Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Coast to Coast

Coast to Coast: Marathon fills up in record time

ARLINGTON, VA.
MCM sold out in under 3 hours

Marking the fastest sellout in the history of marathon events, the Marine Corps Marathon sold 30,000 available online entries in two hours, 41 minutes, besting the previous registration record of eight hours for the 2011 Boston Marathon. Meanwhile, Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill will return for the seventh year as the headquarters hotel for the October marathon.

CHICAGO
Fire working on premium club

The Chicago Fire started work on the Second Star Club, an all-inclusive club at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The club on the first concourse is located midfield and will include a dining room with a full-service bar. Club members will have premier seating, access to Fire players postgame, valet parking, a VIP entrance and private elevator.

Media members running Shuffle
The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K added a new feature to this year’s race: A charitable challenge among members of the media who will team up to compete for bragging rights, prizes and a donation to support Chicago Park District youth running programs. The Shamrock Shuffle will take place on Sunday in Grant Park.

DETROIT
Griffins, Red Wings extend affiliation

The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Griffins and Detroit Red Wings extended their affiliation agreement by five years, through the 2016-17 season. The 10-year-old affiliation, in its final season of a second five-year deal, has helped produce a Stanley Cup and an AHL regular-season championship, along with multiple division titles for both teams.

HOUSTON

Major League Baseball initially objected to the use of the authentically styled jerseys.
Photo by: HOUSTON ASTROS
Astros to wear Colt .45s jersey
The Houston Astros will wear replicas of their original Colt .45s jersey during their April 10 and April 20 games at Minute Maid Park. The jersey, worn when the ballclub was named the Colt .45s in the 1960s, included a pistol below the name “Colts” across the chest of the uniform.

LONG BEACH, CALIF.
Grand Prix designates Fuzzy’s

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach named Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka as the official vodka of the Izod IndyCar Series race. The spirits brand, created by Indiana native and golf legend Fuzzy Zoeller, has had several partnerships for entries in the Indianapolis 500. The Long Beach race weekend is April 13-15.

LOS ANGELES

New book marks ballpark’s anniversary
As part of the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers created an official illustrated history coffee table book. “Dodgers: From Coast to Coast — The Official Visual History of the Dodgers” will be released on April 10 for the team’s home opener.

Kings, Ducks ante up for foundation
On March 1, the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks participated in the second annual Rivalry No Limit Hold’em Charity Poker Tournament at San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland, Calif. The tournament featured 500 Ducks fans and 500 Kings fans playing against each other, team alumni, poker pros and celebrities. Close to $19,000 was raised for Kings Care Foundation.

NEW YORK
Jets suing suite holder

The New York Jets filed a $1 million lawsuit against Super Metals Mining Inc., one of their MetLife Stadium luxury suite holders, for alleged failure to pay the bill for their suite last season, according to a Bergen Record report. Super Metals Mining is a Canadian copper mining company.

PHILADELPHIA

From left: Bill Reynolds, John Stoviak, Julie Sheehy, foundation Chairman Mike Curry, Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz, Robbie Robinson, and foundation Executive Director Rick Jacobs.
Photo by: PHILADELPHIA UNION
MLS Union starts foundation
The Philadelphia Union launched the Philadelphia Union Foundation this month, revealing its mission statement, vision and programming. The foundation’s vision is to use soccer as a conduit for change by reinforcing the traditional family values of honesty, integrity, effort and accountability.

Sixers raising some ticket surcharges
The Philadelphia 76ers will not raise the face value prices for regular-season games on seats in the lower and upper bowl for next season. A surcharge placed on certain high-profile contests categorized as “select” and “choice” games will increase in the lower bowl at the Wells Fargo Center by $5 or $10, respectively. Prices will remain the same in the upper bowl. The team also is raising prices for front-row courtside seats by an undisclosed amount.

CoverSports padding ballpark
CoverSports entered into a deal to provide a variety of field covers and wall padding products to the Philadelphia Phillies for use at Citizens Bank Park. The company created a custom-made infield tarp for the ballpark and covers for the pitcher’s mounds and home plates on the playing field and both bullpens.

PHOENIX
Suns reduce some season-ticket prices

The Phoenix Suns will not raise season-ticket prices next season. Season-ticket prices are being reduced for more than 35 percent of the seats at US Airways Center, including upper-, lower- and club-level seating. The Suns are also expanding their $10 seating option so that one-third of the upper concourse priced at an average of $10 a game.

PORTLAND
Timbers getting more food options

Centerplate plans to roll out a slew of new food options at Jeld-Wen Field, according to a Portland Oregonian report. The report quoted Ben Forsythe, Centerplate general manager for the venue: “My No. 1 goal has been to make it local. Portland is a great city to dine, with everything from Ethiopian and Thai, and soccer’s kind of the world’s game.”

SACRAMENTO
Council mulls arena partnership

The Sacramento City Council is expected to decide next month whether to enter into a $13 million arena pre-development agreement with the developer partnership of Icon Venue Group and David S. Taylor Interests Inc. Populous would produce the arena design, and Turner Construction Co. is expected to be general contractor. The arena project in Sacramento’s downtown railyard would follow the design-build model, meaning the project wouldn’t go to bid.

SEATTLE
Mariners try dynamic pricing

The Seattle Mariners are debuting a dynamic pricing system for all single-game tickets, according to a Seattle Times report. All home games will be divided into four categories based on their perceived value. The Mariners are using Qcue for the pricing system.

VANCOUVER
Whitecaps may ditch ‘Bell Pitch’

The B.C. Pavilion Corp. said that it will take legal action against the Vancouver Whitecaps and their sponsor Bell if they do not stop using the term “Bell Pitch” to refer to the soccer field at BC Place, according to a Vancouver Sun report.

WICHITA, KAN.
WSU hires Rhycom for review

Wichita State University’s Intercollegiate Athletics Association retained Rhycom Sports to review and analyze WSU’s sponsorship and broadcast rights. The evaluation will include a review of WSU-ICAA’s signage, game broadcast media, print media, title sponsorship, digital media, interactive media and other inventory.

YORK, PA.

Revs draw up new logos, color scheme
The two-time defending Atlantic League champion York Revolution have a set of new permanent logos, new uniforms and a modified color scheme to be used beginning this season. Brandiose, which has worked with dozens of professional teams and college athletic departments on branding, helped the Revolution during the creative process.

Send your Coast to Coast news to: CoastToCoast@sportsbusinessjournal.com or phone (704) 973-1436.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2012/03/19/Coast-to-Coast/Coast-to-Coast.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2012/03/19/Coast-to-Coast/Coast-to-Coast.aspx

CLOSE