| • | Ohio State, IMG College Ink 10-Year, $110M Media Rights Deal |
| • | CBS' Overnight Ratings For Regional Final Games Up From '08 |
| • | Sol Defeat Freedom In First Women's Professional Soccer Match |
| • | Citi Field Hosts First Public Event With College Baseball Game |
OHIO STATE INKS MEDIA RIGHTS DEAL WITH IMG FOR RECORD ANNUAL FEE
Ohio State Univ. today is expected to announce that is has inked a 10-year, $110M media rights deal with IMG College and RadiOhio. The deal includes the rights to "manage and market publishing, radio game broadcasts and coaches' shows," as well as TV that is "excluded from Big Ten Conference and NCAA contracts" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 3/30).
The $11M OSU will receive a year is the "richest annual rights fee ever given to a university," outpacing the $10M IMG pays Florida and the $9.4M it pays Texas. Alabama receives about $9.4M annually from Learfield Sports and ISP Sports (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/30 issue).
OVERNIGHT RATINGS FOR CBS' NCAA TOURNEY COVERAGE UP FROM '08 NUMBERS
Through Saturday’s coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, CBS is averaging a 5.8/12 overnight Nielsen rating, up 9.4% from a 5.3/11 overnight average through the same point last year. On Saturday, the first broadcast window featuring Connecticut-Missouri earned a 6.2/14 overnight rating from 4:30-7:00pm ET, up 14.8% from a 5.4/11 for UCLA-Xavier last year.
The second window, which featured Villanova-Pittsburgh from 7:00-9:30pm ET, earned a 7.5/14 overnight, up 5.6% from a 7.1/12 for North Carolina-Louisville last year, and is the highest-rated Saturday second window Regional Final since a 9.1/16 for Illinois-Arizona in ‘05 (THE DAILY).
NEARLY 15,000 FANS ATTEND INAUGURAL WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER GAME
 |
Crowd Of 14,832 Attends Inaugural
WPS Game At The Home Depot |
The L.A. Sol defeated the Washington Freedom 2-0 yesterday in the inaugural game for Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) before a crowd of 14,832 at The Home Depot Center (
Mult., 3/30). Freedom F
Abby Wambach said, "Obviously the score was not what I would have hoped for, but the result is so far from my mind. We have a league again" (
USA TODAY, 3/30).
The L.A. TIMES' Grahame Jones writes, "The teams produced an entertaining brand of soccer, although the pace was slower than expected." The WASHINGTON POST's Scott French writes there was a "general feeling that … this was an important day for women's sport." YAHOO SPORTS' Martin Rogers writes WPS "deserves to succeed," and its athletes are "professionals who deserve the right to earn a living."
CITI FIELD OPENS TO THE PUBLIC WITH ST. JOHN'S-GEORGETOWN BASEBALL GAME
 |
Citi Field Hosts College Baseball
Game, Its First Public Event |
Citi Field opened to the public yesterday with a St. John's-Georgetown baseball game, and the Mets' ballpark "passed its first test with no problems." Some final preparations were not complete, as there were "no distances painted on the outfield walls, no retired Mets numbers or championship banners displayed yet," and "about 10 blank scoreboard advertising panels." The game drew a crowd of 22,397 (
NEWSDAY, 3/30).
Mets Exec VP/Business Operations Dave Howard: "Everything worked pretty well. I would say that the few glitches here and there are relatively minor" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/30).
BANK OF AMERICA INKS ONE-YEAR EXTENSION OF YANKEES SPONSORSHIP
Bank of America and the Yankees have inked a one-year extension of their current sponsorship deal "after stopping talks on a larger, longer deal." The sides "spent months discussing a 20-year deal that would have included signage, special events and tickets" at the new Yankee Stadium. BofA has been the team's official bank since '94 (AP, 3/27). The Yankees "have yet to make public comment on the extension" (MLB.com, 3/28).
STAN KROENKE UPS SHARE IN ARSENAL, BECOMES SECOND-BIGGEST INVESTOR
Kroenke Sports Enterprises Owner Stan Kroenke has increased his stake in EPL club Arsenal to 20.5% after buying 5,000 ordinary shares from fellow Arsenal BOD member Danny Fiszman. The rest of the BOD "gave their consent to the transaction" at about US$12,000 per share (London TELEGRAPH, 3/30). Kroenke becomes Arsenal's "second largest shareholder" behind Alisher Usmanov's Red and White Holdings. Fiszman's stake is now 16.1% (GOAL.com, 3/30).
JUDGE DISMISSES SIX FORMER NFLERS' CLAIMS AGAINST LEAGUE, UNION
By Liz Mullen, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
An Atlanta federal court judge has dismissed the claims six former NFL players brought against the NFLPA and the NFL, alleging that the union and the league failed to properly screen late financial advisor Kirk Wright, who defrauded them of millions of dollars. U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes granted the motion of the NFL and NFLPA for summary judgment in the case and found that the players' state law claims were pre-empted by federal labor law and an NFLPA disclaimer which states that the union is not responsible for the act of any registered player financial advisor.
