League Notes
In London, James Cracknell writes under the header, “NFL’s Wembley ‘Showpiece’ Won’t Win Us Over.” Cracknell writes it will be “impossible to generate the same hype” if the NFL returns as it did in advance of Giants-Dolphins. Cracknell notes if the NFL wants to succeed "on these shores, a different team playing every year is not the way to do it. Neither is a future Super Bowl full of sponsors and corporate guests. The NFL have to be in it for the long haul and base a franchise here. If there really were a million ticket requests, then the first season will be a sell-out” (London TELEGRAPH, 10/30).
MLB: With the Mitchell report on steroids in MLB due this offseason, MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy said the league hopes this is the "first step in bringing this issue to closure, so that our fans can have the faith that they want that the records are being set can be held up against records of other generations.” When asked if he thought the league would be "plagued" with steroids stories, DuPuy said, "I wouldn't use the word 'plague'" (Fox Sports Radio, 10/29). In Toronto, Stephen Brunt writes MLB is in “shockingly good shape,” as the “bottom line is rosy, there are no franchises on the verge of bankruptcy or desperate to move, attendance is at an historic highpoint and, in exploiting the new media, [MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has] been way ahead of some of his younger, slicker commissioner confreres.” That will “be part of his legacy,” but so will the Mitchell report (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 10/30).
SUPER BOWL VALUE: The 15 home football games for the Univ. of Michigan and Michigan State Univ. this year are worth a combined $177M to the state’s economic value, more than triple the $56M Super Bowl XL at Ford Field delivered. Of the $177M for the college games, $88.7M is a direct impact from tickets, parking, concessions and food and drink before and after the game (CRAINSDETROIT.com, 10/29).
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