Rays Fans Now have Hope

Long-suffering Tampa Bay Devil Rays fans now have a reason to hope. It appears that a deal has been reached for New York investor Stuart Sternberg to replace Vince Naimoli as managing general partner sometime after the end of this season, according to a report in today's St. Petersburg Times. If the deal is consummated, it would be the first of many changes throughout the organization, as Lou Pinella is unlikely to return nor is Chuck LaMar, the General Manager. While the transfer is subject to the approval of the other owners, little opposition is expected. I imagine that the other owners in MLB will be just as glad to be rid of Naimoli as will Rays fans.

$20 Million Per Team for College Football and UT Said NO?

Would Tennessee really turn down the chance at a $20 million payday just because they don't like the idea of playing football in the middle of a NASCAR track? Or maybe they don't like the idea of playing Virginia Tech? Whatever the reason, so far at least, the Vols have turned down Bruton Smith's offer of $20 million per team to play a game of 11 on 11 in the infield of the Bristol Motor Speedway, the half mile track which he owns (well, okay, which International Motor Speedway owns) in Bristol, TN. New UT athletic director Mike Hamilton is at least said to be thinking about it - I would be too, if I had to balance his budget. (Thanks to ACC Basketblog for the tip)

Ajax Interested in MLS

Ajax's American affiliate is in negotiations to purchase a share of the Earthquakes or the Kansas City Wizards according to Rich Bradley, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Ajax America, the Amsterdam club's American affiliate. While Ajax America is located in Orlando, Bradley is not at this point committing to move the team to Orlando as there is no appropriate stadium ready for the team to play in. Relocating the team is conditioned upon a soccer specific stadium. Ajax is well known throughout the soccer world for its youth development program.

OLN Nears Lacrosse Package

OLN is close to wrapping up a deal to televise the NLL, which is the indoor lacrosse league, taking away another property from ESPN, according to this report. While the NLL is clearly a minor league property, it continues OLN's transformation into more of an all around sports channel and a more direct competitor to ESPN.

Katrina (cont.)

As the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina continues to be felt along the Gulf coast and the magnitude of the destruction begins to become clear, it seems almost trivial to return attention to sports. New Orleans is now experiencing its worst nightmare come true as some of the levees holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain have been breeched and the city is being flooded. The water throughout the city is rising as I type, and the Governor has ordered an evacuation of even those who sought refuge in the shelters. It is estimated that as much as 80% of the city is now flooded and the water is still rising. More levees are in danger of being breeched and the full attention of the National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers is being devoted to repairing the breeches as the highest current priority.

So, we turn to sports as we often do in times of difficulty as an outlet from the pressures and the worries of the day. In times like this, we take some comfort in the ability to lose ourselves in the competition of sport, in the counting of wins and losses and the analysis of the plays. We immerse ourselves in the previews of the football season as we prepare for the opening of college football on Thursday and in earnest this weekend.

Our reverie must pause for a moment, however, even in sport to think about the players and their families affected by this tragedy. The New Orleans Saints have decamped to San Jose to practice and wait out the storm, not knowing when they will return home. They will move to Charlotte to practice and play their opening game. From the picture above, it doesn't appear as if the Saints, or Tulane, which also plays its home games in the Super Dome, will be playing at home any time soon. There are reports that they may play their first "home" game in San Antonio.

LSU and Tulane have both announced postponements of their opening games, against North Texas and Southern Miss, respectively. As mentioned, with the condition of the SuperDome, and not knowing when they will be allowed back into New Orleans, Tulane doesn't know when , or if, they will be playing any home games this year. Tulane has the added interesting wrinkle that at this point, the university does not know when classes will resume. It may be fielding a football team without an university, which should play havoc with the NCAA academic reform standards, among other things.

Once again, as I did yesterday, let me ask all of you to keep the folks in the affected region in your thoughts and prayers. They will need that and more to get back on their feet when this is all over.

Katrina

Well, I'm back after a few days in New Orleans and the good fortune to be able to get out just ahead of Katrina. I have to say that I can't remember feeling this good to be home. Thanks to Alamo (and a hefty surcharge) I had a rental car that I was able to drive out of town after my flight was cancelled. I drove to my connection city, caught the second leg of my flight and made it home. Fortunately, I had gotten started on the drive at 4:00am Sunday, headed east and there was no traffic. Apparently, everyone in New Orleans decided to head to Texas or Baton Rouge, because the routes headed west and north were bumper to bumper, but I had clear sailing. I still have no idea why or if later in the day traffic picked up on the routes heading east. While it appears that New Orleans was spared the brunt of Katrina's wrath, the devastation looks bad and the please keep the people of New Orleans, southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf coast in your thoughts and prayers. They will need all the help you can give them to get back on their feet.

Traveling

I'll be traveling for the next few days without access to my computer so posting will be sparse if at all until Monday when I return to the work a day world. I'm confident that if there are major happenings in the sports business world, someone will email me and let me know, right?

Collegiate Athletic Department Rankings

Duke's athletic department is now ranked as the number one athletic department in the country according to rankings released by the National Collegiate Scouting Association. This ranking averages the US News and World Report college ranking, the Directors' Cup finish and the NCAA student-athlete graduation rate. The Division II leader is UC San Diego while the Division III leader is Williams.

Pennsylvania Coaches' union Nears Settlement

It now looks like an unprecedented coaches strike at Pennsylvania colleges and universities that I first wrote about here will be averted. According to this AP story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the coaches union has accepted a proposal from a state mediator to settle the dispute. The colleges and universities have not announced their acceptance yet, but that is expected today. Details of the proposal were not revealed and it would still have to be ratified by the union's rank and file and the state college system's board of governors, but it does look like the season will start this weekend as scheduled.

Fenway for Sale

Well, only the sod from Fenway is actually for sale. If you have ever wanted to own your own piece of sacred ground, now is your chance. After last year's championship, the sod was replaced and the ground was removed and transplanted to a Rhode Island sod farm. It will be sold on September 24 in 18" x 9" rectangles for $150 each available only at Fenway.

More on Mascots

The NCAA has begun to review the appeals on mascots and nicknames and has taken its first action on the most vocal opponent of its original ruling. The NCAA has cleared Florida State to retain the Seminole nickname and removed it from the list of offending institutions following a staff review of its appeal.

