncan O's is "expected to be high after early samples of the product released last month were listed for sale on Ebay," according to execs at the San Antonio-based grocer. H-E-B is producing up to 400,000 boxes of the cereal. It took "two hours to sell out the first 500 boxes of the limited edition honey nut toasted cereal with chocolate puffs, which were accidentally stocked on the shelves of one store Friday" (MYSANANTONIO.com, 1/15).

Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show Eyes Uptick In Attendance

The Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show opens its doors this week in Las Vegas. Organizers "forecast an uptick in show space and attendance" this year for the industry’s "sole remaining sports licensing exhibition." Retiring Alabama AD Bill Battle, who also founded Collegiate Licensing Co., is the featured speaker at a new Keynote Industry Breakfast, which kicks off the show tomorrow. The Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association is "assisting with presentation of a membership survey spotlighting industry trends and statistics" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/16 issue).

Speed Reads....

LA 2024 officials "could formally announce" as early as this week their "opening and closing ceremonies plans" for the $2.66B stadium being built in Inglewood by Rams Owner Stan Kroenke (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/14).

Search firm DHR Int'l has "begun assessing the interest of 'highly desirable' candidates" for the vacant Pitt AD role (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/16).

UFC 210 will "be staged in the KeyBank Center in Buffalo" on April 8. Details about the fight card are not yet available (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/16).

The Univ. of Wisconsin "set a new NCAA record for attendance at a women’s hockey game" with 15,359 fans at Kohl Center on Saturday for the biennial “Fill the Bowl” game against Minnesota. Wisconsin topped its own record of 13,573 (SI.com, 1/15).

An announced crowd of 6,500 attended yesterday's FloridaCup soccer doubleheader at UCF's Bright House Networks Stadium, which included a match between Argentinian side River Plate and Colombian side Millonarios, as well as a game between Brazilian club Bahia and Argentinian club Estudiantes (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/16).

Quick Hits....

"It’s always a great environment to play in. Fans deserve a lot of credit for coming out and enjoying NBA basketball. I hope they got what they thought they were going to get" – Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, on the team's game against the Suns in Mexico, which drew a record 20,532 fans (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 1/16).

"I accept the fact that there are certain aspects of how I got into the business that will cause me to be viewed differently by the people who entered the business in a more traditional way" – Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, on his prior career as an attorney instead of a traditional journalism background (MMQB.SI.com, 1/16).

“The San Diego Chargers should have never, ever gotten to this. I could say a lot, but I'm going to say no more” – ESPN’s Chris Berman, on the Chargers' move to L.A. (“Postseason NFL Countdown,” ESPN, 1/14).

"You can tell he's young because instead of throwing the challenge flag, he just texts the ref a frowny emoji" – NBC's Jimmy Fallon,on the Rams making 30-year-old Sean McVay the youngest head coach in NFL history (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/13).

"There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t think about it. It used to be every day. Time heals, but you never forget" – NASCAR team Owner Richard Childress, on Dale Earnhardt's death during the final lap of the '01 Daytona 500 (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/16).

Morning Hot Reads: Aztec Empire

The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE notes SDSU AD John Wicker has "plenty of projects written into his planner." But with the Chargers announcing their moving to L.A., SDSU "faces an unprecedented opportunity and task in the city in attempting to get a new, more college football-friendly venue built to replace Qualcomm Stadium."

On this MLK Day, the WASHINGTON POST goes with the header, "Martin Luther King Jr. Would’ve Frowned On Dabo Swinney Profiting Off Of Black Labor." ESPN goes with "Doc Rivers On MLK's Vision: 'We're Not There Yet.'"

Also

Twitter Me This....

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

Social Video Of The Day....

Steelers WR Antonio Brown following the team's playoff win last night against the Chiefs streamed a video from the team's locker room on Facebook Live. The 17-minute video has already been viewed more than 1.1 million times.

Today's 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   Boston HeraldChicago Sun-Times

In Case You Missed It....

Some of the top news items from yesterday's edition of Weekend Rap:

This Week In SportsBusiness Journal....

This week's In-Depth examines the latest trends in venue construction, as a record $6.2B in facilities are set to open in '17.

Spanning The Global....

The most-read Global stories today on SportsBusiness Daily:

1) U.S. Investor Scraps Attempted Takeover Of League Championship Side Nottingham Forest
2) Manor F1 Team Retains Staff Through January, Continues To Seek Buyer
3) Formula 1 Circuits Getting Upgrades To Deal With Faster Cars in '17
4) NBA Commissioner Says League Considering Adding A Mexico City Franchise
5) Red Bull To Build New 10,000-Seat Arena In Munich With DEL, BBL Clubs As Tenants

Final Jeopardy!

Friday night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “European Countries.”

“Once the center of an empire, it didn’t exist as an independent nation from 1938 to 1955.”

Laugh Track: Backing The Wrong Horse

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said buying a stake in a racehorse was the “worst investment of my entire life.” Fallon: “I ran into some guys and they’re like, ‘Hey Jimmy, do you want to invest in a racehorse?’ And I go, ‘Of course. That's exactly what I want to do, that’s the best idea.’ ... They told me the amount of money, and I go, ‘Oh wow, that's a lot,’ so I have a business manager and I call him up. He goes, ‘No, don't do this. It's terrible.’ I'm like, ‘Trust me, this is great.’” Fallon said he thought he could “name the horse and I said, ‘You're going to be Sea Warrior and you're going to win the Kentucky Derby.’ ... Turns out you can't name the horse.” Fallon: “The name of my horse, it turns out, is Poco Bueno. I wish I was kidding around. So I go, ‘Poco Bueno? What does that mean, what does that mean?’ They go, ‘It means a little bit good.’” Fallon: “I mean, who bought Mucho Bueno? I would have settled for Bueno.” Fallon said he put $500 on Poco Bueno to win, thinking, “This is all going to be in the movie when he wins the Derby. Last place, never heard from him ever again” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/13).