| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday February 10, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | Senators Today Receive Extension; Judge Nearly Doubles Interim Financing |
| • | NASCAR.com To Offer "RaceCast" Free Through Speedweeks In Daytona |
| • | ISC Today Announces Several Executive Management Changes |
| • | IMG Licensing Today Announces Wimbledon Eyewear Collection |
| • | Why Was Fuzzy Zoeller Disqualified From This Past Weekend's Event? |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight's Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
JUDGE DENIES DUNN'S MOTIONS TO OVERTURN $44.6M VERDICT
The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that U.S. district judge Ronald Lew has "denied motions by sports agent David Dunn to overturn a $44.66[M] verdict against him and his company and has ordered him to pay an additional $2.6[M] in attorneys fees incurred by his former partner, Leigh Steinberg." Lew agreed with Dunn's attorneys that there "may have been an error in instructions given" to an L.A. federal court jury in November '02, but said that if the jury "had found a different result, he would have ruled against Dunn and his agency, Athletes First, in virtually the same way the jury did" (SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.com, 2/10).
SENATORS TODAY RECEIVE EXTENSION UNTIL APRIL 17
REUTERS reports that the Senators today were awarded a "two-month extension of their court protection from creditors," which now runs through until April 17. The team's two main creditors are CIBC and FleetBoston Financial. Ontario Superior Court Judge James Chadwick also "nearly doubled the limit on interim financing the club is allowed to draw, to $17.5[M] from $8.8[M], to allow it to pay its players Friday and continue operations until some sort of restructuring of the club is finished" (REUTERS, 2/10). Meanwhile, Senators Chair Rod Bryden has scheduled a 4:00pm ET news conference today at the Corel Centre to give an update on the status of the team (THE DAILY).
USOC CMO TOBY WONG OFFICIALLY RESIGNS TODAY
As reported in today's issue of The Daily, Toby Wong has resigned as the USOC's CMO in order to pursue other professional opportunities. Wong had served in the position since April '02. Meanwhile, USOC CEO Lloyd Ward announced to his staff today the promotion of two USOC staff members to senior positions within the organization. Jim Grice has been promoted to Chief of Sales and Marketing, and Keith Allo has been named Chief of Entertainment Properties (THE DAILY).
BILL FRANCE TO RELINQUISH CEO TITLE TO JIM FRANCE
ISC today announced several changes to its management team. ISC CEO & Chair Bill France has relinquished his CEO title, and will be replaced in that capacity by his brother, President & COO Jim France. ISC Exec VP Lesa Kennedy, who is Bill France's daughter, will become President. Furthermore, ISC Senior VP/Operations John Saunders will be named Senior VP & COO (THE DAILY).
"RACECAST" AND "TRACKPASS" TO COMPLEMENT NET COVERAGE
NASCAR.com is providing "RaceCast," along with "TrackPass with Pit Command," for free during NASCAR's Speedweeks at Daytona Int'l Speedway, ending February 16. "TrackPass with Pit Command" will be available for purchase after February 18 for $64.95, or $9.95 per month. "TrackPass" will also be available without "Pit Command" for $49.95, or $6.95 per month (THE DAILY).
Over 100,000 subscribers have signed up for NASCAR.com's "TrackPass" since its February '02 launch. "TrackPass" provides online race coverage for all Winston Cup Series and Busch Series events (THE DAILY).
AVERAGE PRICE PAID FOR ATHLETIC FOOTWEAR DOWN IN '02
The National Sporting Goods Association today reported that the average price paid for athletic and sports footwear in '02 fell to $38.88, a decline of 3% from the '01 average of $40.17. The largest category, gym shoes & sneakers, declined 3.8% to an average price of $26.53. Other categories experiencing declines include trail running shoes (down 11.9%), aerobic shoes (down 7%) and cycling shoes (down 5.8%) (THE DAILY).
ALL ENGLAND CLUB AND HART TODAY ANNOUNCE EYEWEAR DEAL
IMG Licensing today announced that The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, host of Wimbledon, and eyewear company Hart Specialties signed an exclusive eyewear licensing arrangement for North America. The Wimbledon eyewear collection will make its debut at the Int'l Vision Expo from March 21-23 at the Jacob Javits Center in N.Y. (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
Major League Lacrosse today announced that helmet manufacturer Cascade has agreed to a multi-year extension of its league-wide sponsorship as the "Exclusive Helmet of Major League Lacrosse" through at least the '06 season. Teams and players will continue to exclusively use Cascade helmets (THE DAILY).
AutoTrader.com today announced that it has secured sponsorship of pre-race show entitlement of the Busch Series Koolerz 300, to be run February 15 at Daytona Int'l Speedway. The company's logo will also appear alongside a ticker showing the running order of the drivers during all Fox coverage during NASCAR's Speedweeks at Daytona Int'l Sppedway. The deal marks AutoTrader.com's third season with NASCAR on Fox (THE DAILY).
Easton Hockey today announced that it will renew its position as an official equipment supplier and marketing partner of USA Hockey and USA Hockey InLine through '06 (THE DAILY).
