NCAA Approves 12 Game Football Schedule

The NCAA Board of Directors approves the addition of a 12th game for Division I-A football teams starting in 2006. There will be no addition to the season however, as the games must be conducted within the same 14 week span, eliminating most teams' bye week. At the same meeting, the Board allowed Division I-A teams to count one game against a I-AA team each year for bowl eligibility, instead of the once every four years as before. That legislation takes effect with this season. Division I-AA did not approve the addition of the 12th game, most likely because teams in I-AA participate in a national playoff at the end of the year.

The Board also passed legislation loosening the requirements for remaining in Division I-A that I discussed earlier this week. The attendance requirement of 15,000 per game has been eased from 15,000 in actual attendance per year to a rolling two year average of 15,000 of actual attendance of a one year in which the school averages actual paid attendance of 15,000. This allows a school in danger of not making the attendance cutoff to buy its way in through paid attendance. The paid attendance must be at least half the face value of the tickets, so the schools will have to actually spend some money to buy that attendance. However, if that is the only criterion separating that school from dropping to Division I-AA, it is likely to think that would be money well spent.

The Board of Directors took no action on the number of victories that will be necessary to become bowl eligible under a 12 game schedule. Unless a change is made before next season, a school will have to go 7-5 as the rule permitting a school to go 6-6 and be bowl eligible in a 12 game season previously in effect sunset. Since each school is now likely to schedule one home game against a Division I-AA team, a game that it should be expected to win, I don't think that the rule is likely to change until after the 2006 season at the earliest. I suspect the NCAA will wait and see if the bowls run into problems finding enough bowl eligible teams before deciding that a winning record is not enough.

Battle for Man U Rages On

In the latest chapter in Malcolm Galzer's battle for control of Manchester United, the Board of Directors yesterday issued a statement that "unanimous view is that they could not support Glazer's proposal." To add to Glazer's difficulty, a hostile tender offer may cost him the support of his underwriting banks, JP Morgan and Rothschild, who had previously said that they would fund the deal only if the Board endorsed it and he could obtain 75% of the stock. That seems problematic at this point and could result in Glazer absorbing large losses in the stock he has bought up to now, as well as the over 200 million British pounds in loans he has taken out to finance the purchases.

Reorganization of NCAA Division I

The NCAA is in the throes of discussion of reorganizing Division I-A and I-AA football again and Phil over at The Sports Economist has his take on the discussions. He got me thinking some more about the problem and clearly the details of a plan where schools can essentially declare divisions at the beginning of a season has a lot work yet to be done. That would be a scheduling nightmare.

One of the easiest reforms would be to eliminate the restrictions of the number of Division I-AA teams that a Division I-A team could play in a given four year period for bowl eligibility, while perhaps limiting each team to one game per year. That, coupled with the expansion to 12 game seasons, would probably not unduly weaken most schedules while providing a significant financial boost to struggling Division I-AA programs. It might even relieve these schools from the pressure some of them feel to make the jump to Division I-A, a jump that only deepens their budget deficit. In many cases, schools make that jump because of a perceived second class status and the difficulty in making ends meet in Division I-AA. If they could get a "guarantee" game every year, that is often enough to make their budget for the year and, poof, there goes the desire and the need to jump up a division.

To me, that makes more sense than doing away with names and choosing up sides at the start of each year. I just think that the details may be too hard to administer and don't get to the root of the problem, which as with most things, is money.

Glazer Given Deadline for Bid

Malcolm Glazer had been given a deadline of May 17 to announce whether he intends to launch a takeover bid for Manchester United, according to a report in the London Telegraph Should a Glazer bid go forward to Man U shareholders, the success of the bid will rest in the hands of Irish horse racing tycoons John Magnier and J.P. McManus who together own almost 29% of the stock of the company. Magnier and McManus have given no public indication of what position they will take on the bid, which has drawn heavy fan opposition among the club's rabid fan base.

