| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, June 26, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | N.Y.-Based Burly Bear To Close For Good Without Sufficient Funds |
| • | FedEx, PGA Tour Reach One Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal, Extend Another |
| • | Marquee Player Michelle Branch Takes To Garden Structure For WNBA Ads |
| • | NCAA Div I Infractions Committee Places Berkeley On Five-Year Probation |
| • | Tune In To Tonight's NBA Draft Via The Web In Chinese |
| • | Articles Of Interest/In Other News/Tonight's Events/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
BURLY BEAR IN HIBERNATION: MARKETING FIRM TO SHUT ITS DOORS
By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large, The Sports Business Daily
College marketing firm Burly Bear Network has laid off most of its staff and will shutter permanently, pending last-minute funding from a major cable TV operator, sources said today. The eight-year-old Manhattan-based company, whose CEO is former NFL Senior VP/Marketing Howard Handler, laid off around 40 employees and a number of campus-based employees last Friday, and will close for good without imminent funding. At its height, Burly Bear claimed to reach more than 5 million students at 600 universities. Burly Bear has also run tours and other live campus events. Lorne Michaels (creator and Exec Producer of "Saturday Night Live") became Chair of Burley Bear after buying into the company in '97 (THE DAILY).
MAIL BONDING: FEDEX, PGA TOUR INK ONE DEAL, EXTEND ANOTHER
FedEx and the PGA Tour have reached a multi-year sponsorship making FedEx the "Official Shipping Company" of both the PGA and Senior PGA Tours. FedEx also announced a four-year extension of its title deal with the FedEx St. Jude Classic through '06. FedEx has sponsored the St. Jude Classic, which is under way this week at the Tournament Players Club at Southwind in Memphis, for 17 years (THE DAILY).
BRANCH GOES OUT ON A LIMB FOR NEW WNBA AD CAMPAIGN
Pop singer Michelle Branch is featured in new NBAE TV spots, set to debut nationally this week as part of the WNBA's "This is Who I Am" campaign. The 30-second spots, which will air throughout the WNBA season, feature Branch performing on the marquee of MSG before a Liberty game, interspersed with WNBA game footage (THE DAILY).
JUDGE EXPECTS RULING ON TWINS DOCUMENTS BY NEXT WEEK
The AP reports that a judge "will decide in a week how to handle 9,000 documents" the Twins turned over to a public agency "as part of a lawsuit that saved the team from elimination." The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission told Judge Harry Crump today that it is "caught between a prior order shielding the Twins' documents and arguments by four media organizations that the information is public under Minnesota's data practices act." Commission attorney Kathleen Brennan said, "The commission has no desire to violate state law or the court's order. Tell us what to do with the disputed data and we'll do it" (AP, 6/26).
CABLEVISION INVESTS $5M IN CONVERTIBLE DEBT INTO PVI
Princeton Video Image (PVI) announced today that Cablevision Systems Corporation has invested an additional $5M in convertible debt in PVI, which the company intends to use to continue its transition from a technology firm to a full-service media company (THE DAILY).
REPEAT-OFFENDER BERKELEY RECEIVES FIVE-YEAR PROBATION
The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions today imposed a one-year postseason ban in football and placed the Univ. of CA Berkeley on probation for five years because of violations in the university's football program. The violations involved bylaws governing ethical conduct through academic fraud, academic eligibility, obligation to withhold ineligible student-athletes from competition, extra benefits, recruiting and institutional control (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
USOC CEO Lloyd Ward is one of 20 individuals appointed by President Bush to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports today. Two-time Olympian Dr. Dot Richardson was named Vice Chair of the council, which is chaired by NFL HOFer Lynn Swann. Richardson currently is Medical Dir of the National Training Center in Clermont, FL (THE DAILY).
Kentucky Speedway today announced that it has extended its corporate partnership with the John Deere Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment Division, making it the "Official Tractor of Kentucky Speedway" through '05 (THE DAILY).
Sportswriter Marty York has joined ROUGE.ca as a CFL analyst, and will contribute a column and provide weekly picks on the Web site (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
NEWSDAY's Laura Price-Brown on Title IX being applied at the high school level.
The INDIANAPOLIS STAR's Michael Pointer on the National Wrestling Coaches Association's lawsuit.
