Countdown of 10 Top Sports & Entertainment Biz Issues November 5-11, 2007

1.  Aftermath of the "Midseason Super Bowl" (Colts v. Patriots)

The predictions were correct regarding stellar TV ratings for the Patriots-Colts showdown on Sunday. CBS drew a 22.5 large-market Nielsen rating for the game, marking the highest overnight rating for a regular-season Sunday afternoon NFL game since 1986, according to the network. The previous regular-season ratings record was owned by Fox - a 22.2 large-market rating for a 1996 Cowboys-49ers game.

In comparison, last season's AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Colts earned a 26.4 rating, and the Patriots-Cowboys earlier this year on CBS got an 18.0. 

Should the overnight rating - which measures about two-thirds of the 112.8 million U.S. households with televisions - stick, the game will be the highest-rated program since the Academy Awards on ABC in February, which earned a 26.4 rating.

CBS' broadcast earned as much as $500,000 per 30-second ad, and the network sold out of its inventory for the game. (They also added 15 additional staffers for a total of 200 handling the game.)   Nike, Sprint, Citi and MasterCard, which ran ads featuring Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning, all bought time during the game.  The Boston Herald also reported that WBZ-CBS in Boston got "a whopping $80,000 for a 30-second spot" during the game, comparable to February's Super Bowl rate.

The game was also a boon to Las Vegas sports books and online betting concerns - the Colts were a six-point underdog at game time, meaning that this was the first time this season the Patriots, who won 24-20, didn't cover the spread.  There was 10-times more action on the Colts-Patriots' game than any other game scheduled for the week, with most fans favoring the Patriots, said Steve Schorr, race and sports book manager at Harveys Resort & Casino.  Michael Seaton, of Spread Media, agreed.  "Without question," he said, "this will be the most wagered-on game of the 2007 regular season." PREDICTION PLEASE: What rating do you think this Sunday's game will get? Vote at SportsBusinessDaily.com.

And what of the stars of the game?  Manning and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady are both media darlings with multiple multi-million-dollar endorsement deals.  Manning, the guy next door in commercials for DirecTV, Gatorade, MasterCard, Sony and Sprint, is approachable and self-deprecating. The sexier Brady is the new face of Stetson cologne, which joins Movado and just-signed Smartwater by Glaceau as his signature endorsement deals.  Both have hosted "Saturday Night Live."  But this victory - more importantly, coupled with Brady's three Super Bowl victories to Manning's one - will likely keep Brady's agent at the top of marketer's Rolodexes when they're looking for a pitchman who shouts "winner."

Elsewhere, NFL attendance is slightly up from a year ago, with the Redskins in front with 88,888 fans on average per game. The rising Saints have seen a 1.6 increase in attendance, filling the Superdome to 107.7 percent capacity for their three home games so far.  Raiders' home games are showing the biggest attendance decline thus far, down six percent, and for the first time since Arthur Blank has owned the Falcons, their game on Sunday was blacked out locally since the game wasn't a sellout.  (Before Michael Vick was forced off the field, that team had a waiting list of 90,000 potential season ticket holders.)

2.  NFL Once Again Eyes LA

NFL officials and live football-starved Los Angeles-area fans are now turning their lonely eyes to...the City of Industry, where land developer Ed Roski, Jr. has a 600 acre parcel that practically aches for a football stadium.

Roski has been in this place before - the CEO of Majestic Realty was part of a potential owners' group that tried to lure an expansion team to the Coliseum a few years ago.  The developer was also instrumental in building Staples Center.  This time around, however, he's going it alone, stating in the Los Angeles Times that "the development business has been good the last six years."

"If you made a list of 100 things you would like to have with a new stadium," Roski said, "this probably has 90 of them...this is the perfect place for the Greater L.A. area - right in the middle of five counties."

According to league sources, the NFL will likely tour the potential City of Industry stadium site this week. 
What rating do you think this Sunday's game will get? Vote at SportsBusinessDaily.com.

3.  NFL Network Report Card

NFL Network begins its eight-game package of Thursday-Saturday games on Thanksgiving, but many cable customers across the U.S. likely won't see any of the games.  The time is now for the NFL to get a deal set up with the nation's largest cable operators, including Comcast.

Cowboys owner and NFL Network committee head Jerry Jones is negotiating with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in an attempt to get Comcast to once again embrace the NFL Network.  The two entities have been contentious since January 2006, when the NFL announced that it was placing its late season game package on NFL Network after Comcast was certain it had been awarded the package for its OLN (now Versus) channel.  The NFL sued Comcast at the end of that year after the cable giant announced that it was moving NFL Network to a sports tier.

According to Sports Business Journal, with negotiations now at a standstill, Comcast wants the Federal Communications Commission to allow an arbitrator to determine if and how cable operators should carry the channel.  The operators still want to put the network on a sports tier, so only people who want to see it have to pay for it. The NFL still thinks its channel should be on digital basic cable, so more people would have access to it.