BCS Makes Notre Dame Just a Little Less Special

Notre Dame and the BCS Commissioners concluded negotiations on a new deal that would give Notre Dame more budget certainty at the expense of a bigger day when the school qualifies for a BCS bowl. Since the Irish have not been making regular appearances in BCS games, the new arrangement will probably have a beneficial effect on the ND athletic department bottom line. The new deal will have no effect on either Notre Dame's bowl relationship with the Big East for non-BCS games or its ability to keep the entire proceeds from such games.

In other news coming out of the BCS meetings, the Fiesta Bowl will host the first, still unnamed, national championship game in the new format taking effect following the 2006 season. The game will be played one week following the BCS games, including the Fiesta Bowl and will be held in the Arizona Cardinals new stadium.

The BCS released criteria by which conferences will achieve automatic bid status beginning in 2008 and it looks like the Big East should be able to keep its bid. One of the factors to be considered is the BCS ranking of the champion over a 4 year period leading up to 2008, but in a concession to help the Big East, conference configurations will be based on 2008. As a result, the Big East gets credit for Louisville's top 10 ranking from last year. Also to be taken into account is geography, population and fan support, all factors which should help the Big East.
Yes folks, the commissioners took care of one of their founding fathers, so to speak. It always helps to be in the room when decisions are being made.

Who is the Real Most Valuable Player?

I heard an interesting discussion on ESPN radio this morning about the relative worth of certain players to their teams, focusing specifically on Pedro Martinez. The thrust of the discussion was that the Mets have been drawing an average of about 15,000 extra fans on the nights when Martinez pitched, which works out to about $800,000 extra per game. Over the course of the season, assuming that Pedro doesn't get injured, he will pay for his contract by the extra fans who come out on the nights that he pitches. In essence, the Mets have Pedro for free.

This got me to thinking about other valuable players of whom two of the most obvious are probably LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal. Now, I don't have ready access to Cavs numbers from the year before LeBron got there to the last two years, but I'm quite confident that the Cavs did not sell out every game like they have since he joined the team. The effect of Shaq's move to Miami is easy to measure. The Heat scored the highest increase in home attendance in the NBA, up 30.5%, and was the top draw on the road. Shaq also led the league in jersey sales. That's the very definition of instant impact.

With the overall attendance figures being as high as they are in the NFL, it is harder to determine who is the major factor in increased attendance. Since so few teams are not at capacity, it is likely the honor falls to Mike Vick, as the Falcons would be a likely suspect for low attendance prior to his arrival.

The one name that I don't want to leave out is Freddy Adu. Not only did he dramatically increase attendance at DC United home games, but he was responsible for an increase in attendance at MLS games across the league. Whenever United played on the road, attendance was always increased, but league officials attributed a higher interest in the league among media and fans to Adu which carried over to local teams even when Freddy wasn't around.

I throw this out for your thoughts and comments. The idea here is who contributes the most to his team's bottom line, not necessarily who wins championships. They may be the same, but they don't have to be. Just call it the Pedro effect.

Angels v. Anaheim continued

The Angels and Anaheim tried court ordered mediation in an effort to resolve their dispute over the team's switch of its name, but to no avail. According to the Los Angeles Times the city proposed several compromises but no deal with the team was forthcoming. It appears that this dispute is headed for trial as the owner of the Angels is showing no willingness to back down one inch in his battle to divorce his team from the Anaheim in every way but the actual physical location of its games.

Temple Joining MAC This Year?

It appears that Temple may be joining the MAC in football this year after all. The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that the late April meeting of the MAC athletic directors and the early May meeting of the MAC presidents may lead to an offer of membership. Exactly what that might mean for Temple's football schedule is unclear although should the membership become a reality, expect Temple to add a few MAC games to the schedule. As it is, the current Western Michigan schedule lists a game at Temple for September 24, although the Temple schedule lists a game with Middle Tennessee State on that day. I suppose the folks at WMU know how the vote will turn out.

Western Kentucky is still interested in joining the MAC and whether its candidacy will be considered at the same time is unknown. A check of the WKU website show its football schedule still consists of its Gateway Conference I-AA rivals.

NFL Players and Health Insurance

My apologies for the lack of posts in the past week but I've been traveling. I'm back and here with new info for you.