COLORADO SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO SALVAGE DEAL TO HOUSE USOC
The Colorado Springs City Council will meet today to "talk about how to save the deal" agreed to last year for the city to remain the home of the USOC. Developer Ray Marshall's "long list of financial problems and lawsuits has some council members questioning if he can fulfill" his obligation to "complete a new office building and make improvements to the USOC's training center in town, among other things" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 3/29).
NEWS CORP. IN TALKS TO HIRE FORMER AOL EXEC TO HEAD DIGITAL BUSINESS
News Corp. is in talks to hire former AOL CEO Jon Miller to help “coordinate digital strategies across News Corp.’s businesses.” Miller will oversee Web sites such as FoxSports.com, MySpace.com and News Corp.'s investment in Hulu. Fox Interactive Media President Peter Levinsohn is “expected to take a top post in the film and TV studio” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/30). An announcement could come as early as this week (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/30).
VANCOUVER HOSTING WORLD CONFERENCE ON SPORT AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The eighth biennial World Conference on Sport and the Environment begins today in Vancouver. The two-day conference is an initiative of the IOC and the U.N.'s Environment Program and is being hosted by VANOC. Sessions will focus on topics such as "how to use sport to inspire youth on environmental issues" and the "role sports organizations have in accelerating sustainability," including a discussion of the NFL's sustainability program (VANCOUVER SUN, 3/28).
SPEED READS….
The NFL and IMG Worldwide are "closing in on a deal to put IMG in charge of nearly all international media sales for the league" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/30).
 |
Yankees Dedicate 9/11
Memorial In Tampa |
The Yankees yesterday formally dedicated a permanent September 11 memorial at the entrance of the George Steinbrenner Field complex in
Tampa (
MLB.com, 3/29).
The NBA D-League as early as today could announce that Springfield, Massachusetts, will be awarded a franchise for next season. Since Portland, Maine, was added to the expansion list before Springfield, the Celtics are "still expected to be affiliated with Portland" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/29).
Kansas Entertainment today will resubmit its bid for a casino at Kansas Speedway. The track has said that it will request a second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series date "if it gets approval for the casino" (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 3/29).
Following the MLS Toronto FC-Crew match in Columbus on Saturday, “trouble erupted after the game, with fans from both sides confronting each other in the parking lots.” The police made multiple arrests (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/30).
Discussions are underway to move the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament to Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena in '10. The event is scheduled to be played in Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena in '10, but a source said that "Chattanooga is amenable to pushing that date back" to '11 (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/25).
QUICK HITS….
“There has to be a degree of responsibility on the Internet. If someone’s going to try and impersonate Brian Burke, I’m going to sue his ass” – Maple Leafs President & GM Brian Burke, on a fan impersonating him on Twitter.com (THESTAR.com, 3/30).
“I wouldn’t say we are a Moneyball organization” – Padres GM Kevin Towers, on the team placing importance on scouting and player development to help compete against larger-market clubs (GASLAMPBALL.com, 3/28).
“Most expensive stadium, highest prices and the worst economy in history means I don’t sleep at night” – Yankees COO Lonn Trost, on the team opening the $1.5B Yankee Stadium (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 3/29).
“We’ve lost a lot of our audience. It’s still a gorgeous, dramatic sport and that’s what we need to rediscover” – Former figure skater Peggy Fleming, on the sport needing to come up with a less complicated scoring system (MIAMI HERALD, 3/30).
“I said when I heard, 'Why don’t we do Los Cohetes?' 'Los Rockets' looks like Spanglish” – Rockets F Luis Scola, who is from Argentina, on the team wearing “Los Rockets” jerseys on Saturday during its “Latin Night” celebration (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/29).
“Right now, I would say it would take a miracle” – CBA Albany Patroons GM Jim Coyne, on whether the league would be up and running by this winter (Albany TIMES UNION, 3/28).
THIS WEEK IN SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL….
This week’s in-depth features sports execs discussing how they are adapting to the down economy.
- ESPN to allow distributors to swap ESPN Classic for ESPNU.
- MLB expecting mid-single-digit percentage decline in ticket sales for ’09 season.
- Despite injury and economy, sponsors continuing to activate around Maria Sharapova.
- This week’s “What I Like…” features LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens.
TODAY’S EVENTS….
Trail Blazers President Larry Miller, G Brandon Roy and F Travis Outlaw will help unveil a new Community Resource Center at Jefferson High School in Portland. The new center is part of the Toyota Project Rebound.
See a full list of events in THE DAILY’s Week Ahead.
