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USTA To Return To Profits After
Three Consecutive Years Of Losses |
TENNIS: TENNIS WEEK reported that the USTA will "return to profitability in 2003 after three consecutive years of losses." The USTA has seen losses in the Fed Cup of about $2M, Davis Cup costs of $850,000 and the $1.8M cost of staging semi-annual meetings (TENNIS WEEK, 11/11)....In Houston, Dale Robertson writes Jim McIngvale, who invested $27M to stage the ATP Tennis Masters Cup at his Westside Tennis Clun in Houston. "will not profit financially" on the event. Meanwhile, Robertson adds, "The stadium's scale is perfect. With fewer than 8,000 seats, it's intimate enough for tickets to be a hot commodity — the event is a sellout — and big enough to get seriously noisy. ... The Cup feels hugely important, in contrast to the recently concluded [Bank of America WTA Tour Championships at Staples Center], where dead crowds of a couple thousand booming around a 20,000-seat arena generated few kilowatts." McIngvale has had "exploratory conversations with the WTA and the ATP about the feasibility of bringing the women in next fall to join forces with the men" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/13).
NBA: USA TODAY's Greg Boeck reports the NBA sent e-mail ballots yesterday to all member clubs, "seeking a vote that would produce a fresh-look alignment" for next season. If owners approve the plan, there will be six divisions (replacing four), three new division names (Southeast, Southwest and Northwest) and two new division winners. Owners must vote by Monday (USA TODAY, 11/13).
CFL: Alouettes coach Don Matthews "is leading a drive by CFL coaches to form an association which would have some clout in ensuring their contracts are honoured even if their clubs go into receivership." Matthews: "We as head coaches have unified to the point of wanting to make it a public issue, a moral issue, not a legal issue, that coaches who come to the CFL that their contracts should be honoured just as players' contracts are." CFL Commissioner Tom Wright, whose league had to assume control of both the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts this season, said: "While I am in full agreement that we must find a resolution that is fair and equitable ... we are governed by the parameters of the receivership" (TORONTO STAR, 11/13).