The AP reported that Cajundome Dir Greg Davis today "will recommend that the Cajundome Commission terminate its contract with Orlando Predators Entertainment," the owners of the ECHL LA IceGators. Davis will also ask the Commission "to entertain proposals from anyone else interested in bringing hockey" to Lafayette, LA. Davis' recommendations will not affect the rest of the IceGators' season (AP, 2/9).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The MIAMI HERALD reported that Champions Tour player Fuzzy Zoeller was disqualified after Friday's round at the Royal Caribbean Classic "when he hit three balls off the sixth tee for the benefit of a TV cameraman," violating a PGA Tour rule prohibiting practice on the competition course between rounds. The violation came at the end of an hour-long lesson he gave to WSVN-Fox reporter Jackie Johnson, "scheduled to run as one of her new twice-a-week fitness features" (MIAMI HERALD, 2/8).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Rangers C Eric Lindros will host the inaugural Celebrity Mini-Golf Classic from 6:30-10:00pm ET at the Lobby of the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Rangers D Tom Poti, RW Matthew Barnaby, C Petr Nedved and RW Pavel Bure will attend, and all proceeds will benefit the Children's Miracle Network and Rangers Cheering for Children (THE DAILY).
The AHL Grand Rapids Griffins will hold their second annual "Tip-A-Griffin" fundraiser. Players and coaches will work as waiters and bartenders at five area Applebee's restaurants from 6:00-9:00pm ET, with all tips and donations to benefit the Habitat for Humanity of Kent County (THE DAILY).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air NCAA men's basketball, Syracuse-UConn at 7:00pm ET, Oklahoma-Texas at 9:00pm ET and Utah-Wyoming at 12:00am ET.
ESPN2 will air Sharks-Red Wings at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Peggy Fleming at 8:00pm ET.
Thrashers RW Dany Heatley and PGA Tour golfer Notah Begay are scheduled to appear on FSN's "BDSSP."
The Golf Channel's "Golf Talk" will feature Tom Watson at 8:00pm ET.
Heatley will be on MSG's "JD on Ice" at 11:00pm ET.
A&E's "Biography" will profile Jean Harlow at 8:00pm ET.
USA Network will air the "Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show 'Opening Night'" at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "Late Show" | Matthew Broderick |
| "The Tonight Show" | Michael Clarke Duncan |
| "The Late Late Show" | John Ritter |
| "Late Night" | Matt Damon (r) |
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The Portland OREGONIAN's Jeff Manning writes that in the pursuit of an MLB team, "one key ingredient has yet to emerge: An owner," noting that Portland's baseball movement "lacks its George Steinbrenner, the salty tycoon with the brass and bankroll to support a team." Manning continues that a survey of some of "the region's wealthiest and most successful entrepreneurs indicates a clear lack of interest in filling that role" (Portland OREGONIAN).
The N.Y. TIMES' Sandomir & Pennington write that the USOC's latest crisis "has been deeply embarrassing … but the long term consequences could be much more serious." There are growing concerns that corporate sponsors "may become reluctant to continue to spend millions for athletes' training, that the bid by [N.Y.] to play host to the 2012 Summer Games may be undermined and that the Olympic committee may find it hard to attract top-notch executive talent" (N.Y. TIMES).
The L.A. TIMES' Mike Terry writes that the WNBA has, "at best, reached a crossroads." After six seasons of functioning as a single entity "under the financially stable wing of the NBA, … the league is under new ownership – each of its 14 franchises operating individually – and is preparing to take flight into uncharted air space" (L.A. TIMES).
The WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL's Mulhern & Louis look at NASCAR and RJR as the two entities consider ending their 32-year relationship, acknowledging that "more than the car companies and the tire companies and all the other businesses that have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into helping cars circle a track at 180mph, Reynolds has been the fuel that made NASCAR roar" (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL).
In his ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS column, The Bonham Group Chair Dean Bonham defends naming rights sponsorships, writing that "when negotiated properly, (they) create a powerful marketing platform for companies to automatically link their organizations with well-established and popular cultural entities, generate enormous brand awareness, create quality interaction with clients and/or prospects, and showcase their products or services, often on an exclusive basis, on a named facility's premises" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
TODAY'S TEASER…
Sports: Which player is in the top ten in each of the following categories for NBA rookies: points, assists, steals, rebounds and blocks per game?
IN OTHER NEWS…
AD AGE reports that Viacom Plus "has reached a new multimillion-dollar cross-platform deal to promote" GM's Saturn Ion in and around "Survivor: The Amazon," which debuts Thursday. The deal includes "Survivor" and Ion-related spots on MTV, VH1, TNN and CMT as well as on Infinity Broadcasting and Westwood One (AD AGE, 2/10 issue).
THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION
The following presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending February 1 (NYTIMES.com, 2/10):
| THIS
WEEK | HARDCOVER NONFICTION |
| 1) | WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE?, Po Bronson (Random House) |
| 2) | THE SAVAGE NATION, Michael Savage (WND/Thomas Nelson) |
| 3) | THIS JUST IN, Bob Schieffer (Putnam) |
| 4) | THE RIGHT MAN, David Frum (Random House) |
| 5) | LEADERSHIP, Rudolph W. Giuliani with Ken Kurson (Miramax/Hyperion) |
| 6) | PORTRAIT OF A KILLER, Patricia Cornwell (Putnam) |
| 7) | BUSH AT WAR, Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster) |
| 8) | STUPID WHITE MEN, Michael Moore (Regan-Books/HarperCollins) |
| 9) | 1421, Gavin Menzies (Morrow) |
| 10) | THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN'T TALK, Susan McDougal with Pat Harris
(Carroll & Graf) |
…TODAY'S ANSWER
Nuggets F Nene Hilario, the #7 overall pick in the '02 draft. Note: Hilario was drafted by the Knicks, but traded to the Nuggets on draft day.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
The Closing Bell provides an afternoon recap of the latest news and headlines each Monday through Friday at approximately 4:00pm ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert to the Closing Bell, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.