In a comment on the appeal decision, NCAA senior vice president Bernard Franklin said; "The decision of a namesake sovereign tribe, regarding when and how its name and imagery can be used, must be respected even when others may not agree."

Meanwhile, Central Michigan University has decided to appeal its placement on the banned list citing its relationship with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. The Tribal council passed a resolution of support in 1988 and reaffirmed its support in 2002, which was accompanied by a proclamation by then Chief Maynard Kahgegab

You Can Never Trust Attendance Figures

Do you ever look around the ballpark after the PA announcer has just announced a packed house and wonder who are all the invisible people filling those empty seats? Well, so did Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times so he set out to find out who they were and why baseball was counting them. The result makes for interesting reading, especially if you are a media buyer or an advertiser in a major league baseball park paying ad rates based on attendance figures.

It seems that MLB has ordered its teams to announce attendance as the number of tickets sold no matter how many bodies actually show up. The rationale for this has to do with revenue sharing which is all well and good, but has absolutely nothing to do with reporting the number of people in the stands. It seems to me that you can easily keep records of the number of tickets sold for revenue sharing purposes without misleading fans and advertisers about the number of bodies in the building. Of course, no team wants to advertise a significant number of no-shows - it's bad for business.

MLB is alone in pretending that the number of tickets sold is actually attendance. The NBA and the NHL announce the number of tickets distributed, which include complimentary tickets and the NFL allows teams to set their own policy about what number to announce. Of course, most NFL games are sold out anyway so it's not that big a problem for them. Anyway, the point is that sponsors in particular need to be aware of just exactly what they are paying for and teams need to be upfront with them. They need to understand that the attendance they are paying for may not really be the attendance they are getting.

UC to Huggins: Resign or be fired

In a surprise turn of events, the University of Cincinnati has given men's basketball coach Bob Huggins until 2:00 tomorrow to either resign or be fired, as set forth in this letter from the University's General Counsel to Huggins' attorney, made public this afternoon by the UC.
This latest move comes two months after the Bearcats terminated his contract's rollover provisions as a result of President Nancy Zimpher's displeasure with the academic and behavioral performance of Huggins' players.

In the event Huggins chooses to resign, he will receive approximately $3 million, but if he forces the university to fire him, then he will receive $1.9 million. This move by UC has not been met with universal acclaim among fans and boosters, with some significant supporters of the athletic program now reconsidering their support.

Nevertheless, a reading of the correspondence between the university's attorney and Huggins' will show how little regard for academic performance his players seemed to possessed. Only 27 of the 95 players who played or were recruited by Huggins graduated or left early for the NBA. That is less than 30% and averages out to less than two per year for the 16 years that Hugs has been at UC. That's very unimpressive by any standard.

Beamer Close to New Contract

Moving to the ACC has been very good to football coaches. Right behind Miami's Larry Coker new contract, it appears that Virginia Tech's head coach Frank Beamer will soon join the ranks of the college football coaches making $2 million a year. Beamer has is negotiating the contracts of his assistants, three of whom are said to have the longest contracts in college football. Judging from the Post article, I would say, they are also among the most well paid.

Minor League Boom Times

Yesterday, the Miami Herald began a four part look at minor league baseball with a very interesting story on the business success that the minors have become since the signing of the new Professional Baseball Agreement between Major League Baseball and the minor leagues in 1990. That agreement really kicked off the building boom that has led to the new stadiums and franchise relocation that has transformed minor league baseball into a profit generating machine.

Today's article looked at life from a player's perspective and how the long bus rides and fast food can wear on you after a while. However, it still beats working for a living. If you have a chance, check the series out. It will be time well spent.

Carnivals

This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Strange Brand and this week's Blawg Review is at The Mommy Blawg. I contributed to each of them this week and encourage you to check out the collection of very interesting posts on a wide variety of topics they both have pulled together.

OLN Eying Baseball

ESPN's rights to broadcast the Sunday - Wednesday night baseball package expire at the end of this season and so far at least, ESPN and Major League Baseball have failed to reach an agreement on a new deal. Now, it seems there is a new player in town According to Mediaweek OLN is now talking to MLB about the package and would dearly love to land the deal. Baseball, together with OLN's new hockey rights, would go a long way towards boosting OLN's profile into an all sports player. While it's not likely that ESPN will just let MLB walk away, the same way that the NHL did, OLN has something in its pocket that ESPN will find difficult to match. If baseball really wants to launch a new Baseball Channel, as rumored, then Comcast, which owns OLN and is the nation's largest cable operator, could agree to carry the Channel on all its systems as part of its bid. That could prove awfully attractive to Bud Selig and the boys in the MLB office.

Raiders and Oakland: Case Study in How Not to Market PSLs

When the Raiders moved back to Oakland 10 years ago, they were attracted in part by the deal struck with the City of Oakland and Alameda County for the renovation, expnasion and use of what is now called McAfee Coliseum. In a situation unlike any PSL sale I know, the personal seat licenses were sold to fans for only a ten year period. Normally, PSLs are sold for the life of the arena or certainly 25 years or more to give them a sense of permanence. The idea of only 10 years make them seem like little more than additional fees. As a result, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, instead of the 63,000 the consultants were convinced would be sold, or the 80 percent of capacity of needed to break even, only 31,000 PSLs were sold.

Now there are only 5 years left on the Raiders lease and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority is trying to decide how to market 5 year PSLs, which under the original agreeement with the Raiders were supposed to sell for 75% of the price of the originals. Since it is obvious that won't happen, no one is too sure what to do. The Raiders won't commit to stay in Oakland past the five years and generally this is a major debacle. Why should fans pay extra for tickets that are readily availble on game day?

The Raiders were second in the league in the number of games blacked out since their move back to Oakland, yet another example of the misguided PSL policy. Of course, the overall losing record probably hasn't helped any either. There is only one other non-permanent PSL deal in the NFL and that is the 25 year deal offered by the St. Louis Rams. If the Raiders and Oakland don't come up with a better plan than the five year deal currently on the table, the Raiders may be heading back to LA.

NCAA Looks for Way Out on Mascots

The NCAA in a rare display of recognition that it has actually made a mistake has put in place a system of appeals for the "branded" universities with unacceptable Native-American mascots and nicknames. In a statement released on Friday, the NCAA said that "namesake" tribal support would be a critical factor in the review process.