Today, we have a remarkable story from the NFL. We all know how physical professional football has become as the players have become bigger, stronger and faster in recent years. Yet, as recounted in this article from the City Paper of Washington, DC, the retired players from previous eras are left without health insurance and unable to obtain any due to their preexisting conditions from having played football. Even current players are only guaranteed coverage for five years after leaving the league.

It just seems hard to believe that the wealthiest and most successful organization in professional sports in the world won't find a way to take better care of the players who make the game the success that it is. Health insurance should be guaranteed for all retired players, especially for those retired veteran players who were not making the large salaries now being made. It is up to the Players Association to ensure that this issue is addressed in the current collective bargaining agreement. Gene Upshaw, are you listening?

Anatomy of an Arena Gone Bad

Almost 10 years ago, the city of Seattle and the Sonics completed an almost $76 million renovation of the Seattle Center in a deal that was unique for giving the city a share of suite and club seat revenue and the naming rights. The deal was struck, the city floated bonds and renovated the arena and were convinced that the taxpayers were never going to have to spend a dime. In a examination of how it all fell apart, the Seattle Times points out that the entire deal was predicated on assumptions that used the best case scenario, never factoring in what might happen if those assumptions proved incorrect.

Early in the deal, the Sonics were good, the seats were sold and the bills were paid. Then came the Safeco Field and Qwest Stadium, new venues for the Mariners and Seahawks built with substantial public investment and with no revenue sharing by the teams. The Sonics not only began to wonder if they should have held out for a better deal but found themselves competing for entertainment dollars with flashier new venues.

More problems soon followed. The NBA lockout came, the new television deal the NBA signed was not as lucrative as anticipated and the suite and club seat revenue plummeted. The payroll climbed and the team's performance fell off, as did attendance. Now the city and the Sonics are looking to the state to bail them out. The current word from Olympia: Good luck.

So there you have it. Yet another publicly financed arena/stadium deal gone bad with taxpayers holding the bag. Is it a surprise? Shouldn't be. Clearly, Seattle fathers relied on too rosy projections and while they should be commended for getting a piece of revenue streams most cities and states never see, they should have foreseen that reliance on short-term leases on the priciest seats in the arena is not the soundest of financing plans.

Here and There

Excellent column by Ray Ratto on Sandy Alderson, who should have been Bud Selig.

Interesting story in L. A. Times on the effects of the NFL's new television contracts. On the impact on team values, this from an investment banker and leader for one potential Los Angeles franchise: "These franchises arguably went up $150 million overnight". Nice money if you can get it.

Big 12 coaches have gone on record as supporting the canceling of the league's championship game if the NCAA approves, as expected, the addition of a 12th game to the football season. How the league will determine its champion and BCS Bowl representative if the league adopts the coaches' suggestion is yet to be determined.

Sweet Catomine Lawsuit

An unusual suit was filed by a man who bet on Sweet Catomine, the favored filly in the Santa Anita Derby, who finished a beaten fifth. The suit charges the track, the filly's owner and trainer and others with fraud for failing to disclose the filly's heath problems before the race. See this account in USA Today.

Well, I wish the unfortunate better luck. He probably had a better chance cashing his bets than winning this case. Not that the facts may not back him up. After all, the California Horse Racing Board is investigating the trainer, the owner and several of the people who worked for them for actions surrounding the filly in the weeks leading up to the race, but I still think the court just won't want to cover his bad bets. Just call it a pre-Derby hunch.

New Cardinal Nest?

Fresh off their unexpected trip to the Final Four the University of Louisville is exploring the construction of a new basketball arena. The Cards, together with official from the City and the State are in discussions concerning whether to locate the arena in downtown Louisville or next to Freedom Hall, the Cardinals 50 year old home court, at the State Fairgrounds near the University campus. This article from MSNBC recaps the current state of the discussion.

The NFL returns to NBC

As reported in this space on April 8 it now appears that Monday Night Football will be switching to ESPN starting with the 2006 season. The Wall Street Journal> is reporting today in its online edition (sub. required ) that in somewhat of a surprise, NBC will pick up the Sunday night package. Apparently, ABC decided not to move Desperate Housewives after all. NBC will also get 2 SuperBowls and 2 first round playoff games. ESPN however will carry no playoff games.