The NFL had projected to have 50 million subscribers by now, but has closer to 35 million.  Satellite companies such as Dish Network and DirecTV and telecomm companies like AT&T and Verizon offer the NFL Network on broad packages.  The 24 million viewers on Comcast's basic tier alone would help the NFL Network exceed projections - IF they can get a deal done by Turkey Day.

4.  The Anti-TiVo: Super Bowl Ad Inventory Sells Out Early

At a pace that far outstrips previous years, advertisers have bought up almost all of the commercial inventory for Super Bowl XLII on Fox Sports on February 3.  Media buyers claim the strong demand is a defensive move on TiVo and all digital video recorders.  Ad skipping among consumers has become so widespread that marketers are now placing a much bigger emphasis on tv mega-events that viewers are more likely to watch live. While the demand for Super Bowl ads is always strong because of the size of its audience - Super Bowl XLI drew 93.2 million viewers - the steep price increases in recent years have pushed advertisers to wait until later in the year to buy in hopes of getting a last-minute bargain.  But now, only a handful of slots remain, five to seven at most, according to media buyers working with Fox.  And they're no bargain:  ad prices for a 30-second spot are going for as much as $2.7 million.

5.  Sports and Politics make Strange Bedfellows

You think the Patriots-Colts game was over-hyped - look at the 2008 Presidential Elections.  One year out from the November 2008 general election, the candidates and their marketing machines are in full force like never before - and they're pulling the sports world into their game.

Major League Baseball, which put the kibosh on a presidential hopeful-Chris Dodd fundraiser at Fenway Park last month, has collectively donated more than $267,000 to presidential candidates, according to a recent story in USA Today.  59 percent of the money has gone to Republican candidates, with frontrunner and avowed Yankees fan Rudy Giuliani getting the most (estimated at $78,000, including $2,300 from Yankee Alex Rodriguez).  Among Giuliani "bundlers," or supporters who create a network of donations, are Texas Rangers Owner Tom Hicks and Yankees Vice President Abel Guerra.

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton pocketed nearly $50,000 from MLB, likely a portion coming from Commissioner Bud Selig, whose political contributions as recorded by newsmeat.com are more than 95 percent Democratic.

On the gridiron side, Arizona Cardinals President Michael Bidwill is a bundler for Republican Senator John McCain, while newsmeat says Patriots owner Robert Kraft has donated $200,250 to Democratic candidates over time (although he's currently given the $2,300 maximum to Mitt Romney and McCain).  Also donating $2,300 is quarterback/actor Peyton Manning...to candidate/actor Fred Thompson. 

The final word on sports and politics, however, may well come from Democratic political consultant and avid college football fan, Louisianan James Carville.  Said Carville, quoted in Sports Illustrated, "I leave my politics at the gate when I enter a stadium.  Nothing's more annoying than someone asking a political question during a sporting event.  It's not just impolite, it's criminal.  If Les Miles goes 5-for-5 in fourth down conversions, I don't care who he votes for."
 

6.  Joe Torre Hire - When a Manager Is So Much More

While it's been stated repeatedly this week that baseball fans don't buy season tickets because of a team's manager, Joe Torre, newly instated skipper of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is likely to boost the team's brand and create numerous tangible and intangible financial opportunities for the team.

The new manager's introductory news conference Monday was held in center field at Dodger Stadium, not in some room in the ballpark's interior, a first according to a team spokesman.

Torre is a celebrity in his own right, with a brand "bigger than Frank and Jamie McCourt," according to Hollywood publicist Hanna Pantle, quoted in the Los Angeles Times.  Fans contemplating buying or renewing season ticket packages and corporations considering $1 million-plus sponsorships will likely be comforted by the seniority and serenity Torre brings to the job, boosting their confidence that the team is in good hands and that ownership and management are truly committed to winning.

The Dodgers could also take a page from the marketing playbook of their freeway neighbors Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who have built their brand around manager Mike Scioscia instead of a star player or two.

Torre has a lot of work to do to earn his $14.5 million salary, reported to be paid over the course of a three-year deal.  Other MLB managers averaged a $1.3 million salary last season, and 16 made less than $1 million, according to USA Today.  Torre's salary is more on par with that of an NBA coach - averaging $3.95 million this season (and Torre's new cross-town peer Phil Jackson earning $9 million in 2007).

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, paid $1.1 million this year, was quoted as saying, "I think we are way underpaid for the amount of responsibility we have."  Torre's responsibility for the Dodgers starts today.

7.  NBA Ratings, Tix, Favorites

According to Nielsen Media Research, the opening NBA double-header on TNT last week averaged a 1.5 U.S. household Nielsen rating, or roughly two million viewers, down 25 percent from 2.4 million viewers last year.  The earlier Blazers-Spurs match-up posted a 1.4 rating, down 26 percent from last year's Bulls-Heat game. The later Rockets-Lakers game saw a 1.5 rating, down 6 percent from Suns-Lakers last year.

Meanwhile on the web, NBA.com set its all-time opening-day traffic record with more than 4.2 million total hits on Tuesday, according to the league. The Tuesday record marks a 55 percent increase from opening-day traffic last season.