Florida State would be the most obvious beneficiary of the new policy as it has long held the support of the Florida Seminole Tribe. The University of Utah is also likely to be able to retain the Utes nickname under this policy. Whether North Dakota will retain the Fighting Sioux nickname will be interesting to see as there are conflicting statements of support from area tribes and some of the statements are several years old.

Illinois presents a more interesting case. The university contends that the Fighting Illini name doesn't actually represent the tribe at all, but rather derived from an abbreviated version of the state's name. The use of the "fighting Illini" was traced to the building of War Memorial Stadium to honor the students and alumni who had fought and died in World War I. Let's see what the NCAA does with that one.

Addidas-Reebok Deal: Will Cultures Mix?

When I first wrote about the impending acquisition of Reebok by Addidas, I thought the complementary brands had the possibility of making life difficult for Nike. While I still believe that to be true, a recent article in The Sports Business Journal offered insight into the operations of both companies that indicate it won't be quite as easy as I first thought.

Addidas and Reebok have very different corporate cultures owing in part to their different origins in the shoe business - Reebok in the fitness craze of the eighties and the urban fashion scene, while Addidas came grew out of engineering designed for the performance - and in part to country of origin and management style with Addidas having a more autocratic management style. It will be vastly more difficult to integrate these differences than to overcome any challenges posed by integrating shoe and fashion lines or gaining the approval of the NFL, NBA or the NHL to the transfer of the licensed uniform division.

We have already seen in the Chrysler-Mercedes difficulties the problems posed by the integration of different management styles in American and German companies. While I don't believe that this is solely an American and German phenomenon, that will be a contributing factor to the integration problems that Reebok and Addidas face, as more and more of the high level decisions will be made in Germany.

For Addidas to gain the benefits it desires from this purchase, it must move swiftly to win over the middle and lower level managers who must implement the decisions made at the top. It must insure that Reebok brands continue to be the ones that are pulled out of the box first, at least half the time, when a salesman makes a call with both brands in his sample box. If endorsers switch brands for the betterment of the global enterprise (I'm thinking here about Yao Ming to Addidas before the Beijing Olympics) send someone to the other side. It's important to make sure that Reebok doesn't feel slighted until it's fully integrated or this grand experiment won't work.

Blogpoll

Here is my entry for the preseason edition of the blogpoll. Please feel free to write in and send your nasty comments and witty criticisms my way. Tell me why you think USC should not be number one and who the hell should be. With that said, here we go:

1. Southern Cal At least until someone beats them.

2. Texas If they can win in the Shoe, then they have to win in Dallas

3. LSU If they adjust to Miles, they can get it done with almost everybody back

4. Michigan Yeah, Edwards is gone but with Breasotn will Henne miss him? Oh, and OSU comes to Ann Arbor.

5. Miami (Florida) Could be the best Cane team since 2002 which was the last time the Canes were in the BCS title game

6. Purdue. The team is good and the schedule is better.

7. Virginia Tech. Just how good is young Vick? And Miami comes to Blacksburg in November

8. Louisville. Behind Brohm and Bush, the offense should lead the nation again. If the Cards get past Pitt, they could run the table

9. Iowa. Never count out a Ferentz coached team - my concern is the Hawks have to go to Purdue and OSU and get UM at home.

10. Florida. Can the Urban's spread option work in the SEC?

11. Ohio State. This is low if they can beat the Horns in the Shoe.

12. Georgia. They lost a lot in Pollack and Green but still return 15 starters

13. Texas A&M. They get the Horns at home which may make the difference

14. Oklahoma. Adrian Peterson may have to do it alone - will it be enough?

15. Arizona State. Sam Keller announced his presence in a big way, but ASU does have to go to USC and LSU.

16. Florida State. The Noles need more than a QB

17. Auburn. Lost 4 first round picks and still thinks it will contend for SEC West

18. Cal. Soft early schedule, lots of JUCOs should challenge USC and ASU

19. Texas Tech. Never count out a team that throws, throws throws throws

20. North Carolina State. Tough defense and seven home games

21. Miami (Ohio) Best overall talent in the MAC

22. Minnesota. Still a great running game; still a questionable defense

23. Pittsburgh. New coach, same QB should be Louisville's chief competition for Big East crown.

24. Alabama. If the Tide can avoid last season's injuries, could contend in the SEC West

25. Fresno State. Pat Hill says it his best team ever, the Bulldogs will get their chances to prove it against Oregon and USC

Las Vegas Bowl Gets Mountain West First Choice

The Las Vegas Bowl signed a new four year deal with the Mountain West Conference assuring itself the first pick of the MWC's teams. That doesn't necessarily mean it will take the MWC champion if the matchup with the Pac-10 team or attendance considerations dictate otherwise. According to SI.com the deal calls for a substantial increase in the payout to the MWC team from $575,000 to $1 million while the Pac-10 will receive $950,000.

Hawks Owners Divorce

The Atlanta Hawks owners latest installment of "Days of Our Lives" ends with the not unexpected result of the sale by Steve Belkin of his interest in the team to his erstwhile partners. Interestingly, the sale was announced by the NBA and not by the Hawks showing yet again how dysfunctional team ownership had become.

The trade for Joe Johnson, which triggered the public ownership dispute, was also announced as final, leaving to the future the question of how correct Belkin will be proven in his assessment that the Hawks overpaid for Johnson. While Johnson is a good addition to a young squad, he is not the point guard needed to bring order to the franchise on the floor. Whether that can be found at this late date remains to be seen. So far, no signs of that has appeared at Billy Knight's office.

Illinois decries NCAA 'rhetoric'

The Chairman of the Board of the Trustees of the University of Illinois weighed in on the mascot debate recently and as you can imagine, he wasn't particularly kind to the NCAA. He called the use of the terms "hostile and abusive", which the NCAA has used in reference to mascots and nicknames "incendiary rhetoric" which is creating an impediment to a solution, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Lawrence Eppley, the Board's Chairman, goes on to say that the NCAA does not, as NCAA President Myles Brand claimed at the time, create a "teachable moment" concerning the mascot issue. "Instead, it retards meaningful discussion....especially in the communities of 18 institutions 'branded' by the NCAA as politically incorrect."

Illinois has been having a community discussion about the use of the name "Fighting Illini" and the mascot Chief Illiniwek for some time and don't particularly want the NCAA interfering in their discussion, as Mr. Eppley has made very clear. In fact, he wonders why the NCAA is getting involved when the US Office of Civil Rights decided that there was no problem at Illinois with either the nickname or the mascot. It's actually a very good question and one that someone at the NCAA should answer.