In another change, NBC will also get the right to flexible scheduling for the last seven weeks of the season. This is something that ABC has been asking for and been unable to get for several years. GE will also expand its relationship to the league beyond television to other areas of the company, including finance, health care and equipment.

This contract is a tribute to the power of cable's two streams of revenue, permitting it to pay much higher prices for programming and still come out ahead. Because ESPN receives subscriber fees in addition to advertising revenue, it is able to actually pay more than ABC for Monday Night Football and still come ahead. It is also clear that the revenue picture at ABC changed when first Desperate Housewives and then Grey's Anatomy turned into big hits. They started pulling in enough revenue that it no longer made sense for ABC to bid even a lower amount for the Sunday night games and they finally just chose to sit it out.

New York Makes Innovative Pitch to Aid Olympic Bid

NYC 2012, the organizing committee behind the bid to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to New York City made a very innovative pitch to the IOC meeting in Berlin today. According to a New York Times report NYC 2012 has assembled a committee of leading advertising and marketing executives from New York, headed by David Stern, the NBA Commissioner, to provide free marketing, advertising and other assistance to the international sports federations of each Olympic sport, especially those who wish to increase their presence in the US. The council would also help stage championships in the US. The assistance will begin before the Olympics and continue during the seven years from the award of the Games until 2012. This is an extremely innovative and interesting proposal that should greatly interest the leaders of the sports federations, most of which are voting members of the IOC. I think this proposal is one that could greatly enhance the attractiveness of the New York bid, especially now that the MTA has awarded the stadium bid to the Jets.

London had also planned a major announcement for today, but it was not as significant as New York's. It promised reduced hotel rates for the federations, television coverage from the BBC of championships leading up to the Olympics, and free accommodations for a technical delegate for each federation for a year. While certainly substantial, and far more than has been offered by the other Europeans, it pales in scope to the New York offer, which like most things done in New York is bigger and grander.

New Stadium Deals in New York

A new stadium deal was announced in the New York area this week and a newspaper reported that another one was close to being reported and neither deal involved the Jets. On Thursday, New Jersey officials and the Giants announced the details of the deal reached to build a new Giants stadium across the street from existing Giants stadium at the Meadowlands. While the Giants will pay the entire estimated $750 million construction cost, New Jersey will pay off the existing stadium debt and will pay infrastructure costs. In contrast to the comments made by the Acting Governor of New Jersey when this deal was announced, this is hardly the best deal for taxpayers in the NFL. The Redskins and the Patriots both play in wholly privately financed stadia which did not receive the additional support that the Giants will receive. It will however be a much better deal for taxpayers than the vast majority of NFL stadia.

The New York Daily News reported that the state, city and the Yankees were close to reaching an agreement for the construction of a new Yankees Stadium across the street from the existing Yankees Stadium. The details of the investment by each of the parties was not disclosed but I'm sure that the deal will require significantly more taxpayer funds than the Giants deal.

MLS Expansion Appears Near

Major League Soccer appears poised to expand by two teams again next year with Toronto and now San Antonio emerging as the likeliest sites for new teams. Toronto officials have been working with the league for months to iron out details and have a soccer specific field plan in the works. San Antonio has a number of hurdles to cross, none of which look to be insurmountable. As MLS looks to 2007, I would hope that is takes a close look at Seattle and Rochester, a city that wildly supports its A-League team.

Lake Elsinore Storm

In the continuing saga of the Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels, the latest salvo was fired by the Class A team formerly known as the Lake Elsinore Storm. In a recent press release the team announced that it was changing its name to the Anaheim/Los Angeles/San Diego Storm of Lake Elsinore. In the quote that sums up the entire name changing battle raging in Orange County, the Storm President and General Manager explained the reason behind the name change by saying: "The bottom line, we just want to make more money."

NIT v. NCAA

The organizers and owners of the NIT have sued the NCAA alleging that the rule requiring NCAA members to play in the NCAA tournament if invited violates federal antitrust law. The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and is scheduled for trial starting on July 5.