Ticket resellers are split on NBA leaders.  On TicketsNow.com, the Cavaliers and Knicks home openers showed the top sales prices among NBA teams, while the Celtics home opener on Friday accounted for over 10 percent of NBA opener tickets sold on the site.  StubHub, however, saw the highest sales prices for the Suns and Lakers home openers.  The Grizzlies, despite a home opener against the defending champion Spurs, saw the lowest sales prices of any team on both sites. 

The Lakers, however, continue to win the fan popularity contest according to a recent ESPN poll, followed by the Bulls and the Miami Heat.  Yet the Lakers were named as the favorite team of only 6.9 percent of respondents; close to 60 percent of respondents reported that they had no favorite team.

8. Hooters, Devils and Frogs:  Ginn Reunion Hosts Collegiate Match Play Championship

November 4-6, the Ginn Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, plays host to the 16-team Hooters Women's Collegiate Match Play Championship.  Site of one of the LPGA Tour's showcase stops, the mid-April Ginn Open, the match-play event will take place on Reunion's Tom Watson-designed Independence Course.  Nine of the holes are used during the annual Ginn Open, giving the young women headed for the LPGA an early look at what they're in for.

Invitations to the Hooters Match Play Championship were based on the final standings at the 2007 NCAA National Championships. Competing schools include Alabama, Auburn, Denver, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, Michigan State, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Purdue, South Carolina, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

The 2007 Championship is presented by the National Golf Coaches Association in association with Hooters of America, Inc., and is co-hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission and Ginn Reunion Resort. According to National Golf Coaches Association Executive Director Roger Yaffe, "none of the schools declined because of the Hooters name."

Notably absent is Stanford golf prodigal freshman Michelle Wie.  While she's not officially playing for the Stanford squad, Wie just announced that she will skip the Japanese tour's Casio World Open next month as she has yet to fully recover from wrist injuries.  Wie had played twice in the Casio, one of Japan's men's richest tournaments with total prize money of $1.22 million.  She missed the cut by one stoke in 2005, and finished next-to-last in 2006 after missing the cut by 17 strokes.

9. Trouble in Tennis

If you thought that the main problem with professional tennis these days is a shortage of up-and-coming American players...you were wrong.  Just before the season finales in Madrid (for the women) and Shanghai (for the men), things are getting darker on the courts.

Last week, Switzerland's OTHER high-profile player, Martina Hingis, shocked the tennis world when she abruptly announced her retirement from the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour after being accused of testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon earlier this year.  The 19th-ranked Hingis, a five-time Grand Slam winner with $20,130,657 in career winnings ($625,295 this year), denied using cocaine.  Hingis listed Yonex and adidas among her sponsors.

The announcement came in the wake of a fresh wave of concern that professional tennis is being infiltrated by gambling rings.  Nikolay Davydenko was fined $2,000 by the ATP for lack of his 'best effort" during play in a loss at the St. Petersburg Open two weeks ago.  Then, he was accused again last week of not trying his hardest in a loss to Marcos Baghdatis in the third round of the Paris Masters.  Davydenko, with $6,813,256 in career winnings, $1,601,775 in 2007, retired from a match he was heavily favored to win in Poland in August.  Later, it came out that online betting exchange Betfair had suspended action on that match because of irregular betting patterns.  The ATP is still investigating. 

Tour rules bar players and their entourages from betting on tennis or providing insider information to others; penalties can reach $100,000 and be accompanied by lifetime bans.  Yet betting agencies are now saying that 140 ATP matches have been considered suspect over the past five years.  Of the 140, five of Davydenko's matches have been flagged.

The Australian Open is not waiting for the ATP investigation.  The tournament, starting this January, will no longer allow bookmakers on site, and will employ an outside security firm specializing in gambling oversight to enforce zero tolerance of illegal wagering and match fixing.

10.  Hollywood literally kicks in to help fire victims; Fire advances

On Sunday, in a soccer exhibition at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham, actor Anthony LaPaglia, and other actors and retired players joined together to raise more than $90,000 for the victims of October's wildfires in Southern California.

Beckham and the Galaxy routed LaPaglia's Hollywood United 10-4, but that hardly mattered.  The 83 minutes that Beckham played, however, were the most he had logged since joining the Galaxy in July, raising hopes that he's healthy enough to play for England's national team and for the postseason schedule of four exhibitions in five weeks.

Playing with LaPaglia for Hollywood United were former players Jorge Campos, Frank LeBoeuf and Eric Wynalda, Galaxy General Manager Alexi Lalas, and Def Leppard guitarist Viv Campbell.

Meanwhile in Chicago, the MLS Fire and mercurial midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco have advanced to the Eastern Finals of the MLS playoffs, greatly enhanced by Blanco's star power.  Forget Beckham - no MLS player has had a greater impact on his team and on the league this year than Blanco.  The 34-year-old former Club America star from Mexico City has single-handedly sold out stadiums and created widespread interest in the league.  Average attendance jumped 61 percent, from 10,217 to 16,490 after Blanco joined the team in July under a three-year $2.7 million contract (second only to Beckham's).  He's wildly popular with the 1.5 million Mexican soccer fans in the greater Chicago area, as well as a big draw, a la Beckham, on the road.

