Cavs File Antitrust Suit Against Ticketmaster

The Cleveland Cavaliers sued Ticketmaster in federal court on Monday charging it with violating antitrust law by prohibiting the Cavs from using its corporate cousin Flash Seats to help its season ticketholders resell their tickets. Flash Seats is a web-based ticket reseller under common ownership with the Cavs, both owned by Quicken Loans founder, Dan Gilbert.

The Cavs allege that Ticketmaster is engaged in an "ongoing campaign to utilize its substantial market power . . . to exclude actual and potential competition." At issue is a clause in Ticketmaster's contract with the Cavs requiring season ticketholders who wish to resell their tickets to use Ticketmaster's own resale operation TicketExchange.

Ticketmaster had earlier filed suit to enforce this clause against the Cavs after the Cavs used Flash Seats during the last month of the season. Flash Seats, which is also a plaintiff in yesterday's filing, has attempted to expand to other teams but has been denied by Ticketmaster at every turn. That is the basis of the current suit and depending on the level of proof they can offer, probably a fairly good basis for a claim.

Ticketmaster is the dominant player in the market and if it using that market power to extend its reach to its resale affiliate and excluding unfairly the ability of anyone else to compete, then it will likely have some difficulties with this case. While I'm no antitrust expert, it strikes me as a pretty fair argument of abusing market position to freeze out competition. I think the Cavs and Flash Seats have a good shot of winning.

Carnival of the NBA #47

The Carnival of the NBA #47 is now up at Give Me the Rock. It's a special Third Blogiversary issue, so get over there and check it out.

The New Hampshire Primaries - We're Talking Baseball

From the realm of minor league baseball promotion, comes one of my favorites for this season, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the AA Eastern League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays are renaming themselves for one game on August 25. On that day, the team will be named the New Hampshire Primaries in honor of the state's first in the nation Presidential Primary and auctioning the game worn jerseys for charity. The team was originally named the Primaries, but regrettably, within days a petition led to a "name the team" contest that resulted in the current Fisher Cats name. You just have to love that logo.

HT to The Sports Logo Pundit.

Vick's Endorsements Disappear

The court of public opinion works substantially faster than even the rocket docket of the US District Court in Richmond Virginia. Yesterday, Nike announced that it was suspending Vick's Vick's endorsement contract without pay and that it was stopping sales of all Vick related merchandise at company owned stores. Then to add insult to injury, Reebok pulled his jersey from circulation.

This suspension is clearly a reaction to the public outcry against Vick which has been swift and near unanimous in its revulsion at his involvement with dogfighting. There has been almost no parallel to the speed with which companies have moved to disassociate themselves with him. No one moved this fast with Kobe after the Colorado incident and most only pulled ads and not products. Nike didn't suspend him or refuse to pay any of the contract it had recently signed with him - it just pulled its ads on his arrest. However, almost immediately after Kobe reached a settlement with his accuser, Nike was the first to be back on the air. I don't think Nike will be quick to be back with Vick. The reaction to Vick's problems has been more severe. Funny how public reaction to cruelty to animals is more severe than it is to cruelty to women.

Vick's Friday got significantly worse too when word came that one of his co-defendants was ready to cop a plea. That meant he was talking to the feds and had no doubt turned on Vick and the others. When the feds file a new indictment, as they indicated was coming, it will likely contain additional charges gleaned from his testimony. Bad news indeed for Vick.

Big Ten Expanding?

The trouble that the Big Ten Network has been having receiving distribution has had Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney thinking expansion, a topic that many thought the conference had laid to rest when Notre Dame turned the numerically challenged conference down several years ago in the midst of conference expansion frenzy. In an interview in the Des Moines Register (and reprinted in USA Today), Delaney acknowledged the dramatic shift in conference priorities wrought by the creation of the Big Ten Network.

The conference is now in the content business and as a result the addition of a twelfth member, if chosen correctly, brings a new market for distribution. Translation: the usual suspects for membership are probably off the table and the new candidates represent the New York/New Jersey and other eastern markets, i.e. Syracuse, Rutgers, UConn. The problem with these three is they are currently locked into five year agreements with the Big East that have hefty penalty clauses for early departures. That doesn't mean the numbers won't be big enough to justify the leap but, as I recall, the publicly announced buyout number is $5 million. That's a number that is bound to make any athletic director think twice.

