BALTIMORE
Ravens’ preseason games move to WBAL
WBAL-TV 11 will become the Baltimore Ravens’ new television home for preseason games. Ravens games will also remain on WBAL Radio 1090 AM and WIYY 98 Rock FM as part of the four-year agreement with Hearst, the parent company of all three networks. The team’s preseason games had previously been broadcast on Fox 45 TV.
Running festival has Hilton for HQ
The Hilton Baltimore convention center hotel will serve as the official headquarters hotel of the Under Armour Baltimore Running Festival in October. Hilton Baltimore joins the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel and Holiday Inn Inner Harbor as official hotel partners.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
Sports highlighted in tourism campaign
Alabama’s tourism department designated 2008 “The Year of Alabama Sports” and will spotlight the state’s athletic heritage and attractions to draw visitors. Birmingham ad agency Luckie & Co. will produce commercials highlighting the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, sports museums and Alabama Speedweek in Talladega and air the spots in about 60 television markets during the SEC basketball tournament in Atlanta. The $2 million campaign will feature native sports legends, museums and athletic events.
Fans paid big fares from Northeast
Super Bowl XLII pushed up airfares to Phoenix — especially those from Boston and New York. The New England Patriots and New York Giants played in Sunday’s game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. It cost fans from those markets plenty to get to the game.
A fan arriving from Boston on Feb. 1 and staying a week paid $688 to $1,300 or more to get to Phoenix and back on carriers such as Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and US Airways.
It normally costs between $563 and $728 round-trip between Phoenix and the New York/northern New Jersey area, according to those airlines’ reservation systems. Those fares are much higher than the usual prices to fly east, which often are less than $300 round-trip.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
Basketball museum opens on campus
The Carolina Basketball Museum opened on the campus of the University of North Carolina, the first basketball-only museum for a university in the country, according to a report in The (Raleigh) News & Observer. The 8,000-square-foot, $3.4 million facility was designed by Maryland-based Gallagher & Associates and will be housed in a new building that also contains offices for athletics department officials. Admission is free.
CHICAGO
WNBA Sky to train at new facility
The WNBA Chicago Sky chose Attack Athletics as the team’s new practice facility, beginning with training camp in April. The $15 million, 60,000-square-foot center opened in August. Attack is located just west of UIC Pavilion, where Sky games are played. The Sky will use Attack for training camp, in-season practices and training, as well as events and clinics.
COOPERSTOWN, NY.
Padres, Cubs to meet in final HOF Game
The San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs will play in the June 16 Baseball Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, the final HOF Game in a series that started in 1940. The Cubs will be the home team and will occupy the first-base dugout. The game is the only exhibition game to be played during the regular season.
COLUMBUS
Jackets, Ticketmaster extend contract
The Columbus Blue Jackets extended the team’s multiyear resales contract with Ticketmaster. The new deal includes a provision that fans who buy single-game tickets through Ticketmaster can resell them online through Ticketmaster.com. The NHL club’s season-ticket holders have been able to do that since 2002. The resale service also will be offered to those with tickets to AFL Columbus Destroyers games.
FOXBORO, MASS.
Autotrader.com, Patriots sign 2-year deal
Autotrader.com signed a marketing and sponsorship deal with the New England Patriots. The Atlanta-based Internet auto sales company wouldn’t disclose the financial terms of the two-year agreement. The deal covers 2008 and 2009 and includes an option for 2010. The partnership includes year-round naming rights sponsorship of The Patriot Place parking lots at Gillette Stadium; an online AutoTrader.com advertising campaign on www.patriots.com; and AutoTrader.com signs in the stadium.
Ken Griffey Jr. and the Reds could be
runningfrom East to West after this
season.
GOODYEAR, ARIZ.
City council OKs talks with Reds
The Goodyear City Council approved an exclusivity agreement last week with the Cincinnati Reds. Goodyear officials will not talk with any other Major League Baseball club for the next 75 days, nor will the Reds talk with any other city, individual or organization about relocating the team’s spring training facility. The Reds, which open spring training Feb. 27, may take the field at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., for the last time this year.
HONOLULU
Lawmaker seeks Aloha Stadium change
Hawaii state Rep. Jerry Chang, D-S. Hilo-Keaukaha, introduced House Bill 2429 to transfer management of Aloha Stadium to the University of Hawaii as a way to generate more money for the school’s athletic programs. Aloha Stadium board chairman Kevin Chong Kee says the move wouldn’t help the university much since the stadium’s current operating costs almost match its revenue.