Countdown of 10 Top Sports & Entertainment Biz Issues Oct. 29-Nov. 4, 2007 1.  Celtics Get Their Day:  Boston Team is Focus of NBA Tip-Off 2007

Happy Red Sox fans are returning home from their victory parade.  The Patriots are 8-0.  Yet Boston's possibly most remarkable sports story of the year has yet to play a regulation game.

That ends on Friday, when the Celtics play their home opener at the Garden against the Washington Wizards.  By all accounts, the Green Machine is back.

Executive Director of Basketball Operations (and former Celtics guard) Danny Ainge is already on track to earn NBA Executive of the Year honors for his dazzling midsummer trade for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett - the seven-for-one Garnett trade the biggest trade for a single player in NBA history.  Garnett will earn a total of $104.9 million in his next five seasons with Boston.  The Celtics are paying $58.5 million to Garnett, Allen, and now-happy star Paul Pierce this season alone - more than the total payrolls of four NBA franchises.

The day after the trade was announced, the team, purchased by investment bankers Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca for $360 million in 2002, saw its most profitable day of tickets sales in a decade.  Average Celtic 2007 ticket prices are $126.00 per game; Forbes estimates the franchise to be worth $367 million.

Interestingly, the storied Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers rivalry, which peaked during the reign of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, seems to continue primarily off-court in 2007 so far, as the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers watched helplessly as Garnett was traded from Minnesota...by former Celtic great and known Laker-hater Kevin McHale.  Look for this rivalry to heat up in the paint as well.

2.  Beyond Beantown:  NBA Storylines Across the U.S. Aside from the almost-daily Kobe Bryant "will he/won't he play" drama, the biggest NBA stories surrounding Tip-Off 2007 are centered on murky arena deals and the continued gambling fallout surrounding disgraced referee Tim Donaghy.

Although Donaghy is currently out of the spotlight pending his January 28 federal court sentencing for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and transmit gambling information across state line, he is far from forgotten.  In the wake of the summer's exposure of his crimes, the NBA has hired two more senior executives to better share referee-monitoring responsibilities, and has expanded the use of instant replay to flagrant-foul-2 calls and on-court scuffles.

Further, Las Vegas' future as an NBA franchise town is still on hold.  The league's Board of Governors last week decided to "continue to monitor developments" on a new 20,000 seat arena to be constructed by AEG there.  Vegas will continue to host preseason games, as well as the NBA Vegas Summer League.  But Mayor Oscar Goodman is not backing down from his position of protecting Vegas sports books' right to allow wagering on NBA games.  Ultimately, the owners will have to decide if this is a factor with which they can live.

The Vegas holding pattern will also pause the domino effect of other potential franchise moves and arena deals, including Sacramento, Kansas City, and more remotely, Portland, Seattle, and Oklahoma City.  (Will there be an 11th-hour deal by Seattle officials to keep the Sonics in the Northwest?)

3.  From the Basketball Court to the Federal Kind

MSG, blame MLB.

If not for the overwhelming success of MLB Advanced Media - which has become a profit center in its own right for the league and has sold 27 million of the 80 million MLB tickets sold in 2007 - the majority of NHL owners might not have voted last year to turn website operations over to a centralized league office.  If not for that vote, James Dolan, Madison Square Garden, and the New York Rangers might not have filed a lawsuit in a New York federal district court last month claiming that the new media plan is an antitrust violation constituting an "illegal cartel." 

The hesaid.com - theysaid.com saga continues.  The NHL last week filed an initial response asking the court to reject MSG's demand for a preliminary injunction protecting its website and halting NHL-imposed fines of $100,000 per day.  Should Dolan and the Rangers prevail, it could serve as a test case for all sports leagues as they continue to consolidate control over new media and online marketing channels.  You can be sure that the NFL, especially Senior Vice President of Media Strategy Brian Rolapp, is watching this case very closely.

4.  Sweep Caroline

It's official.  The $724 million Boston Red Sox (according to Forbes) have ousted the billion-dollar babies New York Yankees as The Best Team That Money Can Buy.  Everyone involved in the all-too-brief World Series, including exclusive broadcaster Fox (despite being deprived of $425,000 per 30-second ad revenue gravy from games 5-7) woke up richer on Monday morning. 

The city of Boston reaped $3.9 million in economic impact for each of its home games, according to a Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau study, while Denver gained between $2-5 million per home game according to its Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Rockies, although they lost, will enjoy expanded World Series-related revenue streams next season, and hope to see season ticket sales surpass their all-time Rockie Mountain High of 34,000 in 1998.  The team sold 50,000 tickets in the first two hours World Series tickets were offered for sale.

