This Week's Newsmakers: Federer Win Heightens Wimbledon Appeal
THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers:
 |
Federer Has Now Won Major
Titles On All Four Surfaces |
WIN: ROGER FEDERER -- The Swiss star finally conquers the clay of Roland Garros to tie PETE SAMPRAS with 14 career grand slam titles, while accomplishing something Sampras himself never managed -- winning major titles on all four surfaces. Federer's marketability also is instantly reinforced, as sponsors Nike, Gillette and NetJets are quick to offer their congratulations. But perhaps the biggest winner from Federer's success is the sport of tennis, as Roger's triumph jump starts the summer season and sets the stage for a potentially historic Wimbledon in two weeks, giving NBC a strong story line to hype as Federer pursues the sport's most hallowed record.
LOSE: SETANTA -- The broadcaster has spent much of this week on the verge of administration, and while an investor reportedly has emerged to grant a last-minute reprieve, the future clearly is not bright. Setanta already has missed a payment on its Scottish Premier League rights, and the clock is ticking on a scheduled payment of around $50M due to the EPL by this weekend. The broadcaster's fortunes took a turn for the worse earlier this year after failing to renew all of its EPL rights, and now Setanta faces the prospect of potentially being forced to sell off its remaining rights to stay afloat.
DRAW: MLB DRAFT -- STEPHEN STRASBURG gives the event some much-needed star power, but the Nationals' upcoming negotiations with the phenom could have far-reaching implications for the future of the Draft as SCOTT BORAS attempts to break the bank. Despite the economy, most teams -- save the Pirates -- continue to ignore signability and slotting recommendations, leading to increasingly higher demands from draftees. And while the primetime coverage on MLB Network offers the event a national presence it has sorely lacked in previous years, the coverage itself leaves a lot to be desired.
|
