In San Diego, Tim Sullivan writes when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he wants "to keep our franchises where they are," he is "not making a commitment, but outlining a best-case scenario." What Goodell is leaving out is that scenario is "predicated on the league wielding its leverage for further contributions from John Q. Public." Goodell has "succeeded in planting the seed of stability, while withholding the watering." He has done "exactly what he is paid to do -- to protect the interests of the owners who hired him and enhance the value of their franchises." Sullivan writes the "political genius of Roger Goodell is to make preferences sound like promises and to leave unspoken threats to your imagination" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/8).
LOSING GAMES IN EUROPE? In N.Y., Larry Brooks noted the Premiere Games in Europe that have "opened the NHL season the past five years could be a casualty of collective bargaining," though league and NHLPA sources have said that the sides are "attempting to strike an agreement under which the matches would be scheduled." The uncertainty over whether the '12-13 season will begin on time "given the Sept. 15 expiration date of the CBA has at least for the time being prevented scheduling of the games, with the parties as yet unable to agree on the parameters regarding revenue allocations and risk should the matches be canceled" (N.Y. POST, 2/5).
IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL MEDIA: AD AGE's Abbey Klaassen in an interview with PGA Tour CMO Tom Wade asked what the Tour's "digital-media priorities" are. Wade responded, "We are trying to basically make our sport cool, and to do that you have to be on the cool platforms. Unlike an arena or a stadium sport where if you watch the broadcast, you are seeing pretty much everything that happens in the game, in golf we have 144 players. We have 144 balls that are spread over 100-plus acres, and we really only have time on TV to cover the players that are competing to win the championship. ... So one of the ways digital is more of an upside for us than other sports is we're able to bring a fuller range of the content to fans than is accessible now" (ADAGE.com, 2/6).
