1980: MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voids the New York Yankees’ drafting of high school shortstop Billy Cannon Jr. and rules the team is guilty of tampering. Other major league clubs accuse Cannon’s father, former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star Billy Cannon Sr., of writing 25 teams and explaining that selecting his son would be a waste because he was going to college. The Yankees selected him in the third round, though many had projected him as a first-rounder.
FOLLOW-THOUGH: Cannon chose to attend Texas A&M to play football and was a first-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1984 NFL draft.
1984: Calvin Griffith and his sister, Thelma Haynes, sign a letter of intent to sell their 52 percent ownership of the Minnesota Twins to Carl Pohlad for $32 million.
1988: The Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat participate in the NBA expansion draft to begin building their rosters.
FOLLOW-THOUGH: The Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002. The Bobcats, Charlotte’s new expansion team, will participate in their own expansion draft this week. The Hornets used their first pick on Dell Curry, who was named the Bobcats’ director of basketball relations last October.
1995: The U.S. Olympic Committee unanimously chooses former NCAA Executive Director Dick Schultz as its new executive director. Schultz has been a consultant since resigning his post with the NCAA in 1993. John Krimsky, the USOC’s interim director since Harvey Schiller’s resignation in the fall of 1994, is to remain as the committee’s managing director of business affairs.
FOLLOW-THOUGH: In February 2000, Norman Blake was named successor to Schultz in the new position of CEO and secretary general, which was to yield more power than that of Schultz, who retired. In May 2000, MAI Sports, a consulting and sponsorship management firm, appointed Schultz its chairman. He has been with the company since.
1995: Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis and Oakland Coliseum President George Vukasin sign an agreement to bring the team back to the city after 13 years in Los Angeles. The deal is completed, but the team and city have experienced a rocky, litigious relationship since.
1996: Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson buys naming rights to the Carolina Panthers’ stadium for $20 million over 10 years.
FOLLOW-THOUGH: In January 2004, Bank of America replaced Ericsson as naming-rights sponsor in a 20-year, $140 million deal. Ericsson had agreed to end its deal early if a replacement sponsor was found.
1999: The NFL files suit against Coors Brewing Co., claiming the company’s efforts to promote Coors Light as the “Official Beer of the NFL Players” is false and a violation of the NFL’s exclusive trademark rights. The suit seeks unspecified damages as well as a recall of any products infringing on the NFL’s trademarks.
FOLLOW-THOUGH: A district court ruled for the NFL, finding that both Coors and Players Inc. had violated the NFL’s exclusive rights to use the “NFL” trademark in sponsorship and promotional agreements. Eventually, in March 2002, Coors replaced Anheuser-Busch and Miller as the NFL’s official exclusive beer sponsor in a four-year deal with an optional fifth year. The deal called for Coors to pay an average of $15 million per year in rights fees and guaranteed the league $25 million in NFL-themed promotional spending.
1999: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bernard Markovitz approves Mario Lemieux’s refinancing plan for the Pittsburgh Penguins, allowing him to trade $32.5 million in salary and interest for a controlling interest in the team while keeping it in Pittsburgh.
