SPONSORSHIP & MARKETING
• The PGA Tour announced a three-year deal making Buick the title sponsor of the 
Greater Hartford Open starting in 2004. The name of the event will change to the Buick Championship to go along with the three other Buick title-sponsored PGA Tour events — the Buick Invitational in La Jolla, Calif.; the Buick Classic in Rye, N.Y.; and the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich. The Hartford (Conn.) Courant put the three-year contract at $2.5 million a year. A $3 million "bridge plan" will cover other tournament costs.
• The London Times reported that Real Madrid's David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, formed a partnership with Simon Fuller, the Los Angeles-based business executive who helped form the Spice Girls. Fuller's company, 19 Management, plans to examine opportunities in endorsements and entertainment areas for the Beckham family. SFX Sports would reportedly continue to manage David Beckham's soccer-related deals.
SPORTS MEDIA
• ABC's coverage of the British Open's final round on July 20 earned a 4.5/15 Nielsen television rating during its coverage from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ET. The rating was even with last year. Third-round coverage from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET on July 19 earned a 3.3/11 rating, down 15 percent from the 3.9/13 in 2002 for a similar time period.
FRANCHISES
• Anschutz Entertainment Group President Tim Leiweke acknowledged in the Los Angeles Times that the company is still interested in building a football stadium in the city. Noting the company's Home Depot Center, Leiweke said: "We have the best soccer stadium in the world, the best track, a wonderful tennis facility, we're building the only indoor velodrome in the country and we have the best arena in the country. There's one glaring hole, and that's an NFL stadium and team. We're still in touch with the NFL."
• Steelers VP and general counsel Art Rooney II has replaced his father, Dan, as president of the team. Dan Rooney becomes Steelers chairman, and he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "[Art is] going to take on more of the tasks and things like that. I'll still do the community work and league work and things like that."
• Faced with a reported $30 million in losses over three seasons at PNC Park, Pirates managing general partner Kevin McClatchy approved player trades last week that cut the team's estimated $42 million payroll by 25 percent, and he hinted at more payroll cuts. He told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "[A]m I going to continue to blindly write checks for unproductive players? No. We have to get this franchise back to the break-even point. It's going to be painful."
FACILITIES & VENUES
• The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reported that a possible split within the ownership ranks of YankeeNets has led some executives to look into building an arena for the Nets in Brooklyn, with the Devils group continuing to study an arena in Newark.
LEAGUES & GOVERNING BODIES
• CART announced that due to the continuing downward trend in several of its critical revenue streams, management will need to raise additional capital to complete the 2004 season. The series went on to say that projections beyond 2004 are "very speculative." CART CFO Thomas Carter told Bloomberg News, "This is a sponsorship-driven industry, sponsorships are not meeting our expectations."
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| Scott Erickson and Lisa Guerrero |
IN OTHER NEWS....• Sean "P. Diddy" Combs appeared on "The Howard Stern Show" last week and said he wants to buy the Knicks from Cablevision. Combs said: "I think I could do an excellent job with the organization. I'm publicly putting it out there, but they're not taking my calls." The Knicks had no comment on Combs' remarks. ... People reports "Monday Night Football" sideline reporter Lisa Guerrero and Orioles pitcher Scott Erickson plan to marry but have not set a date.