The organizers of the NIT claim the rule has created an unfair monopoly on post season basketball by requiring teams to forego any opportunity to play in the NIT. The NCAA contends that it has a legitimate interest in passing a rule that its members chose to pass and that protects low-profile sports, where the NCAA championship might be more vulnerable to ambush by apparel companies or television networks.

While the NCAA is very confident it will win, let's not forget that the NCAA does not have a great track record when it comes to antitrust cases. While it did win last year's case upholding the rule restricting the number of times a school could appear in exempt basketball tournaments, it has lost cases involving television rights for football and paid a $54 million settlement to restricted earning assistant basketball coaches. I think that the NIT has a fairly strong argument in this case, and would not be at all surprised to see the judge rule in its favor. If the NIT is successful, I don't believe that the NCAA tournament will be immediately replaced by a much stronger NIT, but it may be that some of the fourth and fifth place teams in the power conferences may choose to go to the NIT - especially if NIT can negotiate a good television deal and the per team payout is substantial.

NCAA moves to a 12 game schedule

The NCAA moved one step closer to a 12 game schedule for football in Divisions 1-A and 1-AA Tuesday after the Division I Management Council approved the idea. The last step needed for approval is a vote by the NCAA Board of Directors at its meeting on April 28. If approved, as expected, the 12 game schedule will take effect starting with the 2006 season. The only conference to oppose the extra game was the ACC.

While the 12th game will certainly add revenue for each school, it does seem somewhat hypocritical when the chief argument trotted out against a playoff is the burden it places on missed classes by playing too many games. I guess that's only true for games played in December and not for games played in September. Class time missed and the extra burden placed on young bodies just doesn't mean as much early in the season. Go figure.

Will Jockeys Strike the Derby?

Apparently Churchill Downs thinks so. According to a story in today's Louisville Courier Journal the fear of a jockey strike has led the Downs to file a motion in a federal court case currently pending against The Jockey Guild seeking an injunction to bar the Guild from directing a walkout by jockeys. The Churchill Downs motion believes that the jockeys will focus on Derby Week activities to maximize the public relations impact of their actions.

The fight between the jockeys and the track has been going on for almost a year and centers on the lack of workers compensation for jockeys injured while riding. Kentucky is just one of five states which does not provide workers compensation, although Churchill Downs recently raised the insurance it provides from $100,000 to $1 million for on track accident coverage.

The track contends that since jockeys are independent contractors, they are not allowed to organize a strike or boycott of races. The jockeys have said in the past that The Jockey Guild did not organize the previous walkout and the jockeys came to the decision on their own, thereby not violating any antitrust laws. A ruling on Churchill Downs motion is expected in the next few weeks and I'll post it as soon as it is released.

Bo Jackson Vindicated

The Inland Daily Bulletin published an apology to Bo Jackson yesterday in its online edition. The apology found here was short enough that I think it's worth reprinting in its entirety:

An apology to Bo Jackson

By Daily Bulletin

A March 24 story we ran contained a quote stating that past "anabolic" use by retired sports star Bo Jackson caused the loss of his hip. Jackson has stated publicly he has never used steroids. We retract the quote and the further statement that the speaker personally witnessed this damage to his life. We apologize to Mr. Jackson, without reservation.

This episode is a stunning example to the rest of the sports community of a man who stood up for himself and his honor. His word was good and he made sure that everyone knew it. So far, Bo is the only athlete who can be reasonably believed when he says that he didn't use steroids or any other performance enhancing drugs, because he is the only athlete so far who has been willing to go to court to challenge someone who has claimed otherwise. Until an athlete is prepared to do that, why should any of us believe him or her? Congratulations to Bo and good luck with your suit. I hope you win a great deal of money; you deserve it and the paper deserves to lose it.

Monday Night Football

Do you watch Monday Night Football on a regular basis? If so, I hope you have cable or satellite. The NFL and Disney are currently negotiating the renewal of the Sunday and Monday night television packages and Disney, which owns both ABC and ESPN, has expressed a strong desire to move Monday Night Football to ESPN. That would switch Sunday night to ABC. Now, the NFL hasn't said how likely that is or how happy they are about that, but you can guess that the price for the switch will be significant. Should the switch happen, that leaves open the question of what happens to Desperate Housewives.