The U.S. Patent Office is richer, after the Rockie's trademark application for the rights to "Rocktober."

And Alex Rodriguez is richer, because, hey, he's A-Rod.  In a move highly criticized for upstaging timing, A-Rod agent Scott Boras announced in the middle of Sunday night's World Series Game 4 that the Yankee slugger is opting out of his 10-year, $252 million contract.  The Yankees, as expected, passed on Rodriguez after his opt-out, even though they were prepared to offer him a four- or five-year extension worth $25-30 million annually.

While Boras is confident he can get even more from another team, it won't be from the Red Sox.  Bosox fans stood behind the visitors' dugout at Coors Field chanting "Don't sign A-Rod!" after their Series sweep, and the team's $144 million annual payroll, thanks to Daisuke Matsuzaka, is already a Boston Brahmin bank breaker.

5.  Now We Can Get On With:

 

• George Mitchell's report.  The former senator and Boston Red Sox Director is expected to release his report on steroids in baseball before year end.  Now that his directorial duties for the Bosox are done for the season, Mitchell will likely fast-track the report's release before baseball's December winter meetings and the holiday season begin in earnest.
• Making the new Yankees manager feel at home.  On Tuesday, Joe Girardi accepted a 3-year contract worth a reported $2 million annually to manage the New York Yankees, honoring Commissioner Bud Selig's request to delay the announcement until after the World Series.  The Yankees will also need a new bench coach:  after he was denied the managerial job, Don Mattingly also announced he would not remain with the team.
• Finding Lew Wolff a home.  The Oakland A's owner refuses to stay in Oakland, yet potential neighbors and backers in Fremont are proving balky.  At the end of the day, Wolff, like all-too-many California homeowners these days, might have no other recourse than to stay put.  Somewhere, Al Davis is chuckling quietly into his jumpsuit lapel.

6.  The NFL in London:  Aftermath and Impressions

The wheels were set in motion at an NFL team owners meeting last October. Commissioner Roger Goodell was frank about the need for a new global strategy when he addressed the owners.  He asked simply, "In 10 or 20 years time, do you want 400 million fans worldwide, or four billion?"

At Wembley Stadium on Saturday, those wheels nearly fell off when steady rain, a soggy field, and sloppy play combined to make the much ballyhooed international match-up between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins more of a defense-driven yawner than electrifying offensive attack.  But the 81,176 fans who attended the game didn't seem to mind.  More than three-quarters remained in their seats with five minutes to play (and the game pretty much decided), although they faced a long walk to the single Underground stop that serves the Wembley complex, sure to be jam-packed.  Only for an overtime game, or the playoffs, would you see that in the States.

The Wembley fans - about 70,000 of whom were thought to be regional, with 10,000 visiting from the United States - were enchanted by the spectacle that is the regular season NFL.  The cheered the Dolphins cheerleaders, and seemed fascinated by the "crowd cam" video shots Americans now take for granted.  They welcomed F1 star Lewis Hamilton for the coin toss, and booed Giants honorary captain, Chelsea's John Terry.  Flashbulbs were a constant presence throughout.

What's more, the fans, though seemingly a Dolphins majority (thanks to the lingering popularity of Dan Marino), wore representative jerseys from every NFL team.  And a post game trip to a Picadilly sports pub proved that local enthusiasm didn't wane at the final whistle - the place was packed with Londoners glued to four different NFL broadcasts.

While one Daily Telegraph writer went as far on Monday to proclaim, a la Bush, "Mission Accomplished," unless it puts a better product on the field next time 'round - the Super Bowl, perhaps - the NFL will continue to have difficulty sustaining the hearts and minds of a global fan base accustomed to the grace, speed, and flow of a "real" football match.

7.  NFL at Wembley by the Numbers

1                         Streaker who successfully made it onto the field
215                      Countries that carried the broadcast live
21                        Languages used in broadcast commentary worldwide
936 stone, 7oz.    Total team weight (in stones) for the Dolphins

946 stone, 7oz.    Total team weight (in stones) for the Giants
3,372                   2006 revenue, in millions of pounds, for the NFL

1,395                   2006 revenue, in millions of pounds, for the Premier League

2020                    Subtitle of a sports business conference hosted by the Economist featuring the likes of dual NFL/Premier League and Champions League owners Stan Kroenke, Joel Glazer, Tom Hicks, Malcolm Speed, Peter Kenyon, and Robert Kraft.

8.  "The Other Football" on the World Stage

While I was in London, it was hard not to unfavorably compare the Giants-Dolphins game against the Premiership League match I had attended the previous day.  The early season marquis match-up of unbeaten Manchester City at Chelsea's storied Stamford Bridge drew a joyous sea of close to 28,000 blue-jerseyed fans and flags that never stopped waving.  As at most world soccer events, fans sang lustily throughout the match and seldom sat - not hard to do given Chelsea's six unanswered goals. 

