| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday February 5, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | IOC Director General Francois Carrard Stepping Down From Post |
| • | Pete Sampras Returns To IMG After Leaving Firm In '99 |
| • | Fujifilm Today Announces Sponsorship Of '06 FIFA World Cup |
| • | NHRA Using NHL Kings Tie-In To Promote Season Opener |
| • | THE ONION Tells Why Yankees Are Guaranteed To Win The Pennant This Year |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight's Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
CARRARD TO REMAIN WITH IOC AS SENIOR LEGAL ADVISER
The AP reports that Francois Carrard is stepping down as IOC Director General. Carrard has held the post on a part-time basis since '89, but under IOC President Jacques Rogge's restructuring plan, "the director general is to become a full-time employee." Carrard will "remain in the position until a new director general is hired. He will then serve as a senior IOC adviser in charge of legal affairs." Carrard, a senior partner in a Swiss law firm, has often acted as the IOC's chief spokesperson (AP, 2/5).
SAMPRAS BACK WITH IMG: BOB KAIN TO HANDLE ACCOUNT
IMG announced today that Pete Sampras has returned to the agency for exclusive marketing representation. In '99, Sampras followed his agent, Jeff Schwartz, when Schwartz left IMG. However, in a court settlement, IMG and Schwartz agreed to co-manage Sampras. Later in '99, Schwartz helped launch Artists Management Group's sports division, which agent Jill Smoller joined in April of '00. Smoller eventually took over Sampras' account, and Sampras followed Smoller when she departed for the William Morris Agency in April '02. IMG North America President & COO Bob Kain will now handle Sampras' marketing (THE DAILY).
FUJIFILM SPONSORSHIP INCLUDES EIGHT FIFA EVENTS
FIFA today announced that Fujifilm will be an Official Partner of the '06 FIFA World Cup with product categories including photographic film, digital cameras and image processing systems and services. The partnership also includes the FIFA World Youth Championship, the FIFA Confederations Cup and the FIFA U-17 Championship in '03 and '05, as well as the FIFA Women's World Cup China in '03. Fujifilm joins adidas, Avaya, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Continental, Deutsche Telekom, Emirates Airline, Gillette, Hyundai, McDonald's, Philips, Toshiba and Yahoo as Official Partners of the '06 FIFA World Cup. FIFA anticipates signing one additional corporate partner before the roster is full (THE DAILY).
MBNA AND BASS PRO SHOPS TO TITLE ATLANTA RACE ON MARCH 9
Atlanta Motor Speedway officials today announced that MBNA America and MO-based Bass Pro Shops will be the co-title sponsors of the track's spring NASCAR Winston Cup race on March 9. The race will be known as the MBNA Bass Pro Shops 500. While MBNA sponsored the race last season, the deal marks Bass Pro Shops' first foray into race sponsorship (THE DAILY).
MARKETING DEAL EXPANDS OAKLEY'S PRESENCE WITH NHRA
The NHRA and Oakley today announced an agreement to have Oakley become a lifestyle-marketing partner of NHRA, beginning with the '03 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season. The deal makes Oakley the primary sponsor of two Funny Cars owned by Schumacher Racing and an associate sponsor of another Schumacher-owned car and the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster. Oakley will continue to have its "O" store on-site at every NHRA national event (THE DAILY).
KRAFT FOOD ANNOUNCES THE WINSTON SWEEPSTAKES
In leveraging its association with Roush Racing, Kraft Food announced today that it offering an "I'll Drive Your Name to Fame!" sweeps with a grand prize of a trip to Lowe's Motor Speedway in NC to attend The Winston on May 17. The winner's name will also be decaled on the No. 99 Ford of Jeff Burton, which will carry the colors of Kraft's Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese and Velveeta Shells & Cheese brands in a one-race deal (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
Sporting News this week offers its NASCAR preview, with the header, "NASCAR '03 … Prove It." The cover features Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
ESPN Magazine this week offers "The Yao Show … A Week In The Life Of The NBA's Hottest And Funniest Superstar." A NASCAR preview is also included.