NHL to Air on OLN as ESPN Declines Bid

The National Hockey League will be broadcast this year and next on cable channel OLN as ESPN decline to match the offer that the Comcast owned network had made to acquire the rights. OLN bid a guaranteed $135 million for the first two years according to Mediaweek with an additional $72.5 million for a third option year. That guaranteed money was no doubt very important to the NHL since its broadcast deal with NBC is a time-sharing arrangement with no guaranteed money.

ESPN not only did not think the NHL was worth the money that OLN is paying but was unable to meet some of the other aspects of the deal, including the provision that all games would be carried on ESPN and none on ESPN2 and that if an NHL Network was started up that it would be carried on the digital tier of all of Comcast's cable systems.

With the NHL in hand, it is likely that OLN will now go after the Thursday/Saturday night NFL package as Comcast begins to build a competitor to ESPN. It was thought that ESPN might have taken the NHL just to keep OLN from developing into that competitor but OLN may have built too many mousetraps into the deal for that to happen. It will be interesting to see if OLN can develop enough additional programming around the NHL for people to forget what those letters once stood for - Outdoor Life Network indeed.

Will Texas-Oklahoma Leave the Cotton Bowl?

The annual Red River shootout between the University of Texas and Oklahoma may be moving from its usual meeting place at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas during the Texas State Fair. According to this report in the Dallas Morning News, officials at Texas and Oklahoma are upset at the condition of the Cotton Bowl and will move the game back to campus unless renovations are made.

The President of the State Fair of Texas, which owns the Cotton Bowl, has sent a renovation proposal to the city of Dallas calling for $26 million in renovations. Whether that would be enough to keep the game there is not clear. SBC, which is the new sponsor of the game as well as the sponsor of the Cotton Bowl Classic bowl game is said to be looking at the Cowboys new stadium to move the bowl game. UT and OU officials are interested in what happens to the bowl game as a indicator of what should happen to their game.

If the UT-OU game were to leave the Cotton Bowl, it would be played on campus in a traditional home and home series. That would be unfortunate as part of the attraction of the game is its setting in an evenly divided stadium in the middle of the Texas State Fair. It is only one of two major rivalry games that I'm aware of still being played each year on a neutral field (Georgia - Florida in Jacksonville is the other), and it would be a shame to see that tradition be thrown away. Hopefully, the folks in Dallas will get it together and renovate the Cotton Bowl or the powers that be at UT and OU will decide that moving the game to the Cowboys stadium isn't such a bad idea after all. While it won't have the Fair, at least it will still be a neutral site with an evenly divided house. And, of course, Mack Brown will still be trying to figure out how to win ....

Fort Worth Bowl Signs Deal with MWC

The Fort Worth Bowl announced a new four year deal with the Mountain West Conference starting with the 2006 season. the announcement was not unexpected following the move of TCU, a Fort Worth school, to the MWC this year. The bowl's current agreements with Conference USA and the Big 12 expire at the end of this season. Options for the MWC's opponent include Conference USA, the Pac-10 or an at-large team.

NCAA to Buy NIT?

According to a report on ESPN.com the porposed settlement of the lawsuit filed by the organizers of the NIT against the NCAA will result in the acquisition of the preseason and post-season NIT by the NCAA. That will unify college basketball under the NCAA's umbrella and will also protect the NCAA's "2 in 4" rule, which allows schools to only play in two exempt tournaments every four years, a rule that was also a subject of the NIT suit. Both ESPN, which televises the NIT, and Madison Square Garden, which hosts the semi-finals and finals of both the preseason and post-season tournaments, would have to approve any transfer of their contracts. The NCAA Executive Committee met in emergency session by phone last evening to discuss the settlement of the lawsuit and, presumably, the NIT purchase. The Indianapolis Star is also reporting the possibility of the purchase on its web site.

Update: According to USA Today, the purchase price being discussed is around $50 million as talks continue today. as I mentioned earlier, ESPN and Madison Square Garden are also involved. ESPN has television and marketing rights to the NIT through 2010. The fate of the tournaments themselves, once acquired by the NCAA, are not known, although it is assumed that the 2005 Preseason NIT will proceed as planned since the plans are already in place.

NIT v. NCAA Settled

The federal antitrust suit brought by the NIT against the NCAA claiming the NCAA attempted to put the NIT out of business has been settled according to statements made today in open court by the attorneys for the two parties. The settlement terms are apparently complex and it will take some time to evaluate those terms once they become publicly available to determine the success of this litigation in the eyes of the NIT. However, by settling 10 days into the trial, it seems clear that the NCAA felt some risk of letting the case go to the jury.

This case was important to the NCAA not just because of the potential monetary claims it may have had to pay to the organizers of the NIT, The NCAA rules on competition have been under increasing court attack in recent years, with the NCAA victorious in each case, Most recently, the NCAA won a decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit of Appeals upholding it limit on participation in exempt basketball tournaments, such as the Maui Classic in Hawaii and the Great Alaskan Shootout to two every four years. The NCAA rightly feared that a loss in this case would open the "two in four" rule to a successful attack and that the NCAA would essentially lose control over scheduling in any meaningful way.

NFL Teams Up With Sprint

The NFL and Sprint have agreed on a deal which will allow Sprint customers to view game highlights on their cell phones according to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) As of now, it does not include live game broadcasts, only audio highlights and text updates while games are in progress, but it is certainly laying the groundwork for live broadcasts down the road. Sprint is paying $600 million for the rights, with half of that amount going to buying advertising time on game broadcasts, so be prepared for an unending stream of Sprint and Nextel commercials on NFL games for the next couple of years.

Update: From Bloomberg.com comes additional details of the contract. It is a 5 year deal and as part of the arrangement, Sprint will become the exclusive sponsor of the Pro Bowl Selection Show on ESPN. The price to subscribers will be $9.95 per month to access video and text and an undetermined amount for for NFL service. Sprint refused to release any revenue projections.

Judge Orders Settlement of NU - Wheeler Suit

A Cook County Circuit Court Judge has taken the unusual step of ordering an out of court settlement in the suit filed by the heirs of the late Rashidi Wheeler against Northwestern University. Wheeler died following a collapse while performing wind sprints during a summer football workout on the Northwestern practice field. He had been taking the now banned dietary supplement ephedra, which the University blamed for Wheeler's death. The coroner ruled that the cause of death was exercise-induced bronchial asthma.