A recent pronouncement by FIFA president Sepp Blatter should be welcome news to Chelsea's and ardent England fans.  Last week, days before announcing that Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup (their first since 1950), Blatter started that he wanted to end the continental rotation system for hosting the World Cup, paving the way for open bidding for the 2018 event.  Blatter outlined these plans at an event marking the 150th anniversary of Sheffield FC, the world's oldest football club, after meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who backs an English bid for the World Cup in 2018.  Under the current continental rotation, 2018 would be Asia's year to host the Cup.  Look for international uproar.

9.  And if the Shoe Fits... Also announced last week:  Nike Inc. is purchasing England's Umbro - synonymous with football footwear worldwide - for $582 million, in a clear bid to seek a larger presence in the global soccer market ahead of the 2010 World Cup.  Nike reportedly agreed, through its subsidiary Nike Vapor Ltd., to pay $3.94 in cash for each Umbro share.  Umbro's soccer-centric footwear, apparel, and equipment are sold in over 90 countries.

Nike has long expressed a desire for a greater role on the world football pitch.  While its soccer brand has performed well, growing from $40 million in revenue in the mid 1990s to about $1.5 billion today, it faces stiff competition from European and other global companies.  To counter, it has also signed a hefty endorsement contract with Brazilian star Ronaldinho, inked deals to outfit key international teams, and aggressively (to the tune of $680 million) sought to replace adidas as outfitter for the German Soccer Federation.  Umbro and its 45 international licensees outfit four national teams including England, six Premier League teams, and more than 100 other teams throughout the world.

10.  Meanwhile in MLS:  Competitive Bids Redux

As Major League Soccer goes deeper into its playoffs - with four of the eight teams left standing, Chivas, D.C. United, Kansas City, and FC Dallas, led by first-year head coaches - the league is experiencing facilities frustration in the city that will host its championship game on November 18.

In Washington, D.C., United owner Victor MacFarlane last week took issue with Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration over a new soccer-exclusive facility in that city.  United officials have sought for months to build a $150 million, 27,000-seat soccer stadium at Poplar Point, a 110-acre parcel on the Anacostia River.  Yet over the summer, the mayor balked at contributing a requested $350 million in infrastructure and opened a competitive bidding process for other proposals for the site.

It's unlikely MacFarlane's ownership group will be able to meet the economic bidding parameters set by the mayor's staff, so he has hired the Staubach real estate firm to explore alternative sites in Virginia and Maryland suburbs. The team now plays at 46-year-old RFK Stadium, sans luxury suites and other upgrades that will be missed during the MLS championship game there.  United's average attendance of more than 17,000 make it one of MLS' most popular teams.

Backing MacFarlane's Poplar Point proposal is Council member and former mayor Marion Barry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Countdown of Top 10 Sports & Entertainment Business Issues Oct. 22-28, 2007

1.  California Wildfires:  The Role of Sports and Entertainment Facilities More than a dozen wildfires have driven more than 255,000 Californians from their homes, burning more than 310 square miles and taxing all available public safety manpower.  Qualcomm Stadium, home to the San Diego Chargers, has been set up as an evacuation, relief, and staging center.  The Chargers themselves shifted this week's practice to the Arizona Cardinals complex near Phoenix, and the fate of the home National Football League game in San Diego this Sunday is uncertain.

More importantly, the use of the 65,000-seat stadium in San Diego brings back memories of the massive staging and recovery areas at both Giants Stadium and Shea Stadium in New York after September 11; as well as the well-chronicled role of the Louisiana Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.  More than 300 sports, convention and spectator facilities have been developed in the United States over the last 15 years at a total cost of over $23.4 billion.  This is part of the overall $3.5 trillion spent in infrastructure development since 1990.  While public investment in sports facilities is always ripe with controversy, few question the utility of these facilities in times of crisis.  Look for new facilities to be designed with these uses in mind in the future.

2.  Major League Baseball at the World Series:  An Economic Report Card

MLB is expected to generate $6.3 billion in revenue this year, compared to $1.2 billion 15 years ago (a 350 percent increase).  Will MLB ultimately catch the National Football League in revenue generation?

As for television, baseball is in the early stages of its $4 billion worth of TV deals.  While some question the "viewability" of the Rockies-Red Sox series, most television executives view the long-term relationship as a "marathon, not a sprint."

In fact, the "David vs. Goliath" nature of this series pits a $724 million valued Red Sox against the $317 million valued Rockies - with a $143 million payroll vs. $54 million.  The big story remains parity:  seven of this year's eight playoff teams were not in last year; nine new National League Champions were crowned in the last 11 years; and the two lowest National League payroll teams fought for the championship this year.  At least this year, the "parity" supporters win out over the "dynasty" advocates.

3.  Major League Baseball at the World Series:  Economic and Cultural Impact

The mega-event that is the World Series puts staffers in a frenzy - especially since the American League Boston venue and the Wednesday start date were not known until late Sunday night.  Compare this to the 2008 All-Star Game, where New York was picked at least three and-a-half years in advance.