Sports Illustrated this week also offers a NASCAR preview. The cover, however, plays off the Chinese New Year, featuring Rockets Yao Ming under the header, "The Year Of Yao Ming … He Shoots. He Smiles. He Sells."
The AP reports that Summit County Judge James Williams today "blocked a state ruling that stripped" LeBron James of his eligibility. Instead, James was ordered to serve a two-game suspension, which includes the one game he has already missed. James' school, St. Vincent-St. Mary's, can "decide which game the senior will miss but must tell him by noon Thursday" (AP, 2/5).
MA-based sports and event marketing agency Woolf Associates today unveiled the logo and brand identity for WBA heavyweight champion John "The Quietman" Ruiz. Ruiz is scheduled to fight March 1 versus undisputed light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. in Las Vegas (THE DAILY).
Reebok will premiere its newest "Terry Tate" ad, where the animated disciplinarian takes offense to a streaker in an acknowledged parody of Nike's popular "Streaker" spot. The spot will air during "American Idol," which can be seen on Fox at 9:00pm ET.
CART today unveiled a new logo for its Toyota Atlantic Championship series. Toyota has been the series' primary sponsor since '89. The series is a steppingstone to the Champ Car World Series (THE DAILY).
State Farm Insurance today announced it will serve as the official sponsor of the BassFan.com World Rankings, the only statistical world rankings of professional bass fishermen (THE DAILY).
The AP reports that Diane Bodine, the wife of NASCAR driver Brett Bodine, was "charged with making harassing phone calls and threatening a woman she suspected was involved with her husband." The woman, whose name was not released, is an employee of Hooters of America, one of Bodine's sponsors (AP, 2/5).
Bauer Nike Hockey today released information stating that 47% of NHL All-Stars wore Bauer skates during the NHL All-Star Game, adding that not one of the players was sponsored or paid. The All-Star skates breakdown as follows:
| Brand | Number of Players |
| Bauer | 17 |
| CCM | 10 |
| Graff | 6 |
| Easton | 2 |
| Mission | 1 |
A LIGHTER BUZZ
This week's issue of THE ONION offers a satirical take on the Yankees' free-spending ways, writing under the header, "Yankees Ensure 2003 Pennant By Signing Every Player In Baseball" (THE ONION, 2/5 issue).
PROMOTION OF THE WEEK: NHRA & NHL KINGS TEAM UP
The NHL Kings and the NHRA are conducting a cross-promotional effort to attract non-traditional fans to tonight's Coyotes-Kings game at Staples Center, and to this weekend's NHRA K&N Filters Winternationals season-opening event in Pomona, CA.
The NHRA has promoted tonight's hockey game to its entire database of customers, as well as in its weekly magazine National Dragster. The promotion offers a 25% ticket discount in all price ranges to all interested NHRA fans. In turn, the NHRA will have a presence at tonight's game and will make available 5,000 coupons offering a 25% ticket discount to this weekend's event.
NHRA Top Fuel Drivers Tony Schumacher, Darrell Russell and Brandon Bernstein will participate tonight in an autograph session and an on-ice remote control car race during the first intermission. The Kings have made a suite available for the drivers and NHRA officials. Meanwhile, the NHRA will provide a suite for Kings players and officials for this weekend's event in Pomona.
The NHRA will have a promotional display in front of the Staples Center tonight, as well as an information booth in the lobby. Additionally, the Kings will offer a "lucky row" giveaway of NHRA-themed gift packs, including autographed merchandise. The drivers will be shown on the Jumbotron at various points during the game and public address announcements will be made to promote the race.
Meanwhile, the Kings will have a presence at this weekend's race and will staff an information booth.
NHRA VP/Sales & Business Development Bob Wagner said that the organization has sold 100 advance tickets to this weekend's race through the promotion in the Kings' weekly e-mail newsletter. Wagner: "If we ultimately sell 300-500 tickets via this partnership, we will consider the event a success."
Additionally, both events have been promoted on KCBS-FM.
Do you have an interesting promotion The Daily should know about? If so, please email Joe Oliver at joeo@sportsbusinessdaily.com
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The Marlins '03 Caravan will stop at the Office Depot Center for the 7:30pm ET Maple Leafs-Panthers game. Marlins P Josh Beckett will make a guest appearance on the Panthers' TV broadcast during the first intermission, and team execs will be stationed in the front lobby with Marlins season-ticket information (THE DAILY).