The judge ordered the settlement in the interest of the Wheeler's brother and two half-brothers who are all minors, against the desires of Wheeler's mother. Linda Will, Wheeler's mother, wanted Northwestern to publicly apologize, fire head football coach Randy Walker and erect a memorial to Wheeler among other items. The judge, however, imposed the settlement using her powers to protect the tights of the minor children involved. Although Will has filed an appeal, Judge Flanagan's ruling is unlikely to be overturned as she has broad discretion in protecting minors and I think it is highly unlikely that a higher court would find that she has abused her discretion in this case.

Carnival of the NBA

The Carnival of the NBA 14 is up at True Hoop and I recommend you go check it out for some of the most up to date NBA news you can find. Carnival of the NBA can also be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival.

First in Thirst

Just received my review copy of the new book by ESPN reporter Darren Rovell entitled First in Thirst, which is the story of Gatorade. I can't wait to read and then review here it for you. In the meantime, be sure and visit Darren's blog, to read more about the book and the Gatorade story.

The ACC Raid Revisited

Skip Sauer today in his fine blog, The Sports Economist, revisits the ACC raid on the Big East with the help of an article by Doug Campbell of the Richmond Federal Reserve entitled The Conference Shuffle. Now Skip is a fine writer and a good economist but he and his pal Campbell are also ACC apologists.

This Raid on the Big East wasn't some live saving gesture on the part of the ACC in the face of the impending SEC steal of FSU or Miami. Sure, Miami at that point was a common streetwalker, selling itself to whomever was willing to take her in, but there is nothing to indicate that the SEC had come anywhere close to making a decision to take Miami, much less Florida State. There is no denying that either would be a better fit in the SEC than the ACC but that is a whole nuther story as they might say down there. No, the ACC raid was cooked up by John Swofford and was purely an offensive measure designed to enlarge the conference coffers at the expense of the very schools he had been discussing affiliation plans with only a few months before. Once it became clear that the idea of federating the ACC and Big East football conferences was not going to work out, Swofford immediately decided that Miami belonged in the ACC and nothing was going to stop him from making that happen.

Now that all the conference reshuffling is over, the ACC expansion has proven to be financially rewarding for the conference. The renegotiated television contracts have provided increased rights fees and the new bowl contracts have raised the payouts the conference will receive. What Swofford hoped to achieve has happened and for that I suppose he should be congratulated.

The Big East, contrary to the tone of Campbell's article will survive quite nicely I believe. The contract renegotiations it has gone through, while not quite as lucrative as the ACC's, have not been as bad as most would have predicted. The BCS bid is secure and the new qualifying standards make it likely that it will remain secure for a long time to come. The conference has managed to maintain its bowl contracts and should come out of bowl renegotiations with at least four and possibly five bowl bids for 8 school conference. Louisville is a preseason to 10 pick while Pitt is a top 20 pick so the conference's football strength is returning. All in all, the predictions of the demise of the Big East are greatly exaggerated.

BlogPoll Roundtable V

BlogPoll Roundtable V asks where the teams you know the most about should be ranked and while I'm a registered Big Ten voter, I'm going to discuss Big East teams because there are far more Big Ten voters than there are Big East voters and there needs to be some balance in these discussions. Besides only two Big East teams deserve to be ranked in the top 25 and I don't feel like writing too much now.

Pittsburgh should be ranked 23 to open the season but could be a surprise team if they can absorb the new system being installed by Dave Wannstedt. They return 16 starters include outstanding quarterback Tyler Palko and potential All-American linebacker H.B. Blades. The schedule is not that bad, although the two toughest conference games Louisville and West Virginia, are on the road. If anybody can challenge Louisville, it will be Pitt.

Louisville should be ranked 8 to open the season but could be a Rose Bowl contender by year end as the Cards have the potential to run the table. Even though they lost 6 players to the NFL and will experience a step-up in schedule with the move to the Big East, the Cards still figure to put up gaudy offensive numbers behind sophomore QB Brian Brohm and running back Michael Bush. The questions for Louisville are whether the linebacking corps will make up for the losses in the middle and if the young secondary will develop fast enough. It says here that the offense will score enough that it may not matter.

A's Unveil Stadium Plans

The owner of the Oakland A's unveiled his plans for a new stadium just north of the Coliseum. The new stadium would have a significantly smaller seating capacity, with an expected capacity of only 35,000. The A's will pay the majority of the costs of the new park, expected to cost between $300-400 million, according to a report in today's San Francisco Chronicle. The most striking feature of the stadium will be the shops and apartments or hotel that will be included in the left field wall similar to the Skydome in Toronto. There will also be a ballpark village concept of shops and restaurants built in the neighborhood similar to the development being built near the St. Louis Cardinals new stadium.

Judge Allows Hawks to Remove Belkin

A Massachusetts judge today dissolved his restraining order and allowed the Atlanta Hawks ownership to proceed with its removal of 30% owner Steve Belkin as its NBA Governor, subject to fulfilling the conditions of their partnership. According to this report on ESPN.com, that includes providing Belkin written notice of his "removable act", presumable his refusal to notify the NBA office of the Joe Johnson trade despite being outvoted 2-1, and giving him 5 business days to rescind that act.

The question that leaves open is whether Belkin will be able to retain his position as Governor by rescinding his refusal to notify the NBA of the trade. While that would appear to be the case from what we know, there may be other acts that the Hawks owners could cite that would enable them to remove Belkin and proceed. That is, they may have more than just the Johnson trade in their quiver to use against him. They intend to proceed as rapidly as possible to remove Belkin and replace him with Michael Gearon, Jr., a member of the Atlanta based group in the Hawks three-headed ownership structure.

In any event, it seems clear that the Johnson trade will go through within the next few days. According to ESPN.com, they may still try to go after Michael Finley for whom there should be ample competition. They need to get their ownership situation settled and the Johnson trade completed so that management will know what it can do and who it reports to as the free agency market starts to wind down.