Delaney claims that an additional member won't mean a championship game automatically even though the conference will have the requisite twelve members. I believe him since both the coaches and the presidents have consistently opposed a championship game and divisions. Neither are two happy about current scheduling which will only be complicated by an additional team but the New York distribution, if the BTN doesn't already get it, may justify that additional hassle.

Hornets Selling 25% to Local Investors

The New Orleans Hornets are finally getting local investors after nearly a year long search. This afternoon, owner George Shinn will be announcing that Galliano businessman Gary Chouest and an unidentified Louisiana investor are the fools who are dumb enough to be purchasing a 25% interest in the team for a price of $62 million. The deal is subject to approval by the NBA.

The search for local investors began while the team was still playing in Oklahoma City and the first group to show interest was headed by Clay Bennett of OKC. That deal never got done because Bennett wanted 51% and a right to buy Shinn's interest in the event he wanted to sell or passed away. When Bennett couldn't buy into the Hornets, he went on to buy the Sonics, and we know how that is turning out for Seattle.

The other interesting note from the Times-Picayune article was the passing interest of Marshall Faulk in the Hornets. He looked into the team but, showing wisdom beyond his years, passed on the purchase.

If Chouest is going to be a passive 25% minority holder then he will likely long regret his purchase. The Hornets are not going to make any money playing in New Orleans, and are not likely to ever make any money with Shinn calling the shots. He has to be one of the league's worst owners and still has a long way to go to win back the New Orleans fan base. Hopefully, for the team's sake, Chouest can help in that regard. How long the team stays in the Crescent City is still an open question, despite repeated protestations by Stern to the contrary. The Hornets don't have the loyal fan base that the Saints do and the new New Orleans can't support two pro teams.

When and where the Hornets go is unknown. How much of an effort Shinn puts into staying in New Orleans is also unknown. He has never seemed to take to the city and the fans have never liked him all that much. The Hornets need to market regionally to have any chance of making it in New Orleans and so far they haven't been very adept on that score.

ESPN Bashing

I bash ESPN a great deal in this space because, well, it's become so easy. Thanks to the great guys at The Big Lead, I got to read the master at bashing the WWLS, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, who takes it to task this time for the totally insipid "who's now". Read it, he makes great points and you'll enjoy it - although I don't necessarily agree with his conclusions about soccer. Becks may not be the MLS salvation - but then again it may not need one. While you're at The Big Lead, check out the photo of Serena. Trust me, you'll love it.

Carnival of the Capitalists

This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is now up at Small Business Essentials. Get over there and check it out.

Vegas NBA BId May Suffer From Donagy Fallout

There is little doubt that the NBA and its referees suffered a major public relations hit from the revelations that Tim Donaghy is under investigation by the FBI for possibly betting on NBA games that he officiated or furnished information to bettors as part of a possible point shaving or game fixing scandal. No one wants to find out that their league has been tainted by a gambling scandal, especially one centering around officiating.

The fallout from the Donaghy is likely to be significant and one of the first casualties, besides Donaghy himself, is the bid by Las Vegas to become a NBA city. The bid was a long shot in the first place but the fall out of the gambling scandal makes Las Vegas likely to become a city that David Stern decides to never again bring his circus to town. The NBA is a game in which the officials can exercise a great deal of influence over the outcome, perhaps more than any other sport. In that environment, it is easy for a NBA referee to control a game to make sure that a wager he placed comes out correctly. The presence of a team in Las Vegas won't change that fact, but the image conscious NBA probably doesn't care about that reality right now.

In the horrible glare of public opinion that Stern is facing right now, the last thing he needs is moving a team into Las Vegas. That won't be happening while the investigation into Donaghy's actions is ongoing or, once concluded, is still fresh in the minds of NBA fans. When even the executives of the Vegas casinos question the wisdom of bringing a team to town, as Alan Feldman, senior vice president of MGM Mirage does, then you know the bid by Mayor Oscar Goodman has gone from longshot to "not going to happen". Feldman, in referring to the NBA and Donaghy, says:

"We're one of the most highly regulated industries in America and we live and die on our integrity," Feldman said. "We can do nothing to put that in jeopardy. If it turns out that the league is shown to be incapable of protecting the integrity of their game, it's not a league we need to have in Las Vegas."

While the NBA is unlikely to bring a franchise to Vegas, and I think the All Star Game is unlikely to make a return trip anytime soon, the Summer League will probably stay there for the foreseeable future. It's not a league that is bet on heavily so it wouldn't be as influenced by the Donaghy scandal fallout.

