| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | MGM Today Announces NFL Advertising Deal To Promote “Barbershop 2” |
| • | Wizards To Host Asian Night Tonight, While Sonics Expect Sellout For LeBron |
| • | NCAA Members Approve Amendment To Allow Schools To Split Divisions |
| • | Home Depot Canada Interested In Turning Maple Leaf Gardens Into Megastore |
| • | St. Paul Community Forum To Be Held Tonight To Discuss Potential Stadium |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
“BARBERSHOP 2” TO BE PROMOTED UNDER MGM DEAL WITH NFL
MGMPictures today announced an agreement with the NFL to promote “Barbershop 2:Back In Business” during Super Bowl week in Houston. The highlight of the deal is an official Super Bowl screening andparty for the film on January 29 in Houston, the first time a movie studio hasheld such an event. MGM will receive adunits in a variety of NFL-driven Super Bowl-related programming. The movie will also be a two-week sponsor ofSuperBowl.com (MGM).
WIZARDS, SONICS HOPING FOR BIG CROWDS FOR YAO AND LeBRON
The Wizards will host Asian Night before and during the team’s7:00pm ET game against the Rockets and C Yao Ming. Highlights of the event include Chinesedancers, martial arts demonstrations, a Chinese Lion and Dragon dance. Also, classical pianist Lang Langwill perform the National Anthem (Wizards).
TheSEATTLE TIMES notes that about 1,000 mostly obstructed view seats opened upyesterday for tonight’s 7:00pm PT Cavaliers-Sonics game. While “only 12,951 fans made their way toKeyArena to see the Sonics lose to the Cavaliers” last season, the team “isexpecting a sellout at the 17,072-seat arena” tonight for LeBron James’first game in Seattle (SEATTLETIMES, 1/13).
Throughyesterday’s games, the Rockets were averaging 17,288 on the road, down 3.5%from last year. The Cavaliers wereaveraging 18,804 on the road, up 16.9% from last year. See tomorrow’s issue of The Daily fora complete round-up of the impact of Yao, LeBron and Carmelo Anthony (THEDAILY).
NCAA TO ALLOW SCHOOLS TO CONTINUE PLAYING AT TWO LEVELS
TheBaltimore SUN reports that NCAA members yesterday “approved an amendment thatthwarted attempts to eliminate Johns Hopkins’ ability to offer scholarships forDivision I lacrosse and play the rest of its sports at the Division IIIlevel.” The measure would have forced a“possible switch to non-scholarship status for its lacrosse teams or awholesale move to Division I for the rest of its sports teams.” The proposal targeted seven other schools insimilar situations (BaltimoreSUN, 1/13).
BUZZER BEATERS
TheBraves today extended the contract of Exec VP & GM John Schuerholzthrough the ’05 season, with an option for ’06 and an ongoing role as senioradviser to the organization if and when he decides to step back from GM duties(Braves).
TheToronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that Home Depot Canada “now says it may beinterested in snapping up [Maple Leaf Gardens] for a home improvementmegastore.” Maple Leaf Sports GM RobertHunter confirmed that he is “talking to Home Depot – and no other parties”(TorontoGLOBE & MAIL, 1/13).
TheWASHINGTON POST reports that following the firing of Bills head coach GreggWilliams, the NFL Coaches Association sent a letter to Owner RalphWilson and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue asking the club to“either release the remaining staff members from their contracts or guaranteethe coaches will be retained for next season” (WASHINGTONPOST, 1/13).
DOWJONES NEWSWIRES noted that Nike “repurchased 1.6 million shares of Class Bcommon stock for $100.5[M] during the second quarter” ended November 30. During the first two quarters of fiscal ‘04,the company repurchased a total of 3.3 million Class B common shares for $190M(DOWJONES NEWSWIRES, 1/12).
BetonSports.comtoday officially launched a petition and letter-writing initiative for peopleto voice their support for Internet-based wagering (BetonSports.com).
TheDouble-A Eastern League New Hampshire Fisher Cats today announced an agreementfor the WKXL Radio Network to be their flagship station. The ’04 campaign is the Fisher Cats’inaugural season (Fisher Cats).
TheORANGE COUNTY REGISTER reports that photographer V.J. Lovero, who was“considered by many to be the best baseball photographer in the country, diedMonday after a long battle with cancer.” Lovero was a staff photographer for the Angels, Mighty Ducks and SportsIllustrated (ORANGECOUNTY REGISTER, 1/13).