Pac-10's Turn at Bowl Roulette

The Pac-10 signed new agreements with the Las Vegas and Emerald Bowls which call for rotating its fourth and fifth place teams between them starting with the 2006 season. The new agreement will pit the Pac-10 against the ACC in the Emerald Bowl and will move it up one or two slots in the Pac-10 pecking order. It will be the only Bowl matchup between the Pac-10 and the ACC and, as of now, the only bowl in the Bay Area. The Las Vegas Bowl will continue to feature a Pac-10 team against one from the Mountain West.

Stern Allows Hawks to Remove Belkin

NBA Commissioner David Stern approved the removal of Steve Belkin as the Atlanta Hawks NBA Governor as requested by the owners of 70% of the Hawks. The owners of the team have been embroiled in a nasty dispute stemming in part from a decision by team management to trade for Joe Johnson. A judge had earlier blocked the owners attempt to remove Belkin from his position and I'm sure this action will be back before the judge tomorrow.

The ownership of the Hawks consists of three groups who each have equal say in all matters regarding the team. However, Steve Belkin, who owns 30%, as the Governor, is the official voice of the team to the NBA office on all matters including trades. By using that position he effectively vetoed the Johnson trade, although he was outvoted 2-1.

The only viable solution for the Hawks at this point is a negotiated divorce. The only remaining question is the property settlement. This is a vital question for the teams management, players and fans, not to mention the rest of the NBA. Will they be saddled with Steve Belkin who, to put it kindly, does not seem to always act with the best interest of the team at heart, or will the team wind up in the hands of an ownership group willing to invest in talent and make the changes necessary to turn the franchise around? That is not say the Joe Johnson trade is the solution to the Hawks' problems. They're probably overpaying but that's inevitable for a restricted free agent. He may or may not be the catalyst they need, but at least it's a start. It's a sign that ownership is willing to try and that is a huge step in the right direction for this franchise.

New NFL Revenue Sharing May Harm LA Chances for Team

AS the NFL owners struggle to agree on a new revenue sharing formula, a necessary precursor to a new collective bargaining agreement, Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner, noted the potential impact that an agreement may have on the chances of the NFL returning to Los Angeles. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Jones noted that any agreement to increase the amount of shared revenue would greatly reduce the interest of any owner in moving a team to LA or a prospective owner from buying a team with the idea of moving to Southern California, especially considering the enormous investment that will have to be made in a new stadium. Jones estimated that the owner of a team in Los Angeles will have occupancy costs that could easily run an unprecedented $150 million a year.

Jones is probably biased since he has been outspoken against changing the revenue sharing system that is currently in place. The NFL now shares equally television money and league controlled sponsorship deals and each team shares 34% of its ticket revenue. Each franchise retains its parking and concession revenue, local radio, preseason TV deals, luxury suite and stadium naming rights revenue and retail sales and sponsorships. The ongoing negotiations have been so difficult that the owners are now meeting once a month until they can get the issues resolved.

Louisville and Kentucky Renew Football Contract

The University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky renewed their contract to play football yesterday, signing a new four year deal calling for alternating home games. Not a big deal, right? Two arch rivals, battling for in-state supremacy in an annual grudge match - so where's the story? Well, the story is in when the games will be played. You see, ever since Kentucky came down off its high horse and agreed to begin playing the Cardinals, the game has been the season opener for both schools (except for one year when the Cards played in one of those pre-season "classic" games). The fans talked about it all summer long and it did wonders for high school football in a basketball state. But now, the boys from Lexington at the risk of canceling the series have agreed to play the first game of the season when at Louisville and the third game of the season when at Kentucky. The best thing you can say for that idea is that at least they're still going to play.

Well, that all changed once the Cardinals began winning. Kentucky, that big, bad SEC school just couldn't bear the thought of opening the season with a nationally televised beat-down by its arch-rival down the road. So, its ancient coach started calling for the game to be moved to later in the season when his boys might have a fighting chance. Of course, that meant that ESPN might not be quite as interested either which would be just fine with those scared boys in Lexington too, I suspect. Now, the logic behind this idea is hard for me to understand. Sure, having a couple of games under your belt might make you a better team, but wouldn't that do the same thing for your opponent? If you're the underdog, wouldn't you want to get your opponent when they have had the least amount of preparation or game experience? Of course, if I thought old man Brooks made sense, he might have been able to figure out how to beat a MAC team.

It's a shame this game won't be nationally televised every year anymore. It was fun to watch. After all, it was a chance to see the nation's most high powered offense run its first scrimmage. I guess that means I'm going to have to start making plans to go to Louisville's spring game in the years that they play Kentucky in Lexington.

FSU Trustees Vote to Appeal NCAA Mascot Ban

In a special meeting, the Florida State Board of Trustees voted to appeal the NCAA ruling that declared the school's use of its nickname and mascot as "hostile and abusive" under the new NCAA policy. The trustees also voted to authorize court action if it should become necessary to continue the fight. FSU is particularly concerned that the NCAA ignored its history of working with, and support from, the Seminole tribe in Florida.

Similarly, the Ute tribe in Utah has expressed support for the University of Utah's continued use of the nickname and associated emblems currently used by the university, because it is done respectfully and with the tribe's support. The university hasn't yet officially decided whether to appeal.

Disparity in the Premiership Makes Competition Tough

The English Premiership, probably the top soccer league in the world, suffers from a problem of having too many teams with no realistic shot at ever winning the title or even earning a place in European competition. The financial disparity between the clubs at the top of the table and those at the bottom is so wide that there is little chance of true competition.

This Bloomberg article highlights how deep the divide can be. This weekend, as the new season opens with defending champion Chelsea taking on newly promoted Wigan, is a perfect example. Chelsea's total revenue in fiscal 2004 was 144 million pounds compared to Wigan's 4.9 million. True, Wigan played in the Nationwide League that year so the comparison is not exact, but even with promotion, Wigan will only earn an additional 30 million pounds - welcome no doubt but hardly the stuff that will make Chelsea's owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich quake in fear.

The success that top Premier League teams enjoy also affords them the opportunity to participate in European competition which is also quite lucrative. Chelsea made about $35 million last year for its play in the Champions League. With its free spending on players, it is estimated that its second string is drawing salaries higher than probably half the clubs in the Premiership.

