In Toronto, Rick Westhead reports a "high-stakes legal battle between MLSE and the Ontario government over taxes suggests Canada’s highest-profile sports company gave away roughly" C$30M worth of tickets to Maple Leafs and Raptors games over a five-year stretch. MLSE is "accused of breaking provincial tax regulations by giving away tickets without paying" C$3M worth of retail sales tax." The government said that the tickets "should be taxed because they were a so-called 'promotional distribution' for the purpose of encouraging attendance at MLSE’s teams’ games." MLSE "denies that accusation and says in court filings that it did not give away the tickets to promote or encourage attendance at its games" (TORONTO STAR, 2/7).
BILL OF RIGHTS: In Milwaukee, Don Walker reported the NFL, the Packers and a "host of medical groups plan to make a public push in the next few weeks to gain final legislative approval for a youth concussion bill" in Wisconsin. The bill, which "passed easily in the Assembly last year, has been stalled in the Senate." The bill directs the state Department of Public Instruction, "in conjunction with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, to develop guidelines and other information to educate coaches and athletes and their parents about the risk of concussion and head injury in youth athletic activities" (JSONLINE.com, 2/6).
CHARITY STRIPE? BLOOMBERG NEWS' Jake Rudnitsky reported Nets Owner MIKHAIL PROKHOROV, Russia's third-richest man, said that he will "give $17 billion of his $18 billion fortune to charity if he defeats Prime Minister VLADIMIR PUTIN and three other candidates" to win the Russian presidency next month. Prokhorov said, "I’ll sell everything, all my assets when I become president and donate almost all of the money to charity." Prokhorov said that he would "need the remaining $1 billion for personal expenses after life in the Kremlin." Prokhorov: "I'll need something to live on" (BLOOMBERG.com, 2/3). TRUE HOOP's Henry Abbott noted Prokhorov "trails mightily in the polls" (ESPN.com, 2/6).
AFTER PARTY: The NFL Giants partied with singer KATY PERRY until 3:00am ET Sunday in a second-floor function room at the team's hotel, the Marriott, in Indianapolis. QB ELI MANNING's family held a private party upstairs, and later joined the Giants bash (N.Y. POST, 2/7)....More than half of the Patriots and Owner ROBERT KRAFT partied until "nearly dawn" in the VIP section of the the tent on Indianapolis' Victory Field. The team was "in a festive mood" despite the Super Bowl loss to the Giants (BOSTON HERALD, 2/7). However, in Boston, Shanahan & Goldstein report the mood at the "invite-only get-together was anything but joyous, and some diehard fans stopped by for only a few minutes before walking out with their heads down." Actor DONNIE WAHLBERG was "slumped in the VIP section, where Aerosmith's STEVEN TYLER and fiancee ERIN BRADY could also be seen commiserating" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/7).
NAMES: The Court of Arbitration for Sport yesterday ruled that cyclist ALBERTO CONTADOR, a three-time winner of the Tour de France, was "guilty of doping." CAS' decision stripped Contador of his victory in the '10 Tour, along with 12 other victories since then (N.Y. TIMES, 2/7)....WWE's JOHN CENA will serve as the Honorary Starter of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 26. On last night's "MONDAY NIGHT RAW," NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver CARL EDWARDS got out of his No. 99 Ford and invited Cena to participate in the race (Daytona Int'l Speedway)....The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is having a "record-breaking year." Race officials said yesterday that registration for this year's race "closed in just six days, after the maximum 45,000 participants signed up." Officials said that that "beats the old record -- set last year -- by 25 days" (SUNTIMES.com, 2/7)....Last night’s edition of Food Network’s “HEAT SEEKERS” featured co-hosts ROGER MOOKING and AARON SANCHEZ in Nashville alongsidee Titans S JORDAN BABINEAUX for an eating challenge of “Satan's Tongue Hot Chicken” (“Heat Seekers,” Food Network, 2/6).
IN MEMORY: Former Nike exec GEOFF HOLLISTER, 66, passed away yesterday "after a years-long bout with cancer." Hollister was one of the inaugural partners with the company and "wore many hats at Nike, focusing for years on athlete endorsements, marketing and product promotions, until his retirement" in '02. His memorial service will be on the Nike campus in Oregon (Portland TRIBUNE, 2/7). Hollister in '08 completed his autobiography, "OUT OF NOWHERE." He has also produced two documentaries for Nike: "BUILDERMAN," based on the teachings of BILL BOWERMAN in '09, and last year's "THERE IS NO FINISH LINE," focusing on Olympic marathoner JOAN BENOIT SAMUELSON (Portland OREGONIAN, 2/7).