LOS ANGELES
UCLA puts Bruins data on mobile site
Go2 Media added the UCLA athletic department to its go2 Mobile Content Network. Go2 UCLA Bruins provides sports information related to Bruins programs to fans on their mobile phones. The new mobile site, available for free, includes features that allow fans to buy tickets, get scores and schedules, read UCLA sports news and view rosters.
MIAMI
Marlins ticket prices going up
The Florida Marlins will raise the price of most individual game tickets this year, according to a report in The Palm Beach Post. While the increases will range from $1 to $5, Marlins tickets will remain among the least expensive in baseball. Prices for the team’s almost 5,000 season-ticket holders will not change.
MILWAUKEE
Track tunes up Web site
The Milwaukee Mile launched a newly designed Web site at www.milwaukeemile.com. The new site is easier to navigate, and event schedules, updates and stories will continually be added to increase awareness and interest in The Mile’s 2008 racing season. The Web site was redesigned by Waukesha, Wis.-based Web 180.
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
Steel takes shape at Gophers stadium
Construction crews began installing steel last week at TCF Bank Stadium, the University of Minnesota’s new on-campus football stadium. About 8,800 tons of steel will be used to build the stadium. Minneapolis-based LeJeune Steel Co., partnering with Somerset, Wis.-based American Structural Metals Inc., is the steel fabricator for the project.
TCF Bank Stadium will be the school’s first
on-campus football stadium in more than
two decades.
Twins to increase its funding portion
Twins Sports President Jerry Bell said that the Minnesota Twins’ new $390 million ballpark is over budget by a significant amount, but the team will increase its contribution to the project rather than cut any of the ballpark’s planned amenities, according to a report in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The ballpark is scheduled to open in 2010. Bell would not reveal how much the project will now cost, according to the report.
TwinsFest surpasses 30,000 fans
The Minnesota Twins’ TwinsFest 2008 attracted 30,483 fans to the Metrodome, the third highest TwinsFest attendance in the event’s history. Presented by Dodge, TwinsFest is an annual fundraiser for the Minnesota Twins Community Fund, a nonprofit organization working to support and improve youth baseball and softball in the Upper Midwest.
Twins president gives ticketing update
The Minnesota Twins have deals for 42 of the 55 private suites that will be available in the new ballpark, said team president Dave St. Peter at the team’s preseason media luncheon on Jan. 25. Meanwhile, the team added WLMX-FM radio of Balsam Lake, Wis., to its radio network, which now numbers more than 70 affiliates. Also, the team expects to renew more than 90 percent of its season-ticket packages, St. Peter told attendees.
The Titans have sold out every
game since the downtown
stadium opened in 1999.
Southern markets could see Wolves
KSTC-TV Channel 45, FSN North and Charter Communications have reached an agreement that will allow the Minnesota Timberwolves to be seen in the southern Minnesota markets of Rochester, Mankato, Winona and Fairmont. Pending league approval, the first game on Charter Cable will be broadcast Friday.
NASHVILLE
Titans continue upward ticket trend
The Tennessee Titans are raising ticket prices $2-$6 next season, marking the seventh time in nine years the Titans have raised prices, though this year the raise is less than last year, according to a report in The (Nashville) Tennessean. The club will begin selling single-game tickets, which will jump by $2 to $36 each, in early July.
NEW YORK
Daktronics displays set for Citi Field
Daktronics will provide nearly 12,000 square feet of integrated scoring and video display technology at Citi Field, the new home of the New York Mets opening in 2009. Installation of the multimillion-dollar system will begin this spring and is expected to be near completion in August.
P&G products part of Islanders’ lineup
Synergy Brands Inc. entered into a sponsorship agreement with the New York Islanders to promote Procter & Gamble products including Duracell, Folgers, Gillette and Pringles through PHS Group. The sponsorship will include Internet and radio advertising, print ads, business development programs and in-game promotions.
NFL taps Fly for new print campaign
The NFL tapped Manhattan ad agency Fly Communications to develop a series of nine unified ads for the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl Program Books that highlight all divisions of the NFL, including NFL.com, Pro Bowl, NFL on Location, NFL Network, NFLRush.com, NFLatino.com, PLAY 60 and NFL Charities. The ads center around a series of player cards that depict enthusiastic fans as opposed to players. The print ads were to appear in Super Bowl and Pro Bowl programs. The full ad buy is worth $2 million.