The impact on Boston is significant, as they go for their second title in four years.  The impact on Colorado is astronomical.  Of the 20 Major League Baseball sponsors, 17 have major hospitality plans in both Boston and Denver (including DHL, Pepsi, etc.).  Colorado Ski Country USA shipped video on the Arapahoe Basin opening to networks in anticipation of significant publicity this week.  Interestingly, the CoorsMiller $6.6 billion merger will allow the showcasing of Coors Field this weekend just in time - over 6 billion gallons of beer were consumed by Americans last year.

Interestingly, the State of Colorado was even allowing its employees to use its super fast computer at the Emergency Operations Center to buy online World Series tickets until discovered by the media!  Estimated total economic impact:  $50-$75 million.

Fan Expense Index:

- Three and-a-half star hotel according to Expedia:  $199 in Denver; $316 in Boston

- Taxi cab from airport:  $59 in Denver; $39 in Boston

- Hot dog:  Rockie Dog $5.50; Fenway Frank $4

While the World Series tickets are priced the same in both locations, Boston fans have different pocketbook experiences than Denver fans.

4.  Major League Baseball at the World Series:  Business Sidelights All is not focused on the field as baseball starts the Fall Classic.  Despite an "implicit moratorium" on other business during the Series, the Yankees continue to generate controversy.  Joe Torre turned down the $8 million incentive laden contract, which would have been a pay cut from last year.  While many would like the issue to go away during the Series, the Davie Brown Celebrity Index tells us why it won't.  Joe Torre's celebrity is comparable to Andy Roddick, Jimmy Fallon, Bruce Springsteen, Al Pacino, Jay Leno, Jimmy Buffet, and others.

Premium seating takes center stage, especially with the fan interest concerning Equity Seat Rights after a season-long tarp display at Coors Field.  The brainchild of Lou Weisbach and Stadium Capital, Equity Seat Rights provide a team access to new capital that could be used to upgrade facilities, and generate more revenue.  This would also allow fans to purchase season tickets at a fixed price that would never be increased or taken away from them.  Interest abounds.

The Rockies are attempting to expand their marketing push as well - applying for protection by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of their celebrated battle cry:  "Rocktober."  This brings to mind other big-time marketing slogans:  Pat Riley's "Threepeat"; Michael Buffer's "Let's Get Ready to Rumble"; Texas A&M's "12th Man"; even the Arizona Diamondbacks this year with first baseman Tony Clark and his "Anybody, Anytime!"  How about the "Sports Professor?"

5.  Off to London:  NFL Goes International at Wembley This Sunday The game between the Dolphins and Giants kicks off a yearly NFL International  Series.  The idea is for all 32 teams to ultimately participate.  Each team receives a bye-week after their game and is reimbursed for travel expenses.

The NFL earns a profit from special "field ads" from major sponsors like Bridgestone, Coors, Visa, Reebok, GM, Canon, and the like.

B Sky B will televise the game live, in addition to FOX in the United States.  Roger Goodell's comments about investigating a potential Super Bowl in Europe have enlisted a passionate response on both sides.  While many support the NFL's revenue hunt, others liken the prospect to "moving the Derby out of Kentucky, the 500 out of Daytona, and the Rose Bowl out of Pasadena."

The NFL festivities are also tied into soccer, with Chelsea on display in a Premier League game on Saturday.  While the Dallas Cowboys lead the NFL at a $1.5 billion franchise valuation; Real Madrid is close at $1.49 billion; Barcelona at $1.3 billion; ManU at $1.29 billion; and Chelsea at $1.167 billion.

I will be at the Chelsea game on Saturday night, and the Dolphins-Giants game on Sunday to provide additional perspective.  Sports Management Worldwide, the leader in online career training, is hosting a major international event for the academic and business community on Friday; a not-to-miss event!  Maybe the Dolphins will have more luck showcasing their talents to a relatively unsophisticated English football audience.  As Jason Taylor said after Sunday's bloodletting against Tom Brady and the Patriots.  "We can't win in America, maybe we can win abroad!"

6.  The NFL London Experience:  Snapshot on International Sports

The NFL weekend showcases the international sports scene on an international basis.  The Kings and Ducks generated $3 million of revenue as the NHL opened their season in London three weeks ago.  The NBA 2007 Europe Live Tour included six games in Spain, Turkey, Italy, and a sellout at London's 02 Arena between Boston and Minnesota.

The NBA intensely focuses on China:  three preseason games with Cleveland and Orlando providing the marketing sizzle of a $50 million revenue business with the NBA in China.  The league expects to place over 400 staffers in China before and after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  And why not?  With 50,000 retail outlets, one million basketballs sold by Spalding, and 51 Chinese television stations carrying NBA games!

The London Olympics generates both excitement and controversy - the Olympic Stadium is expected to cost nearly $1.01 billion, a 77 percent cost overrun.  NBC seems happy with their bedrock product - a $40 billion company with a $3 billion profit tied to Olympic synergy.

Put this in perspective:  the Rugby World Cup ended Sunday in France with South Africa beating England 15-6.  Over 3 billion viewers watched the spectacle.  Given these numbers, the NFL game is important, but only an interesting sidelight.