Bo Jackson and Steroids

Bo Jackson has become the first alleged steroids user to actually sue an accuser as he filed a defamation suit Wednesday against a California newspaper that quoted a dietary expert that claimed he used steroids. According to an AP story on ESPN.com, the suit was filed in Cook County, Illinois, where Jackson now lives. Jackson was quoted as saying: "If anyone wants to check into my medical past, go get my blood tests, go checkp up on those blood tests and see if there was any anabollic steroids in it. You're more than welcome."

It's a refreshing change from every other player who has fallen under the suspicion of steroid abuse since this round of scandal started. Players deny taking steroids yet do nothing to prove their innonence. Here, Jackson has quickly taken the most direct route possible to clear his name. He offers to lay out his medical records in open court and charges his accusers with defamation. What more can anyone ask?

Way to go, Bo. You have once again shown your class and provided an example to follow to a whole generation of athletes.

Online Betting and the WTO

In a somewhat of a split decision sure to fire up opponents of the World Trade Organization, a WTO appeals panel yesterday issued a long awaited decision in a case between the US and Antigua dealing with online gambling, see the Washington Post story here The US claimed victory because the panel upheld its right to regulate Internet gambling on public morals grounds but Antigua also has claimed victory in the panel's finding that gambling is clearly an industry that the US has placed under WTO rules.

Ultimately, this decision may open the US to several new attacks from online casinos and sportsbooks from around the world. Right now, the US has exerted pressure on credit card companies, search engines like Yahoo and Google, and banks to not do business with online casinos. This decision may embolden some of them to give it a try and for some countries to attempt to negotiate a settlement with the US. I don't think this administration is likely to permit online gambling any time soon, but it is coming. At some point, politicians are going to realize that there is just too much money at stake and too many potential tax dollars flowing out of the country to not try and grab a share.

Baseball Average Salary Now $2.6 Million

The salary numbers for baseball are out again and, of course, the Yankees are grossly outspending everybody. According to the AP the Yankees are spending over $84 million more than the next highest spending club which is who else but the Red Sox. In fact, the Yankees payroll of $205 million is more than the combined payrolls of the Devil Rays, Royals, Pirates, Brewers and Indians. Needless to say, baseball does not yet have a salary cap. Of course, Bud Selig doesn't think that's a problem. Then again, he doesn't think baseball has a steroids problem either. I wish someone would pay me over a million dollars a year to avoid problems the way he does.

Opening Day

It's Opening Day in baseball and despite Commissioner Bud Selig's craven surrender several years ago to the money being waved in his face by ESPN so that years of tradition were thrown away and the Reds no longer open the baseball season, today is still a day of firsts. Although baseball season 2005 officially began last night when the Yankees blasted the defending World Champion Red Sox (does that sound as strange to read as it did to type?), play began in earnest today. Baseball returned to the nation's capital today as the Washington Nationals made their debut in RFK Stadium before a crowd of some 25,000. If anyone doubted that baseball would succeed in DC, one need only look at the success of the sale of Nats merchandise, which now ranks fifth in the majors. Welcome back to baseball D.C.; maybe you'll even get to vote soon.

Why the BCS Conferences Keep Control of March Madness

Now that the Final Four is over and we look back over the tournament, it's time to examine what helps to make the tournament great. Part of the great appeal of the NCAA tournament is that it is a story that unfolds over three weeks, across the country, involving big names and little, the lords of the manor and the common people of college athletics. Without the stories of Vermont and Bucknell, the tournament would lose a great deal of its appeal. Yet, year after year, Cinderella departs the tournament after the first weekend just as surely as if the clock had struck midnight.

One reason for that is the tournament is stacked against them. Seeding and location is always, and I mean always, in favor of schools from the BCS conferences. Why is that? The answer is simple really and, as with so many things related to the NCAA it boils down to one word "money". Take a good look at this summary of the distribution of basketball revenue by conference over the last eight years. Anything stand out to you? Let's take 2003-4 as an example. The only conferences to receive double digit distributions were, you guessed it, BCS conferences. No other conference was even close. In fact, the closest a non-BCS conference came to $10 million was Conference USA at $4.9 million, and it loses its major basketball schools at the end of this year to the Big East.

