1956: The New York Giants of the NFL move to Yankee Stadium. The Giants had shared the Polo Grounds with baseball's New York Giants since entering the league in 1925.
1959: Former all-star shortstop Joe Cronin signs a seven-year pact to become president of the American League. He is the first former player to hold the position and eventually serves a second term. Cronin is president from 1959 to 1973.
1964: NBC buys TV rights to the American Football League in a five-year, $36 million deal. The deal covers the 1965 through 1969 seasons.
FOLLOW-THROUGH: NBC held NFL TV rights until 1998, when the network opted not to bid high enough to retain the rights.
1981: Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn head a group that purchases the Chicago White Sox from Bill Veeck's group for $20 million.
1995: Nokia, Europe's largest cellular telephone manufacturer and a major U.S. supplier, signs a multimillion-dollar deal to become title sponsor of the Sugar Bowl for the next three games. The Sugar Bowl is the first major sponsorship deal for Nokia in the United States. Nokia eventually extends the deal and remains title sponsor of the game, which serves as part of the Bowl Championship Series to crown college football's national champion.
1995: PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announces the formation of PGA Tour Licensing. Its purpose is to manage the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour licensing interests and the use of the PGA Tour trademark.
FOLLOW-THROUGH: Today, the PGA Tour has more than 50 official retail and consumer marketing licensees and more than 20 international licensees.
1995: John Walker, a former researcher for the NFL Players Association, is arrested by the FBI on a charge of embezzling more than $50,000 of the union's funds. Walker is arrested around kickoff time on Super Bowl Sunday, although FBI Special Agent Daniel Bradley said the timing was coincidental. The funds in question came from fees for processing applications from sports agents seeking to be accredited by the NFLPA or have their accreditation renewed. Walker was fired from the NFLPA a week before the arrest.
1996: Magic Johnson, who retired from the NBA in 1991, returns to the league, scoring TNT its highest NBA rating (4.4) of the year. The 4.4 is also the highest late-night NBA rating the network has earned in 12 years of airing games.
FOLLOW-THROUGH: Johnson played 32 regular-season games and four playoff games in '96 before departing the game for good after the season. TNT and TBS' average season ratings were up 22 percent (to a 2.0), their highest average since the 1989-90 season. NBC's final regular-season rating (5.3) was its highest in eight seasons. Also, in February, a game between the Lakers and Chicago Bulls, featuring Johnson and Michael Jordan, set a cable record for an NBA regular-season game with a 7.1 rating.
1996: Dan Duva, 44, head of Main Events, dies of brain cancer. Duva promoted or co-promoted more than 100 world championship boxing matches, handling such boxers as Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Lennox Lewis. ESPN's Charley Steiner: "Dan Duva was not flamboyant like Don King, nor did he have the acerbic wit of Bob Arum. But he was a fiercely bright man whose integrity was never questioned."
1997: Mike Ditka is named New Orleans Saints coach in a three-year contract worth $5.5 million to $6 million. Saints director of ticket sales Greg Seeling says the team has taken 300 to 400 requests for season-ticket applications in the first two days since the announcement. Normally, the staff handles 25 calls a day.
1997: A federal appeals court rules that Motorola and Stats Inc. can transmit real-time NBA game scores and statistics taken from radio and TV broadcasts. The 3-0 ruling reverses a lower court ruling, which had enjoined Motorola and Stats Inc. from disseminating information over pager systems called Sportstrax and other online services. Motorola attorney Herbert Schwartz, on the ruling: "It's important for the new media in terms of their ability to transmit facts promptly once those facts have been made public over TV or radio."
1998: Fox Sports Net officially launches. Cablevision Rainbow Media regional sports networks, formerly known as SportsChannel, are renamed Fox Sports Net New York, Fox Sports Net Ohio, Fox Sports Net New England, Fox Sports Net Chicago and Fox Sports Net Bay Area. The MSG Network keeps its name but is set to feature some FSN programming. Fox Sports President David Hill: "Are we going to cut into ESPN's ad revenue? Absolutely. But I think that as time goes on, I think the two services are pretty much supplementary."
FOLLOW-THROUGH: Today, there are 18 regional sports networks under the FSN banner.
1999: The Baltimore Ravens reach an agreement with PSINet Inc. on a 20-year, $105.5 million sponsorship that includes naming rights to the Ravens' stadium. PSINet Chairman William Schrader says the partnership will become "the envy of sports franchises worldwide."
FOLLOW-THROUGH: PSINet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2001 and, in February 2002, the Ravens and PSINet agreed to terminate the deal. On May 5, 2003, M&T Bank acquired the naming rights to Ravens Stadium, to be called M&T Bank Stadium, in a 15-year deal that pays the Ravens $5 million per year.
