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Catching Up With MLB's Tim Brosnan Fresh From Beijing
MLB’s executive vice president for business Tim Brosnan returned to New York on Wednesday night from a whirlwind five-day trip to Beijing.The longtime MLB executive has been a key figure in the sport’s increasing involvement in China, which in March saw the staging of two exhibition games between San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brosnan spoke with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Eric Fisher. Read More >
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Laura Wilkinson Provides Platform For Sponsors
Laura Wilkinson, in her last Olympics, heads into today's 10-meter platform finals in sixth place, having won gold in the event in the 2000 Sydney Games. While diving certainly is among the sports that get little U.S. exposure between Olympics, it could end up being one of the crucial battlegrounds in the unofficial U.S.-China medal count rivalry, and a strong finish could catapult Wilkinson to the forefront of U.S. Olympic coverage.
Wilkinson’s agent, Octagon’s Janey Miller, described Speedo as Wilkinson’s “biggest sponsor, and her most important, because their commitment to the sport of diving has allowed Laura to stay in the sport.” Read More >
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NBC's Prime-Time Rating Back Over 16 On Tuesday
NBC earned a 16.3/27 national rating with 26.6 million viewers for Tuesday night's prime-time coverage of the Beijing Games, up 3.8 percent from a 15.7/26 for the comparable night in Athens in 2004. Through Monday, NBC is averaging a 17.1/29 national rating (29.3 million viewers) for 12 prime-time telecasts, up 8.2 percent from a 15.8/27 in Athens and marking the best rating through the second Tuesday of a non-U.S. Summer Games since an 18.1/34 for the 1992 Barcelona Games.
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Medal Stand
Gold
Usain Bolt
No male sprinter had won the 100 and 200 meters in the same Olympics since 1984, but Usain Bolt did that and more when he broke Michael Johnson's 200-meter world record. The long-limbed Jamaican (who has become a poster boy for Puma) put on a spectacular show that lent some pizzazz to an otherwise ho-hum week at the track.
Silver
NBC ad sales
Riding a tide of impressive ratings, NBC's ad sales division has sold $25 million in advertising since the Olympics began and $15 million in the past seven days. The network expects more to be sold between now and the closing ceremony on Sunday, a great sign for the network.
Bronze
The weather
The rain in Beijing put a damper on two of NBC's live programs last night, delaying the start of the women's beach volleyball game and forcing BMX racing to be rescheduled to Friday. What happened to China's ability to control the weather?
Tin
Protest zones
What's the point of creating a protest zone if you have to apply to get permission to protest there? It came to light that two Chinese women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, made five visits to the police this month to get permission to protest inadequate compensation for their home's demolition. Now news arrives that they've been sentenced to "re-education through labor." Did China forget that the world's watching? -
United Airlines Renews $10M Deal With USOC
United Airlines has agreed to renew its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Team, signing an agreement to be the official airline of the USOC for the 2009-12 quadrennial. Sources valued the supplier-level deal in the $10 million range over the period of the contract. An announcement is expected later today. Read More > -
Economist: ‘Beijing Will Not Follow Disastrous Path’
All cities that play host to sporting events trot out economic impact studies. It’s a way to justify huge infrastructure and facilities costs.
But these Beijing Games have had a vast and deep economic impact on Beijing and China, even if a post-Olympic “adjustment” is likely, according to a report issued today by the Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association. Read More > -
Women’s Pro Soccer Eyes World’s Top Star
Brazil’s Marta is considered to be the world’s most dazzling women’s soccer player, but does the new U.S. women’s league stand a chance of signing her for its inaugural season? Women’s Professional Soccer Commissioner Tonya Antonucci thinks so.
“She’s indicated interest in coming to WPS, which is fantastic,” Antonucci said. Read More > -
Catching Up With Adidas Executive Erica Kerner
Adi Dassler first created spikes for Olympic athletes in 1928. Eighty years later, American Erica Kerner is overseeing a new extension of the Adidas brand in China. A former international marketing executive for Nike, Kerner has lived in Taiwan and China for 17 years. She is the director of the Beijing 2008 Olympics Program for Adidas China, which is the official sportswear partner of the Games. SportsBusiness Journal correspondent Jay Weiner caught up with her this week as China’s athletes kept winning medals and appearing on podiums wearing the Adidas logo on their uniforms. Read More >