7.  The Problem with High School Sports:  Just Like the Big Boys

Trouble at Hoover High, as the No. 1 USA Today preseason team weathers a storm of controversy after a 68-page report uncovers that Coach Rush Probst received a $93,000 salary for coaching though he is not a teacher.  Rumors of an assistant principal improving kids grades also abound.  More on this later.

The big issue is not NBA, NFL, MLB - but MRSA:  Staphylococcus Aureus has taken its death toll and shut down schools across the country.  The National Federation of State High School Associations warns about troubles with contact sports:  hand washing, no towel sharing, care for open wounds is the order of the day.  Sports communities are common spaces where athletes are particularly susceptible to outbreaks.

One creative company - AstroTurf - has introduced a TurfAide antimicrobial protection system built-in during the turf manufacturing process.  The shield is powered by an aegis microbe shield technology, and provides an example of a creative and entrepreneurial approach to reducing the impact of an otherwise major problem.

8.  Golf During the Funny Season:  Ginn Rescues a PGA Event

The Ginn Sur Mer Classic tees off this week at the Tesoro Club in St. Lucie County, Florida.  In addition to generating up to $30 million of economic impact for Florida's Treasure Coast, entrepreneur Bobby Ginn has rescued a failing tournament from bankruptcy in Fresno.  While tourist officials lobby to have the tournament remain in Port St. Lucie on a regular basis, Ginn intends to rotate the event around his first-class properties in the future (including Florida, the Southeast, and the Bahamas).  A much needed shot in the arm for golf's post-FedEx Tour Funny Season!

 

As usual, the Fall finds a significant sponsorship "shakeout."  IBM drops the PGA after 10 years; Northern Trust enters into a five-year deal at Riviera worth at least $8 million annually.

Tiger is home tending to his new cub Sam, reassured in the knowledge that his new Gatorade deal will generate at least 15 percent in gross sales, and produce nearly $100 million to the new "health drink magnate" over five years.  Tiger (and, presumably, Sam) will even get to pick the colors and flavors of the new brand!

9.  NASCAR on to Atlanta and the Pep Boys 500:  Six Down, Four to Go

The Chase moves to Atlanta - 60 percent done.  Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson still "lap the field" - though the Q Score exposure value paints a different picture.  Gordon is No. 3 through the "Pre-Chase" races; Johnson No. 2; Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was No. 1 at $34 million value (even though he did not win the race or qualify for the Chase).

NASCAR is still the favorite series of race fans according to TNS Sport, with 52 percent of those fans choosing that series, compared to 11 percent for hot rod racing, and six percent for Formula One.

As the World Series begins, look for substantial cross-promotion between Roush Fenway Racing and the Boston Red Sox as they continue to capture center stage in American sports.  NASCAR always looks for expansion in urban areas as well.  Latest TV ratings show an 11 percent increase in New York NASCAR viewers, providing long-term help as the sport strives for a racetrack venue within the shadow of the Empire State Building.

10.  On to the Breeders Cup

TVG provides daily coverage for the Breeders' Cup on its show "The Works." The program will have crews and reporters on site at four tracks in California, Kentucky, New York and New Jersey, providing updates and footage of many horses' final workouts for the Cup. The show will be hosted by Todd Schrupp and will feature analysis from eight-time Breeders' Cup winner and Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens along with former trainer Frank Lyons, who saddled Desert Stormer to victory in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Sprint, and trainer Tom Amoss who saddled six Breeders' Cup starters.

This coverage is important because to horseplayers who wager, including those who wager online at TVG.com, this type of expanded daily coverage informs their wagering decisions and can generate a higher overall "handle" or wagering total for the races and for TVG's wagering platform.  TVG did this back in April at Keeneland, dedicating unprecedented production assets and air time to the Spring Meet and the Blue Grass Stakes on April 14, and all wagering records for the event were broken both at the track and on TVG's wagering platform.  It's good for the horsemen, the track, and the sport overall.

It's a great example of the power of converging and interactive media in sports.  Here are some numbers: wagering on horseracing in the U.S. topped $16 billion in 2006.  Nearly 10 percent of that, more than $1.5 billion, comes from advance deposit wagering (ADW) platforms -- online betting.  TVG has roughly 30 percent of that market, handling more than $433 million in wagers last year.

Horseracing is a year-round, international sport with 78 million fans (2006 ESPN sports poll) in the U.S. alone (just behind NASCAR, tied with PGA golf and ahead of boxing, hockey and professional poker). Horseracing's U.S. fan base has jumped 12.7 percent since 1999 and grew 4.7 percent in 2006 over the previous year.

TVG, with its 24-hour horseracing TV network and online wagering platform (which you can play for free, by the way, with "fantasy" money at TVGfree.net), and expanded coverage of special events like the Breeders' Cup, is the leading media company in the sport, doing as much or more than any other company to grow the sport's fanbase. 

Right now it is legal to wager through TVG's website in 12 states: California, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming -- but other states are considering allowing it.