DC United Stadium Talks Collapse

Talks between the DC government and the ownership of DC United over the construction of a new soccer stadium for the team have collapsed leading to the possibility that the team will move. The team and DC had been in talks for a new $150 million stadium to be built just across the Anacostia River from the Washington Nationals new baseball stadium now under construction.

DC United owner Victor MacFarlane had indicated on many occasions during the negotiations that the team would be relocated to a site in Virginia or Maryland if a deal with DC could not be reached. Whether he would move the team as far as Baltimore remains to be seen. I think a site in Maryland somewhere between DC and Baltimore is more likely.

It's too bad a deal could not be made on the Poplar Point site as a soccer stadium could have extended the development boost begun by the Nats stadium to the other side of the Anacostia. While MacFarlane's demands may have been excessive, he was willing to pay the cost of the construction of the stadium and was asking for infrastructure and tax breaks, not direct construction costs. In many respects, those are public costs. The other real loss by not making this deal and forcing the stadium to the suburbs is pointed out in William Rhoden's column (sub) in today's New York Times, MacFarlane wants to bring soccer to the inner city and try to attract more African Americans into the sport. The stadium location was one facet of that initiative; a sports academy with an emphasis on academics, as well as a push towards soccer is another. Whether that will happen if the stadium is not built on Poplar Point site is not at all clear.

Nike Halts Release of Vick's Shoe

Nike has decided that releasing the new Michael Vick shoe may not be such a good idea after all. Yesterday, the company announced that it was suspending the release of the Zoom Vick V, which had been scheduled to go on sale August 23. It will not pull existing inventory of shoes and jerseys from stores, however. In a statement, the Company said it is" "concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations" against Vick and considers "any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent."

Vick remains on the roster of the company but, for now, the question is for how long. With the suspension of the new shoe, Nike is clearly signaling that the company would like to distance itself from Vick. It may not have the contractual ability to terminate its relationship until Vick is convicted, so this is as far as it can go. No Vick promotion until the legal process has run its course. It would have dropped him if it could. No one wants to be associated with someone who is known for cruelty to animals - it's just not good for business.

Duke Taps Fuqua B-School to Aid Football

You are the owner of the current longest losing streak in college football at 20 games and counting. You have the lowest attendance of any school in a BCS Conference and you have started canceling series with certain other BCS schools because, well, you just got beat too bad. What do you do?

Well, if you're Duke, you stroll across campus to Fuqua Business School, home of the nation's 12th ranked business school, according to the most recent US News & World Report rankings,and you asked for help. A group from Fuqua working with the Director of Football Operations is preparing a full blown strategic plan for the football program, addressing all football, developmental and financial operations of the program. It's taking the best of corporate analysis and strategic thinking and applying it to the football operations, something that everyone involved with the Blue Devil program agrees is sorely needed.

Will it work? Who knows, but it can't do anything but help. The folks putting the plan together have interviewed individuals involved with 30 different athletic programs to glean best practices to bring them back to Durham. The plan and an accompanying commitment to increase spending have to be taken by Blue Devil fans as bright lights at the end of a very long tunnel of Blue Devil football.

Whether that means the Devils will break that losing streak in 2007 or 2008, I don't think the Fuqua team can tell you, but one look at the Blue Devils 2007 schedule tells me that 2008 is more likely. There are no easy games on the 2007 schedule, as the non-conference schedule features Navy, Notre Dame, much improved Northwestern and perhaps Duke's best chance for a win - the opener home against UConn.

Devil Rays Could Host New Big East Bowl Game

The Big East was supposed to get a new bowl game in New York in 2010 with the construction of the West Side Stadium, but the Big Apple Bowl may not come to pass now that the Jets are moving in with the Giants in Jersey. There are active discussions with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for a new bowl game to be held in that monstrosity of a baseball stadium called Tropicana Field. Since the Big East is locked in bowl games through the 2009 season, the earliest the game could happen would be 2010. It makes sense as Florida is a major recruiting market for all of the Big East teams as well as the home of the South Florida. Besides, the Trop probably works as a football field.

Apology to Pasquarelli

In my post on Michael Vick, I incorrectly identified Len Pasquarelli as the source of the ESPN report that Vick would definitely not be indicted by the Feds as a result of the ongoing grand jury investigation into the dog fighting operation. As pointed out to me by a reader, the incorrect report was actually made by Chris Mortensen and I should have so stated. That's what I get for typing and posting at night, relying on memory, without going back and double-checking the source and linking back to the original source. Sorry about that - it won't happen again. I criticize the WWLS all the time here for various and sundry sins, I should be more responsible myself.