IN OTHER NEWS….
The Detroit Free Press today “marks the start of a new era for delivering news.” While the paper will continue to publish a print edition, it is “putting more emphasis on digital” delivery, including “putting replicas of Free Press pages online” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/30). Meanwhile, the Detroit News will also begin “its foray into limited home delivery.” The paper will publish Monday-Saturday with home delivery “available on Thursday and Friday” (DETROIT NEWS, 3/30).
The debut of Fox’ “12 Rounds,” which stars pro wrestler John Cena, finished seventh in the national weekend box office with a 3-day gross of $5.3M. The film drew “audiences 57% male, with 53% of patrons 25 and older” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/30).
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!
Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “19th Century Construction.”
“It was first designed as ‘Egypt carrying the light to Asia,’ and its original intended site was Port Said in 1869.”
LAUGH TRACK….
THE MONOLOGUES:
NBC’s Jay Leno: “Before we get started, I want to say welcome back to Matt Lauer, our good friend from the ‘Today’ show. He's back at work. ... He got injured on Long Island riding his bicycle. He almost hit a deer. He said he was going down the road, saw the deer and the deer froze. He said the deer had that Nancy Pelosi in the headlights look. President Obama has announced a task force to review the tax code. He's concerned there are too many loopholes and too many people manipulating the system to avoid paying taxes, and that's just in his administration. President Obama said this week that things will get worse before they get better. That's something you never hear before the election. ‘Let me tell you, if I get elected it's going to get a lot worse.’ Today at the White House, President Obama met with the CEOs of all the major U.S.banks, a lot of these big bonus guys. The CEOs looked around the White House and said, ‘You live in this dump?’ President Obama gave the first official online town hall meeting over the Internet. Apparently, it must have been an online mix-up because two guys from Dateline’s ‘Predators’ showed up with a six pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade. They thought they were a little creepy. … China has proposed replacing the U.S. dollar with a new global currency, the Wal-Mart gift certificate. We'll just be paying in Wal-Mart dollars. … Tomorrow, 84 countries around the world will participate in Earth Hour to conserve electricity. All over the world, lights will be dimmed or turned off from the pyramids to the Eiffel Tower to the Sears Tower. I'm going to watch all the coverage on my big-screen plasma TV. Didn't it used to be Earth Day? Now it's down to an hour? What are we telling our planet, we're just not that into you? In an unusual move for a sitting Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was given Planned Parenthood's highest award. In her speech, she revealed her number one recommended method of birth control. Pant suits. … Former Atlanta Falcon (QB) Michael Vick was released from Federal prison in Kansas. Do you know what's interesting? See some people booed, and I think some of the local animals sensed that he was out. Well, show the footage.” The show aired a clip of several dogs running up into trees (“Tonight Show,” NBC, 3/27).
CBS’ “Late Show” on Friday was a rerun due to the net’s NCAA tournament coverage.
During his monologue, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel discussed Memphis’ loss in the NCAA Tournament. Kimmel: “The NCAA Tournament is down to the Elite Eight. Our parking lot security guard Guillermo is completely out of the running, sorry. He had Memphis to win and they lost to Missouri last night. It's weird because it's not like he went to Memphis or anything, but he took the loss very, very hard.” A clip was shown of Memphis F Shawn Taggart crying on the bench at the end of the game with Guillermo crying behind him. Guillermo: “Was Memphis in your pool too? I know it's terrible.” Kimmel: “I'm sorry, Guillermo” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 3/27).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
 |
Kimmel Shows That James Half-Court Shot
From "60 Minutes" Is Not Really That Hard |
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel discussed Cavaliers F
LeBron James appearance on CBS’ “60 Minutes” during which James sinks an underhanded half-court shot on the first try. Kimmel: “Isn't that crazy? It's like magic, right? Do you know how many tries it would take the average person to make that shot?” Kimmel then left the set with show regular Guillermo on a golf cart to go to a nearby high school basketball court. Kimmel: “I want people to see how difficult this is.” As they are walking into the gym Kimmel asked Guillermo, “Do you know what this is?” Guillermo: “A basketball court.” Kimmel: “That's right. Do you know what this is?” Guillermo: “A basketball ball.” Kimmel: “A basketball ball, yeah. So alright, that's the half-court line right there. This is where LeBron was at this line. It's a high school basketball court, just like the one that LeBron was on. I have to shoot it underhanded. So you pretend to be
Steve Kroft from ‘60 Minutes.’ That means when I make it, which I'm sure I will right away, you spin around in a circle.” Kimmel then banked in an underhanded half court shot. Guillermo screams, “Yeah!” and spins around in a circle. Kimmel: “I said it would take an average person a lot of tries, but you know what I'm saying?” (
“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 3/27).
FINAL JEOPARDY….
“What is the Statue of Liberty?”
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
pbounds@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
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