THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of some people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers:
WIN: MIXED MARTIAL ARTS — Questions still surround this sport and the level of violence, but we can’t ignore its traction. More proof this week is a USA Today Life section cover story that gushes about the Ultimate Fighting Championship and writes of young couples spending $400 per seat to take in the action. Now, on Sunday, the sport gets perhaps its largest audience ever with a segment on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
LOSE: BRIAN DAVIS AND CHRISTIAN LAETTNER — They are entrepreneurial, smart and aggressive, but we’re giving them a foul for the way they’ve handled their pursuit of the Grizzlies. Just a few days after rebuking local media for its perceived unfair and tough coverage and pleading with the media to give them a chance while their bid is in front of the NBA, the league comes out and says the partners’ bid information was incomplete and the “transaction would not comply with NBA rules." And they wonder why they’re facing a skeptical media in Memphis?
DRAW: ISC — Track operator gives up on its vision for a venue in Staten Island and the hope to broaden the sport’s appeal in the pivotal Northeast takes a major hit. But the site was fraught with problems and obstacles from the beginning and analysts applaud ISC for cutting its losses while it can. Now focus can shift to more viable options.