Vick Gets Dogged By Feds

So, now we know how good the information is that ESPN's Len Pasquarelli has been feeding us all these years. Wasn't it him who assured us earlier this week that there was no way Ron Mexico would be indicted? Good thing Vick and his lawyers weren't banking on that scoop.

Anyway, as the world knows by now, the Falcons QB has been indicted by the Feds for running a dog fighting operation. The indictment can be found here. That presents both the Falcons and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell with some interesting decisions. The Falcons have a real problem since inexplicably, knowing this problem was lurking, they traded away their backup. Still, they have little choice but to start searching for a potential starter, as the likelihood that Vick will be the starter on opening day is remote. He probably won't be around much anyway. Daunte Culpepper is available and probably cheap - he may not be the best solution but he is available.

As for Goodell, he has little choice but to suspend Vick and for quite a while - four games minimum, before the trial. Vick sat in Goodell's office and lied about his involvement and for that he has to be suspended regardless of the outcome of the trial. As for the Falcons, if they're smart, they should just go ahead and cut him loose. Vick's not likely to be around much anyway, and by cutting him now, Blank reinforces his commitment to a team built around community values.

On another related topic, Nike appears to be the only major endorsement Vick has left and the new Vick shoe is being released in the next couple of weeks. The company has made no comment on the indictment and, as Darren Rovell points out, is likely to release the shoe without any major comment or significant campaign featuring Vick. Troy Polamalu is a co-endorser and will be the face of the shoe in major media.

Quakes Return to MLS in 2008

SI.com is reporting that the San Jose Earthquakes will be returning to MLS in 2008, which is about a year earlier than I expected. The official announcement is likely to come during the Commissioner's State of the League address during All Star Weekend festivities this weekend. The club will be operated by and ownership group headed by Oakland A's' owner Lew Wolff.

MLS is waiving its normal expansion rules for the Quakes as no soccer specific stadium will be ready in 2008. What clinched the deal for the league is both the identity of the owner and the booming economy of the San Jose area. Wolff is in talks with San Jose to build an $80 million soccer stadium, which will likely carry the name of one of the area high tech companies just as the A's new Cisco Field does. The stadium will, if all goes well, be ready in at best 2010.

No matter, it was important to get San Jose back in the league. It has a ready made fan base. It has a built-in rivalry with both the Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo. The Galaxy as the Quakes old arch rivals and the Dynamos who are the old Quakes. Welcome back to the party Quakes.

WNBA Gets Rights Deal with ESPN

The WNBA announced an historic media rights deal yesterday with ESPN/ABC. The extension of the existing broadcasting deal gave the WWLS eight years with the digital media rights through the 2016 season. What made the deal historic is that this is the first time the network is actually paying the WNBA a rights fee. Now, remember, the WNBA is 12 years old and has yet to receive a rights fee.

Oh, and I almost forgot, the league held its All Star Game yesterday. It was broadcast in 198 countries and with commentary in 30 languages thanks to NBA TV. It's good to own your own international television network.

Carnival of the NBA #46

Carnival of the NBA #46 is now up at With Malice. It's a very special Made in Japan edition, so get over there and check it out.

Fire to be Sold to Bronfman Family Member

The Chicago Fire are on the verge of new ownership. Andell Holdings, an investment vehicle for Andrew Hauptman and his wife Ellen Bronfman Hauptman has signed an agreement in principle to purchase the club from AEG. The deal is expected to close within 45 days subject to due diligence and the approval of MLS. Assuming the deal gets approved, that will leave AEG with only two teams, the LA Galaxy and the defending MLS Cup holders Houston Dynamo.

The Hauptmans and Andell are based in Los Angeles. Andell's other investments include Vivendi Universal, Koor Industries, SunOpta and PODS. The Hauptmans and Andell have also been involved in film production.

The purchase price has not been disclosed but expect that it is in excess of $30 million. That is based on the $33 million that DC United supposedly sold for recently and the fact that the Fire recently opened Toyota Park, its new soccer specific stadium in suburban Bridgeview. While AEG manages the stadium, it is owned by the village of Bridgeview. Presumably the management contract will be assigned along with the operating rights to the team.

