| • | News Corp. Looking At Adding Sports Offerings To MySpace.com |
| • | Yahoo, Intel Partnering To Create Fantasy Football Service For TV |
| • | Armstrong Criticizes N.Y. Times For Linking Him To Teammates’ Drug Use |
| • | Eagles Putting Standing-Room Tickets On Sale Beginning Today |
NEWS CORP. COULD ADD SPORTS OFFERINGS TO MYSPACE.COM
News Corp. President & COO Peter Chernin yesterday at the Merrill Lynch Media & Entertainment Conference in Pasadena, California, said that MySpace.com is “aggressively” looking at offering “more studio-level content as well as developing sports offerings.” Chernin added that the Web site’s video offerings were “already getting about 60%-70% as much online traffic” as YouTube.com (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 9/13).
YAHOO, INTEL TO CREATE FANTASY FOOTBALL SERVICE FOR TV
By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
Yahoo and Intel today will announce a partnership that creates Yahoo Sports for TV, a service that provides personalized, real-time statistics and updates for fantasy football players. The service will work with TVs connected to computers equipped with Intel's new Viiv technology and will be free to users. Yahoo Sports for TV will be not unlike the statistical elements of DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket, but offer a higher degree of tracking for individual fantasy teams and will be ultimately be applied to other sports as Yahoo Sports seeks to extend its brand beyond the Internet.
ARMSTRONG CRITICIZES N.Y. TIMES STORY LINKING HIM TO TEAMMATES’ DRUG USE
 |
| Armstrong Blasts Article Linking
Him To Teammates' Drug Use |
Lance Armstrong criticized the N.Y. Times for yesterday’s front-page story, headlined “Two Ex-Teammates of Cycling Star Admit Drug Use,” on U.S. Postal Service riders admitting to the use of EPO prior to the ’99 Tour de France. Armstrong said the newspaper “has shown a severe lack of journalistic ethics by linking an admission by Frankie Andreu to me.” Armstrong: “You have to go down five or six paragraphs and then a jump [to another page] to read that they didn’t use drugs during that Tour and never saw me take any drugs.”
Meanwhile, Andreu issued a statement “denying that he had told the newspaper of specific times he used EPO and distanced himself from the story’s links to Armstrong.” Andreu: “I took EPO to help myself, not to help anyone else” (USA TODAY, 9/13).
EAGLES PUTTING STANDING-ROOM TICKETS ON SALE BEGINNING TODAY
The Eagles this morning are putting on sale 1,500 standing-room tickets for each of their eight home games for $50 each. After Monday’s announcement, a number of the tickets were up for sale on “a couple of dozen Web sites yesterday, rankling team officials already sensitive about tie-ins to the secondary market.” By late yesterday afternoon, the tickets “had vanished” from several sites following requests from the Eagles. At one point, “more than a dozen sites listed standing-room tickets for Sunday’s game against the Giants” selling for $150-200 (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 9/13).
ISC TO MEET WITH COMMERCE CITY (CO) OFFICIALS ABOUT SPEEDWAY
ISC reps today will meet with Commerce City (CO) officials to discuss “plans for a speedway” there. ISC has already spoken with Bandimere Speedway Owner John Bandimere Jr., whose track hosts drag racing, “about joining forces.” ISC and Bandimere “failed to get the proposed WorldPark speedway venture up and running in Arapahoe County” in ’00. ISC spokesperson Wes Harris: “Long term, we think Denver is a logical place for us to have a presence” (DENVER POST, 9/13).
SPEED READS….
 |
| Fans Turn Out To Celebrate Shock's
WNBA Championship Victory |
A crowd of over 300 attended the Shock’s WNBA championship victory celebration in downtown Detroit despite inclement weather (DETROIT NEWS, 9/13). Other estimates were as high as 400 (THE DAILY).
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club BOD unanimously approved spending $8M to install a synthetic surface on the track. The California Coastal Commission, which must approve the project, is scheduled to address it in October (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/13).
Motorola runs a full-page ad in USA Today featuring Maria Sharapova using her Motorola cell phone while on the court following her U.S. Open victory with the copy, “Congrats Maria on ur 2006 U.S. Open win. From ur fans @ Moto” (THE DAILY).