CHANNEL SURFING
Motocross rider Mike Metzger and surfer Rochelle Ballard will be on FSN's "54321" at 5:00pm ET.
ESPN will air NCAA men's basketball, Cincinnati-Louisville at 7:00pm ET, and North Carolina-Duke at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Nets-76ers at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Jackie Robinson at 8:00pm ET.
Padres 1B Phil Nevin, NHRA drag racer John Force and The Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin are scheduled to appear on FSN's "BDSSP."
A&E's "Biography" will profile Ricardo Montalban at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile Winona Ryder at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "Revealed" will profile Reese Witherspoon at 10:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "Late Show" | Kelsey Grammer |
| "The Tonight Show" | Jesse Ventura |
| "The Late Late Show" | Andrew McCarthy |
| "Late Night" | Roseanne Barr |
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The FLORIDA TIMES-UNION's Gregory Richards writes, "Tempered by a dour economy and shareholders wary of more scandals like Enron's and Worldcom's, companies spent less" on Super Bowl parties in San Diego, "a trend watched with concern by those planning Jacksonville's Super Bowl in 2005" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION).
CBS SPORTSLINE's Rick Horrow writes that as the NBA enters its All-Star Weekend celebration in Atlanta, the league "would be wise to focus on three business goals to ensure ultimate long-term growth: (1) expand all aspects of the television/corporate sponsorship model; (2) stabilize all key markets and focus on diverse fan demographics; and (3) intensify international development and long-term expansion" (CBS SPORTSLINE).
The Portland OREGONIAN's Richard Read writes, "Like a page from a business-school case study, Nike's strategy of keeping its design, engineering, administration, marketing and critical manufacturing in the United States presents a model for Oregon's high-tech industry. The state's hope would be to keep high-tech brains, whether at homegrown or other companies, while inevitably moving brawn abroad" (Portland OREGONIAN).
CNNSI.com's Paul Zimmerman offers his fifth annual TV Commentator Awards, and writes, "The subject of TV commentators seems to arouse considerable passion, … but the sad fact is I've lowered my sights so much in the last five years, that mere competence is now a cause for celebration" (CNNSI.com).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
TODAY'S TEASER…
Mindbenders: All the vowels (including "y") have been removed from the following saying. What is it?
F T N T B R K D N T F X T
IN OTHER NEWS……
REUTERS reported that Def Jam Records Founder Russell Simmons during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Atlanta will announce plans for a boycott against Pepsi "for applying a double standard" in selecting its endorsers. Pepsi placed Ozzy Osbourne and family in its Super Bowl commercial "only months after yanking rapper Ludacris for his vulgar language." Simmons' move is "strategically timed, announcing the boycott of Pepsi" in rival Coca-Cola's hometown during a high-profile weekend (REUTERS, 2/4).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of January 27-Febrruary 2. Also provided are viewership averages season-to-date for each net (USA TODAY, 2/5).
| RK | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | CSI | CBS | Thu | 16.6/24 | 27.5 |
| 2) | American Idol | Fox | Wed | 14.3/21 | 26.0 |
| 3) | Friends | NBC | Thu | 16.3/25 | 25.8 |
| 4) | American Idol | Fox | Tue | 13.7/20 | 24.1 |
| 5) | ER | NBC | Thu | 14.3/23 | 21.9 |
| 6) | Joe Millionaire | Fox | Mon | 12.1/17 | 20.3 |
| 7) | Scrubs | NBC | Thu | 11.1/17 | 17.3 |
| 8) | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 11.1/16 | 17.2 |
| 9) | CSI: Miami | CBS | Mon | 11.2/18 | 16.9 |
| 10) | Without A Trace | CBS | Thu | 10.8/17 | 16.6 |
| |
| NET | VIEWERS |
| CBS | 12.8 |
| NBC | 11.8 |
| ABC | 10.7 |
| Fox | 9.5 |
| WB | 4.3 |
| UPN | 3.7 |
…TODAY'S ANSWER
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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