 |
Ilitch Denies Signing Ordonez To
Spruce Up Team For Sale |
Following the Tigers’ signing of RF Magglio Ordonez to a five-year, $75M contract, Tigers & Red Wings Owner Mike Ilitch “vehemently denied suggestions he’s dressing up the Tigers to sell them.” Ilitch also said that he does not “just want to make [the Tigers] presentable because” the team is hosting the ’05 All-Star Game. While last season’s 40% increase in attendance makes the team “more attractive to suitors,” Ilitch said that he “has suffered too much to turn away now.” Ilitch: “I’m committed to building this. I’ve got a challenge. It took me 15 years with the Wings and this is, what, my 13th year with the Tigers?” (DETROIT NEWS, 2/8). More Ilitch: “I’m doing this because, like everyone else in this city, I’m tired of the losing and I will extend myself to do whatever necessary to turn things around” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 2/8).
MAGIC TOUCH: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s John Lombardo reports the Wizards’ season-ticket sales, “flat at the start of the season, have increased 10[%] during the year.” During the first week of February the team sold 200 prorated season tickets. Group sales are up 20%, while “television ratings on [CSN Mid-Atlantic] have doubled.” The average home attendance of 16,649 through January 31 was up 4% from last season, but still fell below the league-wide average of 17,019. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola is extending activation efforts throughout the season, a “sharp departure from the company’s strategy to activate only at the start of the Wizards’ season” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/7 issue).
NO THANKS: In Oakland, Glenn Chapman reported the Raiders on Friday filed paperwork in an Alameda County court asking that the team “be left out of the legal battle” between former Raiders players Bill Romanowski and Marcus Williams. Williams in ’03 filed a civil suit against Romanowski for punching him during training camp (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 2/8). Williams’ attorneys have reportedly been seeking information from the Raiders about Romanowski’s alleged steroid use (THE DAILY).