Bank of America runs a full-page ad in the N.Y. Times promoting its MLB Extra Bases credit card. The ad features the logos of all 30 MLB teams surrounding a Yankees-branded credit card with the copy, “And You Thought That ’52 Rookie Card Was Worth A Lot” (THE DAILY).
QUICK HITS….
“I’m not going to lie to you, having fans come out would make this more fun” – Marlins 3B Wes Helms, on low attendance at the team’s games as it makes a run for the NL Wild Card (N.Y. TIMES, 9/13).
“The spirit of this organization is not broken, nor is the mechanism. It just needs a tune-up” – Braves Exec VP & GM John Schuerholz, on the team’s run of 14 straight divisional titles coming to an end (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 9/13). The Braves last night were mathematically eliminated from winning the NL East with the Mets’ 6-4 victory over the Marlins (THE DAILY).
“I think the Chase has done what it wanted to. In the past under the old system, when the football season started, that affected our numbers seriously. Now they’ve increased” – NASCAR VP/Corporate Communications Jim Hunter, on the Chase for the Nextel Cup (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/13).
“Marketers Rejoice: Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. Are Back” – Headline of article by CHARLOTTE OBSERVER columnist David Poole, on drivers Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualifying for this year’s Chase, after both missed last year’s (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/13).
“Thank God that Raymond Floyd and Jack Nicklaus didn’t have 144 sons, or we’d never get to play in a tournament” – Pro golfer Pat Burke, on veteran players’ sons often getting exemptions to play in Tour events when their fathers are eligible to compete (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 9/13).
TODAY’S EVENTS….
The Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF), which was founded in ’73 and has awarded thousands of college scholarships, will hold a breakfast in Dallas “as part of an effort to increase its presence” in the area. JRF President Della Britton Baeza said that the organization’s goal “is to persuade every MLB team to sponsor an endowed scholarship” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/11).
The NLL expansion franchise in N.Y. will unveil its team name and logo during a noon ET luncheon at Local West in anticipation of the NLL Entry Draft, which will begin at 8:00pm at Madison Square Garden.
IN OTHER NEWS….
Apple officially announced that movies will be available on its iTunes online store, with 75 films from four Disney-owned studios initially being available. New movies will cost $14.99, “or $12.99 if preordered or bought within the first week of release; older movies will cost $9.99.” In addition, Apple said that early next year it will launch iTV, a device that will “plug into a television and wirelessly pull in video and music” from a nearby Macintosh computer. The iTV will retail for $299 (N.Y. TIMES, 9/13).
NBC Universal and its affils have partnered to create the National Broadband Company (NBBC), which “will distribute video programming to various” Web sites. The venture “will have content from NBC’s networks and local stations as well as from other companies” and will appear on NBC.com and other sites. Commercials will be inserted before each video segment, “with the revenue split among the program’s creator, the Web site owner and NBBC” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/13).
THE BACK PAGES….
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
| | | |
| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News | Newsday |
| | |
| Philadelphia Daily News | Boston Herald |
FINAL JEOPARDY….
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Americana.”
“In June 2005, amid some controversy, a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery was unveiled in this city.”
Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy” featured the category “Sports Records.”
For $200: “In a career that spanned from 1966 to 1993, Nolan Ryan pitched an incredible seven of these, the last at 44 years of age.”
For $400: “He was more than great, scoring a phenomenal 215 points in one hockey season, 1985-86.”
For $600: “During a 20-year career, this 49ers wide receiver scored a record 208 touchdowns; his nearest rival has 175.”
For $800: “This man passed Lou Gehrig’s 2,130 consecutive MLB games played record in 1995 and added another 502 before he stopped.”
For $1,000: “This heavyweight boxer of the 1950s went an incredible 49-0, including 43 wins by knockout.”
LAUGH TRACK….
