CBS and Turner Sports averaged a 6.4 fast-national Nielsen rating and 10.2 million viewers for their coverage of the ’11 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, marking the highest-rated and most-viewed tournament since a 6.9 rating and 10.6 million viewers on CBS in ’05. This year’s figures are both up 7% from a 6.0 rating and 9.5 million viewers for CBS’ exclusive coverage last year. The overall tournament on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV also delivered year-over-year growth all key adult and male demos. CBS also earned an 11.7 fast-national rating and 20.1 million viewers for UConn’s victory over Butler in last night’s National Championship, down 18% and 16%, respectively, from a 14.2 rating and 23.9 million viewers for the Duke-Butler matchup last year (THE DAILY).

Humana’s negotiations with the PGA Tour to title sponsor the Bob Hope Classic are centered on an eight-year contract. The deal, which has been described as imminent by industry sources, has not yet been finalized, but officials have been working to prepare an announcement this week. Among the details to be ironed out is the tournament’s name. The event has been without a title sponsor since ‘09 when Chrysler left.

Sochi 2014 President & CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko today at the SportAccord conference in London said that the '14 Sochi Olympics are $200M short of its sponsorship target. He said that Sochi has raised $1.1B and the organizing committee is "aiming to raise an additional $200 million in contracts between now and the start of the Games." The organizing budget for the Games is $2B. The remainder of the budget "will come from merchandising and ticket sales" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/5). Chernyshenko today said that diamond producer Alrosa "recently backed out of a deal with the Olympics to pursue a sponsorship" of the '18 FIFA World Cup. A deal with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom also fell through, "with the company deciding to sponsor the Russian Olympic team instead" (AP, 4/5).

California state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has announced plans for legislation that would prohibit the city of Anaheim "from signing a lease with the Sacramento Kings before the basketball team repays" a $77M loan it received from Sacramento. Steinberg: "In the next day or two I'm going to introduce a bill that essentially says that no California city can sign a lease with a professional sports franchise unless that franchise has paid its existing debt to another California city" (LATIMES.com, 4/5).

Meanwhile, NBA Kings supporters will hold a 5:00pm PT rally in Cesar Chavez Plaza across from Sacramento City Hall. Organizers said the rally is part of their effort to keep the team from moving to Anaheim (SACBEE.com, 4/4). Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna, Sacramento City Council member Rob Fong, former Kings co-Owner Gregg Lukenbill and former Kings players are slated to speak at the event (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/5).

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wants the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to "launch an investigation into the Fiesta Bowl for reimbursing its employees for campaign donations." The watchdog group today filed a complaint urging the FEC to declare the bowl game "violated federal election laws and to impose sanctions." The group also claims the bowl violated federal election laws "by using its facilities to host fundraisers for candidates for federal office" (AP, 4/5). 

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is already investigating whether the bowl game broke state campaign finance laws. Horne "could also look at whether elected officials broke any rules in accepting free tickets and trips" from the group (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/5).