So, what does all this mean at the end of the day. Just this, like everything else in the NCAA, the basketball tournament is run by and for the benefit of the major college programs. So long as everyone understands that, there will be no problems and the tournament will go on as it has. If, however, the "minor" schools ever start to threaten the the money that the big boys have come to rely on, then the major programs may just decide to pick up their ball and go their own way.

NCAA Basketball Is a Business - Take Three

This is a full service blog. You ask, I deliver. Today, in response to a question from ncaahoopstoday, we revisit the business that is college basketball. As noted previously here, the numbers involved are staggering, but how are those dollars divided?

According to this from article CNN Money in March, 2004, and using 2002-03 figures, the University of Louisville was the clear winner in both revenue and profit - and this was a year in which it did not advance past the second round of the NCAA tournament. Louisville recorded basketball revenue of $14.6 million, followed by Arizona with $14.2 million. Louisville managed a profit of $11.2 million, easily outpacing Arizona's $9.9, and far surpassing the average income of the 2004 NCAA tournament field which was $2.3 million. One key to Louisville's earning power was its profit margin of 77%. A significant advantage to Louisville is the absence of a major league professional franchise in its home market, making the Cardinals hometown team with little local competition for the sports entertainment dollar or sponsorship revenue. This is also true in Tucson, home of the Arizona Wildcats and would help explain their revenue and income numbers.

Baseball Caves to Angelos (or did they)

Baseball and Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, have finally settled their dispute over television rights in the Baltimore-Washington market and yesterday announced the creation of a regional sports network that will televise both Orioles and Nationals games, but will be owned mostly by the Orioles. The Orioles will own 90% of the network, receive 90% of the profits, be responsible for 100% of the losses and pay the Nationals $21 million in rights fees to televise the Nats games. Baseball, which currently owns the Nats, share of the network will rise to 33% over the next 20 years, where it will be capped. Baseball has also guaranteed that the sale price of the Orioles will never be less than $365 million.

So, did Angelos really win this battle as it appears on the surface? Tom Boswell offered an interesting take on this deal in his Washington Post column this morning. While it may have reduced the selling price of the Nationals slightly, the fact that the Orioles bear all losses and that the Nationals will always be paid market price for local rights more than makes up for whatever may have been lost in decreased equity in the network. Outside of the Yankees, no team has made that much from their regional network. I think Boswell is exactly right. Avoiding responsibility for loss is the big win here and the Nats are receiving what appears to be a fair rights fee. While baseball probably bent over backwards to avoid facing Angelos in court, the deal is not a bad one for the Washington team and it's team to move on and sell the team already.

Coach K and American Express

Are you tired of the never-ending stream of commercials featuring Coach K telling everyone he is more than just a basketball coach while he shills for a certain charge card? Apparently, you're not alone. Myles Brand, the president of the NCAA reported yesterday that the NCAA has been receiving quite a few calls from coaches and athletic directors concerned about a recruiting advantage that Duke might be receiving from this barrage of ads that seems to be on after every other timeout. Brand, not surprisingly, says there is nothing the NCAA can do about it as antitrust regulations prohibit it from having rules restricting coaches outside earnings.

Personally, I think that's just an easy cop-out. Sure, the NCAA can't set rules restricting the amount that coaches can earn outside schools, but there are rules now in place about reporting that income and certain other restrictions. Besides, the NCAA controls the commercial time around the tournament. It could easily tell CBS not to allow American Express to use a coach in a commercial more than one time a game or a tournament or at all. As usual, Brand ducks any hard issue and refuses to face up to the unfair recruiting advantage Duke gains here. It's not about money. American Express is paying the fee into one of Coach K's foundations, so he's not personally profiting. It's all about exposure and if that's not for recruiting, why would he do it?

Bracket Psychology

Have you ever wondered what your bracket says about you or how you go about choosing your winners says about your psychological makeup? Check out this column from this morning's New York Times for a better understanding about why bracketology is a better predictor of your behavior than the SAT.