This sale will bring MLS very close to Commissioner Don Garber's stated goal of one team per owner, as is the case in other major American sports. While no one is known to be nibbling at the Dynamo at present, there have been inquiries in the past and it is logical to expect that to increase as the team solidifies its presence in the Houston market and gets closer to its own stadium construction.

Adidas Lands Big Blue

Score one for the three stripes. There will soon be no more swoosh in Ann Arbor as Michigan has signed a new all sports, eight year deal with Adidas. The deal is worth $7.5 million per year in cash and merchandise and is believed to be Adidas largest with a public university, deals that include Louisville, Tennessee, Nebraska, UCLA, Indiana and Wisconsin. In addition, Adidas has apparel deals with Notre Dame and a league wide exclusives with the NBA and MLS, and it's Reebok subsidiary has an exclusive with the NFL.

The contract contains provisions committing Adidas to labor and human rights provisions that were often subjects of contention with Nike. In addition, UM has a most favored nation clause committing Adidas to keeping it as the top college contract in the Adidas stable.

I know the important question for all you Big Blue fans is this: the new Adidas designed clothing will be in the stores starting next summer.

Will NBA Finance Sactown Arena?

David Stern has taken a very active role in the search for a solution to the Sacramento arena problem ever since the new arena financing package was defeated at the polls last year. The Maloofs, owners of the Sacramento Kings have said all of the correct things about not wanting to move the team, and the league, in the guise of Stern, has repeatedly said the Kings are staying put. Yet, no solution to the arena question has appeared on the horizon and Arco Arena is definitely not the answer for more than the couple of years it will take to build a new one.

Perhaps the league itself will be the finance solution for the Kings. The NBA is now denying that it will finance the arena itself, although the CBA affiliate in Sacramento was reporting yesterday that it had plans to do so:

If this plan is true, it marks a dramatic departure for the NBA which has made holding cities hostage for public financing of arenas into an art form. I would imagine that the league's fellow owners in Major League Baseball and the NHL won't be too pleased either, not to mention those few remaining NFL owners, like the Vikings, who haven't squeezed out a new stadium in this latest round of construction. It's certainly a bad precedent to privately finance an arena if you want to then try to go after public financing for the next one or two. It undercuts the argument that much harder that an arena is incapable of being operated profitably without public support.

USA 2, Brazil 1

The USA went Ofer Copa America after taking an inexplicably young team to Chavezland and never seeming to click. All of the goodwill earned during the run to the Gold Cup championship went up in the smoke of desultory play by the youngsters and the questionable decision by coach Bob Bradley to take a team filled with almost no national team veterans of real competition. The youth and inexperience really showed against the superior South American competition.

The story could not be more different in the FIFA U-20 World Cup currently being held in Canada. After an opening match draw with South Korea in a game marked mostly be nervousness, the Americans put it to Poland 6-1 on the strength of Freddy Adu's early hat trick. Tonight, Team USA took on one of the pre-Cup favorites, Brazil, needing only a win or tie to advance to the quarterfinals. By contrast, Brazil likely needed a win as Team Samba had earlier lost to Poland. The Americans came out attacking, and generally played an aggressive and creative game, while marking all over the field to help counter the attacking Brazilian.

Pictured here is 17 year old Josmer Altidore, who scored both American goals. They were both created by Freddy Adu, who was again a factor throughout the game. The keeper, Chris Seitz, player simply outstanding all night despite facing a relentless Brazilian attack; the one goal Brazil got was really not his fault.

The future of American soccer was on display tonight and based on the tournament so far, it certainly looks bright. Team USA is though to the knock-out round as the group champion and will be facing a third place team from another group. They should have gained a great deal of confidence from their play in the group stage and their win over Brazil in particular. It bodes well for the balance of the tournament.

New Galaxy Unis Leaked

From Sports by Brooks comes this link to the new LA Galaxy jersey that has been leaked on the web in advance of the debut to be timed with the arrival of Becks in two weeks. Rather unimaginative and plain, don't you think. The sponsor's name is more prominent than on the current jersey though, which is a good thing for Herbalife. I do like the dumping of the green or whatever color that was.

A New Day in Camp

It's July and for college basketball coaches that means long days and nights filled with watching high school basketball players play in summer camps sponsored by shoe companies around the country. For years those camps featured players showcasing their one-on-one moves in games that looked like little more than Rucker League games moved indoors with better lighting and if you were lucky, perhaps air conditioning.

