AUSTIN, TEXAS
Soccer star Hamm to chair event
Soccer player and Olympic gold medalist Mia Hamm will serve as honorary chairwoman of the 2006 Philanthropy Day Luncheon, sponsored by the Greater Austin Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The luncheon, set to be held Jan. 24, honors local philanthropists and fund-raisers.
BUFFALO
Sabres tickets among the cheapest
The Buffalo Sabres, who were among the 19 NHL teams that lowered prices this season, are selling tickets that on average are 16 percent cheaper than in 2003-04. The Sabres introduced a new variable pricing plan, charging more for some games based on opponent and day of game. Team Marketing Report of Chicago said the average price of a ticket at HSBC Arena is $29.73. Only the Carolina Hurricanes ($26.15) and Phoenix Coyotes ($27.37) have cheaper tickets. The Philadelphia Flyers have the most expensive ticket prices at an average of $54.81.
CHARLOTTE
Bobcats Arena grand opening this week
The city of Charlotte and the Charlotte Bobcats organization announced plans for the Charlotte Bobcats Arena grand opening weekend Oct. 20-23, including a ceremonial ribbon cutting, a Rolling Stones performance for the arena’s first event and two public Bobcats Open House events, presented by The Charlotte Observer.
CINCINNATI
IBL looking for owner to start franchise
The International Basketball League wants to put a franchise in Cincinnati and is looking for an owner to start the team. The minor-league IBL had 17 teams last season, its first in existence. All 17 teams will be back for the 2006 season, league officials said, and it plans to add eight more in the same year. The season runs from April through June. The IBL arranges franchises in clusters and sets up the schedules so teams don’t have to make more than one trip a year by plane. Cincinnati had a franchise in the American Basketball Association last year, but it’s not expected to field a team in the ABA this year.
COLUMBUS
Jackets renew Pontiac-GMC deal
Pontiac-GMC has signed a multiyear deal to renew its Championship Partner agreement with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Financial terms were not disclosed, but similar deals with the team have been valued at up to $1.5 million annually. The agreement names Pontiac and GMC as the club’s official vehicle and truck, respectively. Pontiac-GMC will also have a vehicle display area and branded concourse in Nationwide Arena, as well as broadcast inventory and signs on arena scoreboards and dasher boards.
DALLAS
Mavs tickets, fees see reductions
Processing fees on Dallas Mavericks tickets will fall for the 2005-06 season after the club renegotiated its deal with Ticketmaster. The Mavericks did not disclose how much Ticketmaster fees will drop, but said they will be “dramatically” lower for the cheapest seats. Meanwhile, the club has cut prices for Terrace Level seating, meaning 6,100 seats will cost $35 or less.
MLS taps Cooksey for Cup
Major League Soccer has tapped Irving’s Cooksey Communications to handle the public relations campaign for MLS Cup 2005. The league’s championship game is slated for Nov. 13 at Frisco’s Pizza Hut Park, which opened earlier this year.
DENVER
Romanowski writes autobiography Bill Romanowski, who played linebacker for the Denver Broncos from 1996 to 2001, is telling his story. Publication is scheduled midmonth for his autobiography, “Romo: My Jekyll and Hyde Life.” His autobiography details his 16-year career in the NFL, which also included stops in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Oakland, and his use of supplements and other substances to keep himself going. “60 Minutes” reportedly will air a segment about Romanowski.
DETROIT
Sellout crowd watches Wings
The Detroit Red Wings’ opening-night game against the St. Louis Blues drew the NHL’s second-largest opening-night attendance. A sellout crowd of 20,066 flocked to Joe Louis Arena. Overall, the league said its opening-night games filled arenas to more than 98 percent capacity and set a single-date record for total attendance of 275,447.
KANSAS CITY
Finance plan for ballpark offered
The Kansas City Royals could reap a $21.5 million annual benefit from a new downtown stadium built with taxpayer dollars, an analyst said. Dan Barrett, principal of Barrett Sports Group LLC, unveiled a financing package that would both renovate Arrowhead Stadium and build a $357 million downtown baseball stadium to replace Kauffman Stadium. Barrett spoke at an Oct. 11 news conference at the Liberty Memorial Museum.
MEMPHIS
CHL’s RiverKings get presenting sponsor
The Memphis RiverKings of the Central Hockey League announced that Methodist Healthcare will be the presenting sponsor of the 2005-06 RiverKings season. Methodist Healthcare will be featured as the main presenter of RiverKings Hockey and be seen in team news releases, publications and game presentations.