Current television money is divided equally among all teams in the Premier League. When Malcolm Glazer was involved in his takeover of Manchester United it was said that he hoped to break away from that equal split in the hopes of selling Man U's rights separately. With the financial divide being what it is, I don't see the clubs agreeing to anything other than an equal split anytime soon. In fact, I'm sure we'll see many clubs looking for even more ways to equalize revenues, perhaps looking to borrow American concepts like luxury taxes or revenue sharing. It would seem that something needs to be done to provide a means to promote competition or all we'll see for the future will be the same 5 or 6 clubs challenging for the title and the spots in Europe.

NHL and Comcast May Have a Deal

Long suffering NHL fans may now have a new reason to be mad at Commissioner Gary Bettman: it's going to cost more to watch their favorite sport on TV. If newspaper reports are accurate, the NHL and Comcast have reached a 2 year deal to put NHL games on OLN, the cable network formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network. That is the network which, if anyone knows it all, is known for its coverage of the Tour de France. In most cable systems, OLN is carried on the digital tier, which costs subscribers an extra fee.

The NHL deal calls for two games a week with one of those to be an American telecast exclusive. There is an exit right at the end of the two years, but if the league elects to stay then Comcast has a third year option. ESPN, which carried the NHL before the lockout and declined an option to telecast it as the lockout neared its end, has the right to match any offer the NHL receives. This offer will be sent to ESPN for its review and possible match.

FSU Vows to Fight NCAA

The President of Florida State wasted no time in firing back at the NCAA yesterday only moments after hearing of the Executive Council's decision on the ban of "hostile or abusive" Native-American mascots. T.K. Wetherell told the Tallahassee Democrat that he had it in his mind to "paint (the Seminole logo) three times as big on the field (at Doak Campbell Stadium)." He also thinks there is no likelihood that FSU will avoid litigation with the NCAA.

While the Seminole tribe in Florida has approved FSU's nickname and mascot as well as the use of Chief Osceola before football games, the tribe is not likely to join in any litigation. A member of the Tribal Council, Max Osceola, Jr., disagreed with the NCAA and offered his testimony in support of FSU should it go to trial.

"It's like history - they left the natives out," Osceola said. "They have non-natives telling natives what's good for them or how they should use their name. You have a committee made up of non-natives telling people that they can not use a native name when you have a native tribe - a tribal government, duly elected and constituted - that said they agree with Florida State."

I don't think I could have said any better myself. Except, to be fair, I really should give President Wetherell the last shot, so here goes:

"Here you have someone like Myles Brand - he didn't have a problem as president of Indiana playing Illinois ... and he grandstands on this. That's hypocritical. You're not going to put the name Seminoles on the scoreboard but you put the Hooters girls on it. That's just stupid. ... "

Knight Gets ESPN Reality Show

Reality TV has come to this. ESPN plans to air a reality show this winter, hosted by Bobby Knight, and featuring students competing for a walk-on spot on the Texas Tech basketball team. The show, called "Knight School" will see sixteen students will compete in long hours of drills, conditioning and instruction overseen by Knight. It will also feature shots of the Texas Tech campus and the contestants in class, giving the school a public relations bonanza.

Cardinals Leave KMOX

Ending a 52 year run on St. Louis radio station KMOX, the Cardinals announced Thursday that beginning with next season, radio broadcasts of the team's games would move to KTRS.

There are two aspects to the this story that make it especially noteworthy. It's not just that it has been over 50 years that fans have listened to Cardinals games on KMOX, but that KMOX has reached fans across most of the Midwest and South. The 50,000 watt KMOX signal could be heard in probably 2/3 of the country, especially at night. Those broadcasts helped the Cardinals develop a fan base that reached far beyond St. Louis.

The other interesting item about this switch is one of the reasons the Cardinals are making this move is that there are getting a 50% ownership interest in KTRS, which will build much of its programming around the Cardinals. In fact, its studio will relocate to the Cardinals new Ballpark Village being built adjacent to its new stadium. As far as I know, this is the first radio deal done where the club owns an interest in the originating station, not unlike the Yankees YES cable network. This may be the beginning of a new trend, as value of local radio rights will be depressed by MLB's new deal with XM Satellite Radio. Teams will be looking for creative ways to recoup that revenue and for strong franchises like the Cardinals ownership of the local radio station is a good model.

2007 NBA All Star Game to Las Vegas

The NBA has awarded its 2007 All-Star Game, also known as the Hip-Hop Super Bowl to Las Vegas, marking the first time the league has played the game in a city that doesn't have a league team. In order to get the game, the town's casinos had to agree to forego betting on the game, which I'm sure was not a major sacrifice. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman predicts the game is only the first step in getting a franchise for the city. "(Stern is) a reasonable man and reasonable men do reasonable things." Goodman said. If nothing else, the traveling sideshow that is the NBA All Star Game should be even more of a show in Las Vegas.

NCAA Compromises on Mascots

The NCAA resolved the thorny issue of Native American mascots today by agreeing not to interfere with colleges and universities' decisions on what mascots to pick to represent their institutions, while prohibiting "hostile or abusive" mascots or nicknames from being used at championship events, according to guidelines adopted by the Executive Committee. Effective February 1, 2006, the hostile or abusive nicknames, mascots or imagery shall not be visible at any championship events and no school using them may host a championship event. The schools subject to the policy must cover up imagery and mascots while hosting or participating in championship events. Finally, the athletes from those schools must cover up any images on their uniforms while playing in championship events. The list of affected schools in contained in the NCAA release linked above.

The NCAA came to their senses long enough to realize that they had no grounds to impose a complete ban on nicknames and mascots. A school has the freedom to choose what to call itself. The NCAA has the right to impose reasonable rules for participation in its championship events and we can argue the merits of this one. At least this time the NCAA acted within the scope of what it is charged with doing rather than the broad brush attack that had been proposed to it. This strikes me as a reasonable compromise on a very emotional issue.

Alexi Lalas Can Smile Now

Alexi Lalas can smile tonight as the MetroStars, the MLS team of which he is the President, have secured a deal to build a new stadium in the Harrison, New Jersey. According to a report on ESPN.com Anschutz Entertainment Group, the holder of the operating rights to the MetroStars has agreed to fully fund the $90 million, 25,000 seat stadium, using a portion of the proceeds from its recent sale of D.C.United.

Hudson County will contribute $80 million in county issued bonds for land costs and a parking facility adjacent to the stadium. Construction is expected to begin shortly with completion targeted for June, 2007. The stadium is a part of a $1 billion redevelopment project in Harrison that will include retail, corporate and residential properties in land formerly occupied by now vacant industrial facilities.