The L.A. TIMES' Valerie Gutierrez writes that "minority women get left behind" by Title IX.
The ORLANDO SENTINEL's George Diaz on proposed renovations to the FL Citrus Bowl.
The COLUMBUS DISPATCH's Ken Gordon profiles the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.
The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER offers a look at two scalpers in L.A.
FLORIDA TODAY's Peter Kerasotis profiles author and RDV Sports VP Pat Williams.
The WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL's Cynthia Hobgood on the success of the Capitals' Web site.
The OAKLAND TRIBUNE's Robert Gammon on a recent tour by city and team execs of five ballparks as the A's search for a new home.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
NBA.com will offer comprehensive coverage of tonight's draft in Chinese. Coverage is accessible at NBA.com/china (THE DAILY).
The USOC will sponsor a seminar in Indianapolis to address the decline of Olympics sports programs in American colleges and universities. The following USOC members are among those expected to attend: CEO Lloyd Ward, acting President Marty Mankamyer, Senior Managing Dir Jim Scherr and General Counsel Jeff Benz. View the full itinerary (THE DAILY).
The WNBA Fire will host Breast Health Awareness Night during their 7:00pm PT game against the Miracle. As part of the event, the Fire will donate $0.50 cents of every ticket purchased to the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
REUTERS reports that WorldCom "teetered on the edge of bankruptcy [today] after its $3.8 billion accounting scandal hammered bonds and stocks, and led President Bush to call for a full investigation" (REUTERS, 6/26).
General Mills Inc. said today that quarterly earnings fell 61%, "dragged down by costs and problems related to its acquisition of food maker Pillsbury." General Mills posted net income of $57M, or $0.15 cents per share, in its Q4 ended May 26. A year earlier, the company earned $146M, or $0.50 cents per share (REUTERS, 6/26).
The AP reports that a federal appeals court ruled today that the Pledge of Allegiance is "an unconstitutional endorsement of religion and cannot be recited in schools." The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "overturned a 1954 act of Congress inserting the phrase 'under God' after the words 'one nation' in the pledge," stating that the phrase "violates the so-called Establishment Clause in the Constitution that requires a separation of church and state" (AP, 6/26).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of June 17-23. Also provided are Nielsen ratings averages season-to-date for the nets' primetime coverage (USA TODAY, 6/26).
| TOP TEN PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS FOR JUNE 17–23
|
| RK | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | CSI | CBS | Thu | 9.8/18 | 15.0 |
| 2) | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 8.9/15 | 13.3 |
| 3) | 48 Hours | CBS | Mon | 8.8/15 | 12.2 |
| 4) | Becker | CBS | Mon | 8.0/13 | 11.7 |
| 5) | Law & Order | NBC | Wed | 7.7/13 | 11.0 |
| 6) | 60 Minutes | CBS | Sun | 7.5/16 | 10.3 |
| 6) | American Idol | Fox | Tue | 6.2/11 | 10.3 |
| 7) | Dog Eat Dog | NBC | Mon | 6.4/11 | 10.2 |
| 9) | Law & Order: SVU | NBC | Fri | 7.1/13 | 10.1 |
| 10) | The Price Is Right: U.S. Marines | CBS | Thu | 6.9/14 | 9.9 |
| |
| NIELSEN AVERAGES SEASON-TO-DATE |
| | NBC | | 9.0 | |
| | |
| | CBS | | 8.3 | |
| | |
| | ABC | | 6.4 | |
| | |
| | Fox | | 5.8 | |
| | |
| | UPN | | 2.7 | |
| | |
| | WB | | 2.5 | |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air Braves-Mets at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Indians-Red Sox at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air the NBA Draft at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile John McEnroe at 8:00pm ET.
Tony Hawk, Mat Hoffman, Laila Ali, Billie Jean King and actor Tom Green will be on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
Ozzie Smith will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
A&E's "Biography" will profile chef Emeril Lagasse at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile Winona Ryder at 8:00pm ET.
Lil' Bow Wow will appear on CBS' "Late Show" with David Letterman to promote "Like Mike."
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Tom Brokaw |
| "The Tonight Show" | Tom Green |
| "The Late Late Show" | Ali Landry |
| "Late Night" | Dermot Mulroney |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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