Orlando Magic radio
partner WDBO-AM
is reaping the rewards
of a cable TV conflict.
UnitedHealthcare titling sports expos
UnitedHealthcare will be the title sponsor of the 2008 Nautica NYC Triathlon’s two-day expo to be held July 18-19. In addition, UnitedHealthcare has renewed its terms with The 2008 Nation’s Triathlon on its title sponsorship for the UnitedHealthcare Sports & Fitness Expo to be held Sept. 12-13 in Washington, D.C. UnitedHealthcare will receive extensive branding at the expos and throughout both race weekends.
ORLANDO
TV conflict boosts Magic radio ratings
The conflict between the largest cable provider in Florida, Bright House, and FSN over carriage of Orlando Magic games has caused a boost for the broadcast ratings of Magic radio partner WDBO-AM, which carries every game, according to a report in The Orlando Sentinel. WDBO-AM general manager Steve Holbrook said that Arbitron ratings from last season have increased 41 percent, according to the report.
PHILADELPHIA
Phantoms honor 4 millionth fan
The AHL Philadelphia Phantoms welcomed their 4 millionth fan recently. Rich Shewman of Douglasville, Pa., was honored with a custom Phantoms “Four-Million” jersey, Phantoms tickets, a digital camera, 4 million microliters (two two-liter bottles) of Pepsi, and the book “The Four Million” by O. Henry. The Phantoms reached the 4-million-fan plateau in their 462nd home game.
Eagles reach out to female fans
The Philadelphia Eagles created a new experience for the team’s female fans called the Eagles Academy. The academy, held in two sessions Feb. 16 and 17, will feature Eagles coaches and players talking football in classroom and on-field settings at the NovaCare Complex in South Philadelphia. The Eagles estimate that 40 percent of their fans are women.
Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider
greeted winner Rich Shewman at a game.
Smooth Jazz broadcasts with ‘Soul’
The AFL Philadelphia Soul and Philadelphia radio station Smooth Jazz WJJZ 97.5 formed a partnership including a naming-rights component that will have the station announcing it is broadcasting from “The Philadelphia Soul Studio.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The alliance also includes youth scholarships and community service elements.
Arbitron to customize Phillies data
The Philadelphia Phillies signed a multiyear contract for Arbitron’s Portable People Meter custom radio ratings services. Using the existing PPM panel installed in Philadelphia for syndicated radio ratings, Arbitron will generate custom reports of pre-, post-, in-game and total broadcast listening estimates for the Phillies’ 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons.
RALEIGH
FSN, Canes sign multiyear deal
FSN South signed the Carolina Hurricanes to a multiyear deal that wraps up the team’s TV rights until the 2012-13 season. Under the agreement, the RSN will televise at least 65 games and postgame shows each year starting next season, 10 more games than the current contract.
RIDGEWOOD, N.J.
PGA Tour moves FedEx Cup opener
The PGA Tour officially relocated The Barclays for the 2008 season from Westchester Country Club to Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey. The Barclays, the opening event of the Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, is scheduled for the week of Aug. 18-24.
SAN ANTONIO
Final Four fundraising goal reached
The Local Organizing Committee for the NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament in San Antonio reached the $3.2 million fundraising goal it set three years ago for this year’s tournament and three other basketball playoffs, according to a report in the San Antonio Express-News. The funds were raised from about 50 corporate donors and about 100 individuals. The Final Four will be played April 5-7 at the Alamodome.
STOCKTON, CALIF.
Ports promote lawn-painting contest
The Class A California League Stockton Ports are offering a promotion that runs through the end of this month in which three fans will have the Minor League Baseball Opening Day logo painted on their lawn by Justin Clarke, California League groundskeeper of the year. Winners, who must have a lawn area at least 12 feet by 12 feet, will be selected in a random drawing andannounced on March 7.
VANCOUVER
Record-breaking torch relay planned
The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games will stage the longest torch relay in one country in Olympic history with a 100-day, 21,750-mile trek, according to a report in the Vancouver Sun. The relay’s $31 million budget will be underwritten mainly by key presenting sponsors Coca-Cola and RBC, according to the report.
