This Week's Newsmakers: Marlins Again Unload Top Players
THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of some people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers.
WIN: NFL ON CABLE -- Patriots-Ravens on ESPN Monday night draws 17.5 million viewers, the most ever for any cable program. Meanwhile, Packers-Cowboys draws 9.7 million last Thursday on the distribution-challenged NFL Network and outdraws the big four networks in key demos. Clearly, cable's ability to draw large audiences is minimizing the difference between distribution of broadcast and cable networks.
LOSE: MARLINS -- The team trades stars MIGUEL CABRERA and DONTRELLE WILLIS to the Tigers, which one Miami columnist calls “just another chapter for a franchise that has made as much history in unloading its best players as it has in winning the World Series." As for the excuse that the team needs a new ballpark in order to generate revenue to retain its top talent, another writes JEFF LORIA, DAVID SAMSON & co. “absolutely could have afforded to keep Cabrera and Willis at least for this season and perhaps beyond.”
DRAW: NASCAR -- The racing organization loses Craftsman as the primary backer of its truck series, meaning its three top circuits will all have new names within the next two years. But we're sure NASCAR sees this as another tremendous sales opportunity, a la Nextel/Sprint and Nationwide. And Coca-Cola’s new ten-year sponsorship shows the sport is not going to lose Corporate America’s support anytime soon.
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