MIAMI
Dolphins adding giant videoboard
The Dolphins and Daktronics reached a deal to build what the company calls the world’s largest high-definition LED display at Dolphins Stadium in time for the ’06 MLB season. Daktronics will place a videoboard in the east end zone that measures 50 feet high by 137 feet wide, while the west end zone will feature a screen that is 50 feet high by 99 feet wide. Daktronics said that Dolphins Stadium will become the first NFL venue with true HD video.
MILWAUKEE
Prices cut for Bucks season tickets
The Milwaukee Bucks are reducing season-ticket prices on several thousand seats. A seat behind the basket in the top four rows of the lower level will cost $30 a game, compared with $45 last season. Upper-level seats in the corner of the Bradley Center and behind the basket will cost $10, compared with $24 last season.
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| The Brewers logo will be on the uniforms of the Milwaukee Admirals hockey team. |
Brewers named Admirals’ ‘jersey sponsor’ The Milwaukee Admirals and Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a corporate partnership for the 2005-06 season that will include the Brewers logo on the American Hockey League team’s uniforms. The Brewers will be the official jersey sponsor of the Admirals uniforms. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
Wild sets single-game attendance mark
The Minnesota Wild set a team single-game attendance record in its first game back after a lockout that cost the entire 2004-05 season. The Wild reported a crowd of 19,398 on Oct. 5, surpassing the previous record of 19,394 set April 29, 2003, for a playoff game against the Vancouver Canucks. The official seating capacity for Xcel Energy Center is 18,064.
Skating championships coming to city
U.S. Figure Skating announced the selection of St. Paul as the host city for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January 2008. The event, held annually since 1914, is the nation’s most prestigious figure skating event. Over the course of a week the event will crown 12 national champions in ladies, men’s, pairs and ice dancing on the senior, junior and novice levels.
PHILADELPHIA
Flyers founder starts youth program
Philadelphia Flyers founder and Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider announced the creation of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, which has a goal of providing new opportunities for inner-city children to participate in the sport of hockey. Snider said the foundation has formed a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, in which public school children will participate in on-ice hockey clinics as part of their physical education curriculum.
PHOENIX
Stadium lining up non-football events
Almost a year away from the opening of the new Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, its calendar of events is already filling up. Stadium operator Global Spectrum has booked 31 non-football events at the stadium, which will also be the site of the 2008 Super Bowl. The events, ranging from monster trucks and custom cars to food and home shows, represent 75 event days, with nearly a half a million attendees headed to the Phoenix area.
RALEIGH, N.C.
$3M renovation begins at St. Aug’s
St. Augustine’s College announced that it will begin a $3 million renovation of its on-campus track and field facility. The new venue will be called the George “Pup” Williams Athletic Complex, in honor of Williams, the school’s legendary track & field coach and athletic director who was head coach of the USA Men’s Track & Field team at the 2004 Olympic Games. The new facility will feature a nine-lane IAAF regulation track and an artificial turf infield. The track will be built with a combination of public and private money.
SACRAMENTO
Maloof open to LPGA sponsorship
Joe Maloof, whose family owns the Sacramento Kings and Monarchs, told the Sacramento Bee that he’s willing to listen to a request that his organization sponsor a proposed new LPGA tournament for Sacramento. Maloof Sports & Entertainment and Raycom Sports, which wants to create a new local golf tournament, are scheduled to meet in a few weeks. In an agreement with Longs Drug Stores Corp., Raycom Sports’ Longs Drugs Challenge is moving next year to the Bay Area community of Danville. Raycom is seeking another title sponsor for a new Sacramento LPGA tournament.
$35M deal for Truckee-area resort
The 34-year-old Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort on Donner Summit near Truckee changed hands for an estimated $35 million, reported several Northern California newspapers. A Bay Area partnership bought North America’s largest ski resort, which covers 9,000 acres, including 5,000 leased acres.
Golf grounds outsourced to save $400,000
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors has privatized golf course maintenance at Cherry Island in Elverta and Ancil Hoffman in Carmichael to save about $400,000 a year. The golf fund is short because play has declined, the Sacramento Bee reported.