BLOODHORSE.comreports that thoroughbred owner-breeder William Young yesterday died athis home in Gulf Stream, Florida, at 85 (BLOODHORSE.com, 1/13).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
The Dolphins, in partnership with the NFL and ESPN Deportes, willhost “Una Noche con los Dolphins” from 6:00-9:15pm ET at Pro PlayerStadium. It is the team’s second annualFootball 101 clinic in Spanish.
A community forum for St. Paul residents to discuss a possiblesports stadium or ballpark in the area will be held at 7:00pm CT at the FirstNational Bank Building. The meetingwill give residents a chance to discuss the pros and cons of bringing anothersports facility downtown (ST. PAULPIONEER PRESS, 1/11).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPNwill air NCAA men’s basketball: Iowa-Minnesotaat 7:00pm ET and Kentucky-MississippiState at 9:00pm.
ESPN2will air NCAA men’s basketball: WakeForest-Texas at 8:00pm ET.
ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile PaulHornung at 8:00pm ET.
NBATV will air Hornets-T’Wolves at8:00pm ET.
FormerNFLer Andre Reed, Colts DE Dwight Freeney, Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson and Pacers F Ron Artest are scheduled to appear onFSN’s “BDSSP.”
ESPN’s“OTL Nightly” will profile high school freshman basketball player O.J. Mayo,who may decide to jump to the NBA after his junior season, at midnightET. Guests include NBA Commissioner DavidStern and ESPN commentator Len Elmore.
KnicksPresident Isiah Thomas will appearon “Late Show” with David Letterman at 11:35pm ET.
A&E’s“Biography” will profile Pete Rose at8:00pm ET.
Bravo will air “Celebrity Poker Showdown: Winner’s Round”at 8:00pm ET featuring David Cross, Paul Rudd, Nicole Sullivan, RichardSchiff and Willie Garson.
HEADLINERS
Hereare tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Jeff Daniels |
| “The Tonight Show” | Donald Trump |
| “The Late Late Show” | Mandy Moore |
| “Late Night” | Tyra Banks |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Tony Shalhoub |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
TheL.A. TIMES MAGAZINE’s Glenn Bunting writes of SI columnist Frank Deford,“I begin reading dozens of Deford’s magazine articles and weekly columns fromthe past several years. A pattern soonemerges: Deford frequently uses breathtakingoverstatement to portray athletes and their accomplishments – such as forever,never, greatest ever, most unique and one of a kind. … Not all ofDeford’s troublesome passages were mere exaggerations. Many were flat out wrong and had not beencorrected in print. … For the most part, however, mistakes in Deford’s copy arerarely disclosed to readers or listeners” (L.A. TIMES MAGAZINE).
ThePHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS’ Jenice Armstrong writes, “To be a real playa, thereare certain things you need – a nice ride, some bling-bling and the must-haveaccessory of the moment – a fur coat. It can be full-length, like the raccoon coat Howard Eskin wore atSunday’s Eagles game against the Green Bay Packers. Or it can be a bomber style, like the honey-toned mink jacket FreddieMitchell wore at the postgame news conference” (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS).
SeeThe Daily Insider’s Articles ofInterest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports& Entertainment: For what ’99 flick did Dolphins Senior VP/Football Operations DanMarino serve as a project consultant?
IN OTHER NEWS……
TheHOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Gordon Hodge“estimates that radio revenue grew 1.7% for 2003 and will improve 5% in2004.” However, some warn “that thepossible upside for sector stocks may be limited for now” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 1/13).
THE DAILY STAT: TOP SPORTS SITES FORWEEK ENDING DECEMBER 28
Thefollowing are the top five sports Web sites ranked according to home uniqueaudience for the week ending December 28, according toNielsen//NetRatings. Unique Audience = the number of persons in thousandsaccessing the site or network, with each counted only once. Average timespent = the average amount of time a visitor has spent at that property for theweek. This data is based on 37,000 home users with Internet access (Nielsen//NetRatings). Note: Traffic to the SportsLine.com brand does not include traffic to itsnetwork of sites, such as the NFL Network and PGA Tour.
| RK | BRAND OR CHANNEL | UNIQUE AUD. | AVG. TIME SPENT (HH:MM:SS) |
| 1) | ESPN | 4,832 | 0:18:16 |
| 2) | NFL Internet Network | 3,055 | 0:14:08 |
| 3) | Yahoo! Sports | 2,980 | 0:14:00 |
| 4) | eBay Sports | 2,168 | 0:11:52 |
| 5) | AOL Sports | 1,629 | 0:14:23 |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
Marino consulted on Oliver Stone’s footballdrama “Any Given Sunday.”
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dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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