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS’ David Letterman: “I’m excited about the primary election (in N.Y.). If there are two words that get me jazzed, they would be Eliot Spitzer. I was in the polling place today, and honest to God, I see a guy stick his head out of the curtains and he’s holding a pair of pants, and he says, ‘Can I get these in a 46?’ ... This week is fashion week and are you excited about fashion week? Well, then you’re gay. ... A new line of clothing has been unveiled by the Boston Red Sox. It comes apart at the seams. ... Last night, Tom Cruise and his wife, Katie Holmes, attended the [‘MNF’] game, and at halftime Tom Cruise was lecturing players about Gatorade. During the game, so he could see the action, Katie put him up on her shoulders. ... Congratulations to Britney Spears. She had baby number two earlier today. Everybody is doing fine, the baby is doing fine. As a matter of fact, the baby drove himself home from the hospital” (“Late Show,” CBS, 9/12).
NBC’s Jay Leno: “The numbers are in, and the NFL on NBC beat the ‘9/11’ movie in the ratings. It just goes to show people would rather watch football players passing the ball than a bunch of politicians passing the buck. President Clinton was very upset about the way ABC’s ‘9/11’ series made him look, and President Bush, of course, was very upset about the way ‘Jeopardy’ makes him look. ... President Clinton is still very upset that ABC did not pull the movie. He wanted the movie pulled. In fact, he told them now he’s thinking about changing his mind about appearing on the show ‘Wife Swap.’ ... Al Gore says he has not ruled out another run for the Oval Office. Have you seen Al lately? He is oval. ... Some physicists believe that much of the universe is flowing backwards in time. They believe that eventually all time reverses, which is good news for NBC. It’ll be our only chance to be number one again” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 9/12).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Signs Your Boss Is Spying On You.” CBS’ David Letterman said the “chairwoman of Hewlett Packard computers resigned today after it was discovered she illegally obtained personal and confidential phone records of members of the board of directors. So she was spying on the people she was working with” (“Late Show,” CBS, 9/12).
| 10) “He spent three hours interrogating your kitty.” |
| 9) “You turn up the thermostat and hear your supervisor scream from the air vent.” |
| 8) “Every morning, some guy puts a new roll of film in your fichus.” |
| 7) “PowerPoint presentation includes photos of you flossing.” |
| 6) “Greets you in the elevator with, ‘Boy, that was some call from your urologist.’” |
| 5) “The ‘O’ on your keyboard looks a lot like his eyeball.” |
| 4) “Keeps repeating the same phrase: ‘Please speak directly into my pants.’” |
| 3) “His screensaver is you in the men’s room.” |
| 2) “When your wife wears a negligee, his voice comes out of the lamp asking, ‘Is that new?’” |
| 1) “Advised you to get that mole on your ass looked at.” |
‘06 IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. appeared on CBS’ “Late Show” last night, where Letterman asked him what was the “bigger thrill,” winning the championship or winning the Indy 500. Hornish: “Winning the Indianapolis 500 ... (because) after winning two championships earlier in my career in the IRL, and a bunch of races, I thought, ‘I’m about as noticeable as I can be, and maybe people just aren’t ever going to recognize me.’ But after winning the 500 -- it doesn’t matter where I’m at now – more and more people all the time it seems like now recognize me.” After Letterman asked whether the attention is “fun or do you get a little wary of that,” Hornish said, “It’s great because it means that we’re doing the right thing. The more people that recognize me, … the more people that I know are watching the races.” Letterman: “If I were you, I would probably wear my helmet everywhere I went” (“Late Show,” CBS, 9/12).
LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR….
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | Vikings-Redskins | Chargers-Raiders; Patriots trading Deion Branch to Seahawks |
| ESPN | “PTI” | Vikings-Redskins | Chargers-Raiders; Lions WR Roy Williamson guaranteeing victory |
| ESPN | “SportsCenter” | Fight in Royals dugout between teammates | Rangers-Tigers; A’s-Twins |
| FSN | “BDSSP” | State of Raiders | Chiefs QB Trent Green injury update; White Sox C A.J. Pierzynski interview |
| FSN | “FSN Final Score” | Padres-Reds | Dodgers-Cubs; Rockies-Giants |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER….
“What is Salem, Massachusetts?”
For $200: “What is a no-hitter?”
For $400: “Who is Wayne Gretzky?”
For $600: “Who is Jerry Rice?”
For $800: “Who is Cal Ripken Jr.?”
For $1,000: “Who was Rocky Marciano?”
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
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