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| San Diego declared “Charger Powder Blue Monday” in honor of the big game. |
SAN DIEGO
2.9 million pass Petco turnstiles Attendance at Petco Park for the second season of Padres baseball was slightly more than 95 percent of the figure in 2004, the downtown park’s inaugural year. The Padres became the 18th major league team to surpass 3 million fans when 3,016,752 passed through the turnstiles in 2004. This season, 2,870,549 watched the team over 81 home dates, with that figure exceeding 2.9 million when the 45,093 who attended the one NLDS game in San Diego are included.
Chargers, city celebrate “MNF”
The San Diego Chargers and the city of San Diego declared Oct. 10 “Charger Power Blue Monday” as Qualcomm Stadium hosted its first “Monday Night Football” game since Nov. 11, 1996. The Chargers wore their classic ’60s powder-blue throwback uniforms and encouraged fans to wear “power blue” and other Chargers colors at their workplace that day. The Chargers were to play a home Monday night game against Miami on Oct. 27, 2003, but the game was moved to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., after wildfires spread through the San Diego area a day earlier.
ST. LOUIS
SBC, Cardinals sign telecom contract
SBC Communications Inc. will provide telecommunications services to the St. Louis Cardinals when the team moves into the new Busch Stadium next year, SBC said Oct.10. The five-year contract includes Voice-over IP and dedicated Internet access that are expected to improve day-to-day operations, including ticket sales and business operations. Financial terms were not disclosed. San Antonio-Texas-based SBC Communications Inc. provides local and long-distance telephone and Internet service in Missouri and Illinois.
Will playoffs cost employers?
The St. Louis Cardinals’ appearance in the Major League Baseball playoffs could cost St. Louis-area employers $9.5 million in lost wages, according to estimates from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The New York-based outplacement firm said the loss would come from wages paid to workers who will spend an “inordinate” amount of time tracking their team’s progress. Employers in the eight cities with teams in the playoffs could lose a combined $225 million in lost wages, the firm estimates.
Rams coach takes time off for illness
St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz is limiting his work schedule due to a continuing illness. Martz said he has been ill for four or five weeks and is undergoing tests. Dr. Douglas Pogue, a team physician, suspects a bacterial infection of a heart valve, or endocarditis. Assistant coach Joe Vitt will step in when Martz is unavailable.
Cedric the Entertainer buys into team
St. Louis native Cedric the Entertainer signed an ownership deal with HVM Racing for the 2005 Champ Car World Series. The deal includes renaming the team CTE Racing-HVM through the 2006 season. In addition, Cedric will attend many of the races next year and will provide marketing and promotional support. Cedric is reportedly the first black owner on the circuit. He plans to bring in new sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch, for which Cedric has appeared in some commercials.
TAMPA, FLA.
Lightning lead opening night sellouts
The Tampa Bay Lightning led NHL teams in Opening Night attendance Oct. 5, more than a year after winning the Stanley Cup. An announced crowd of 22,120 packed the St. Pete Times Forum to watch the raising of the team’s giant championship banner, followed by the Bolts’ 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Sellout crowds were also anticipated for opening week home games versus the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres.
Smack staying true to its name
A Tampa screenprinter is playing both sides of the line when it comes to college football rivalries. Smack Apparel, which turned out T-shirts boasting Urban Meyer’s introduction as the University of Florida’s coach this season, jabbed at Gators fans after the University of Alabama’s 31-3 upset victory Oct. 1 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Smack quickly produced a shirt bearing the words “Urban Myth” that were being sold at Tuscaloosa retailers.
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| More than 59,000 fans are expected in Vancouver for the Grey Cup championship. |
VANCOUVER
Grey Cup sold out in advance The Canadian Football League and the 2005 Grey Cup Festival Committee announced that tickets to the 93rd annual Grey Cup Championship game are officially sold out. A crowd of more than 59,157 fans is expected for the Nov. 27 kickoff.
WEST ALLIS, WIS.
Fishy promotion saves fans money
The 52 points the Green Bay Packers scored in their victory over the New Orleans Saints led to a 52 percent discount at a tropical fish shop called The Fish Factory in West Allis, Wis. Store owner Stephan Banach discounts his exotic wares the day after every Packers game by the value of Green Bay’s final score.
WICHITA, KAN.
Spaghetti Warehouse site favored
Sedgwick County residents have given the narrow nod to the Spaghetti Warehouse site for a new downtown arena. The site just south of Douglas and east of Emporia was the preference of 41 of 130 respondents during a survey conducted at the county’s public arena meeting at the Eaton Hotel. Thirty-eight respondents opted for the WaterWalk site between Waterman and Kellogg near Main. A site decision is expected in mid-November.