The stadium will be the fifth soccer specific stadium in MLS, following stadia in Columbus, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, which is currently under construction. DC United hopes to have a deal shortly.

Shoe Wars to Heat Up - Addidas Acquires Reebok

In a deal valued at $3.8 billion, Addidas announced that it would buy Reebok for a 34% premium over its stock price immediately prior to the announcement, according to an article in Wall Street Journal (sub.req.). The move is sure to heat up the already intense war between Addidas and Nike over the loyalty of the world's shoe and apparel buyers.

One reason for the purchase is Addidas' failure to move into the mainstream among American sneaker buyers. It has never been able to capture the imagination of the American teen or urban market and has repeatedly fallen short in its attempts at broadening its appeal to followers of basketball players. While Reebok has been a clear number two to Nike, it has made significant inroads in areas that Addidas has been unable to penetrate and the combined companies stable of endorsers give it a new clout that will land it on retailers' shelves that may have been denied to it before.

Addidas has long led Nike in soccer while trailing badly in basketball. It gains in Reebok significant rapper endorsement deals with JayZ and 50Cent that will give it credibility in urban neighborhoods. It adds Yao Ming to its stable ahead of the Beijing Olympics and to bolster a strong presence in China. It adds Alan Iverson to a basketball lineup desperately in need of a signature presence.

This acquisition may, in many ways, be transformative for Addidas as it tries to move from a German company built on engineering to a global company known just as much for fashion. Engineering will also have its high place, but with Reebok in the fold and successful partnership with designers such as Stella McCartney changing the way the company is perceived by the public, Addidas may begin to be perceived as much for style as for design quality. When that happens, the folks in Oregon will truly begin to worry.

NIT v. NCAA (cont.)

The lawyer for the NIT charge the NCAA with deliberately setting "out to get a monopoly, to eliminate competition, to make it impossible to compete" on the opening day of the antitrust case filed by the NIT against the NCAA. The NCAA's lawyer responded, in the best line of the opening day, that the NCAA is "a truly democratic institution. It's like Congress." Now, if that doesn't warm the jury's hearts, well, I just don't what will.

The NCAA is facing a very complex antitrust case challenging the commitment to participate rule that requires every institution to compete only in NCAA championship events if they are invited. The NIT has built its case not just on that rule, but on the expansion of the NCAA tournament field from 25 teams before 1975 to 65 today, leaving little in the way of quality left over for the NIT.

In addition, when the NIT sought to bolster its revenue by introducing the Preseason NIT, the NCAA first approved a rule allowing teams to participate without counting the games against their schedule limits, a point made by the NCAA's attorney in his opening statement. However, soon after its popularity increased, the NCAA approved a new rule aimed at counting all games played in the Preseason NIT against the schedule limit and the better teams refused to play in it, not knowing how many games they would be able to count.

The most difficult and perhaps most important task for the jury will be to define the relevant market. In any antitrust case, it is the market in which the two competitors compete that determines whether the relevant competition is fair. The NCAA is going to argue that the relevant market is televised sporting events, including the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Playoffs and other similar events in which the NIT just doesn't compete., The NIT will argue that the only reason the NCAA even reached that level is anti-competitive behavior, that is, the commitment to participate rule.

Regardless, it is going to be extremely difficult to predict the outcome of this case. Antitrust cases are complex and sports antitrust cases are even more so. Jury behavior in a complex commercial case is just too difficult to judge. The NCAA is taking a huge risk by letting this case proceed to a trial and will be taking an even bigger, and in my judgment, a potentially billion dollar risk, if it lets it go to the jury. Remember, antitrust awards are trebled so any judgement the NIT might win will result in a payment of three time whatever the jury might award.

DC United Sold to Local Group

D.C. United is being sold to a group of local investor headed by its current president, Kevin Payne and two local real estate developers, Willi Lauterbach and Tim Kissler for a record $26 million, according to a report in the Washington Post. That will Anschutz Entertainment Group with ownership of the operating rights to four MLS franchises.

The new investor group is committed to building a soccer specific stadium as part of a mixed use development in Poplar Point, located just south of the Frederick Douglass Bridge in the Anacostia neighborhood of DC. Lauterbach, one of the new owners is believed to own land around the site and is already working with the DC government on the project.

Shoe Companies and EA Sports Invade High School Football

Just when you thought that the blight of the shoe companies dominating high school basketball camps couldn't get any worse, now comes this story from the New York Times about the Nike and EA Sports football camp for top high school quarterbacks. Admittedly, the camp is only for 12 players, but the marketing of EA Sports and Nike is more blatant at this camp than I can recall seeing at almost any of the basketball camps. Note the cheer at the end of the story and the constant reminders from the camp director about both companies. It's always important to reach your "tastemakers" early.

NCAA Considers Easing Academic Penalties

This is hard to believe - the NCAA Academic Performance Committee, the body responsible for the APR, has recommended to the Board of Directors an adjustment in the APR formula that won't penalize schools who lose players who leave school in good academic standing to turn professional. For once, the NCAA has actually listened to the coaches and taken an action that makes sense. If the player is in good academic standing when he or she leaves school to pursue a good paying career, why should the school be penalized?

Additional recommendations include financial incentives for high performing schools and severe penalties for significant and recurrent underachievers. While the likelihood that the significant penalties will have to be applied is not high, the severity of the penalties should act as significant warning signal to schools to clean up their act well before they approach that stage.

The NCAA should be applauded for making practical and realistic changes to a complicated rule that has good intentions. One that could act as a significant prod to higher academic achievement if it is used correctly. This is a step in the right direction.

NCAA v. NIT Court Battle Continues

The trial of the NIT's antitrust suit against the NCAA opened today in a New York courtroom. The NIT contends in its complaint that teams should have the choice of which tournament to play in, while current NCAA rules mandate that teams selected for the NCAA tournament must participate.

The NCAA should be concerned about the outcome of this suit. The NIT has decent arguments to make in this case and it is being presented to a jury of New Yorkers. A little home cooking for the hometown tournament little guy battling the NCAA would be all that surprising. If that is the case, the NCAA could be in for trouble.

If the NCAA loses, the post-season could be opened up to promoters in addition to the NIT. The possibility of financial damages should not be overlooked as the NIT should be able to prove financial losses as a result of the lack of name teams available to it, should it prevail. Those damages would be trebled in an antitrust case.