This summer, if this article is to be believed, the shoe companies have found religion and the camps have finally changed. The camps are, for the first time, focusing on fundamentals and life skills - things that will actually help the kids become better basketball players and cope with all that will be facing them in the next few years as college looms and, for the lucky few, the NBA. If this trend holds, perhaps there is a future for USA basketball, after all.

The key to this revolution in summer camps: Sonny Vacaro has left the building.

Newsource Determines How Informed You Are

Okay, so this isn't really about sports or business for that matter, but I found it interesting and thought I would share it with you. I came across this information in a post on the very interesting and informative economics and investment blog by Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture, which discussed a study conducted by the Pew Research Center that found that your media choice determined how informed you were about public affairs. Intuitively, we probably all knew this to be true, but this study quantified it in stark terms.

For example, "What is particularly noteworthy -- just as Rupert Murdoch is set to acquire Dow Jones -- is how informed the viewers are who get most of their news from his FoxNews Channel: They ranked dead last in the survey . . . "




Scary stuff indeed.

Becks Pushes Profit-sharing; Loses Gillette

The contract that Beckham signed with the LA Galaxy was a not just the highest contract in MLS history but it was a contract packed with profit-sharing deals that gave Becks a chance to share in the Galaxy's success through higher ticket sales. jersey sales and marketing agreements.

Beckham and his marketing advisers, primarily Simon Fuller, the creator of the Spice Girls and American Idol, have decided that he should move in a new direction for his endorsement deals and that the Galaxy contract points the way. They would like for all of his endorsement deals to be based on profit sharing. To that end, Becks has decided to turn down a renewal of a worldwide deal with Gillette, paying him an estimated $6 million per year, because Proctor & Gamble, Gillette's' parent, refused to offer him anything other than a flat fee contract. It must be nice to turn down a guaranteed $6 mil when you have just bought a new manse in SoCal - and you know that has to be pricey.

I don't doubt that the new strategy is a good one, when it is available, but turning down P&G, who just signed Thierry Henry, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer for a new worldwide campaign, is probably not smart in the long run. You can argue that Becks doesn't need the exposure but I think that the move to the Galaxy would argue for maintaining the high level exposure that Gillette offers even if you have to "swallow" a fixed fee. Of course, I didn't dream up American Idol, so what do I know?

Putin Brings Home Gold

The City of Sochi, Russia has been selected to be the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics this evening at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Guatemala City. The Sochi presentation was aided by the appearance before the IOC by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who urged the IOC to pick the Russian city overlooking the Black Sea, taking the Winter Games to Russia for the first time.

You can see video of the announcement here.

Chicago Fire for Sale?

Looks like AEG is reducing its MLS holdings again. The Chicago Fire appear to be on the block and are drawing interest from more than one potential buyer. The asking price is in the neighborhood of $30.5 million, presumably including the new Toyota Park, which would appear to be about right, given recent sales numbers and the expansion fee paid by Toronto. At least one bidder is rumored to be a top European club, perhaps Chelsea or AC Milan, for whom the purchase price would be pocket change or a mid-priced striker. The other potential buyer is American and would involve Fire star Frank Klopas as a technical director.

UF's Foley Cashes In

In the wake of the Gators unprecedented romp through the NCAA during the last year or so, the Gators' coaches have capitalized in a big way. Both Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan have used national titles to substantially upgrade their contracts and those of their coaching staffs, as well as beefed up their facilities. However, the man who hired them and who has overseen all of this success, had not yet been rewarded.

That oversight has been rectified. Jeremy Foley, the University of Florida Athletic Director and the architect of the Gator Domination has been more than rewarded. He has been given a contract more befitting a football coach than an athletic director. He has been bestowed an eleven year contract at $1.1 million per, making him by far the highest paid athletic director in the country, although not necessarily the one with the longest contract. I believe that Tom Jurich, the AD at Louisville, who is the only other AD in the country to orchestrate anything like the Florida phenomenon, has a contract that runs for fifteen years. I can't think of anyone, save Jurich, who could be more deserving. What Foley has accomplished at Florida is simply amazing.

To fully appreciate what Florida has done requires a bit of history since it wasn't all that long ago that Florida was the laughingstock of the SEC in football, which was the only sport that mattered. Sure, the Visor came along and changed that but then he left and it wasn't at all clear that what he accomplished could be recaptured. To not only replicate that but to also build a basketball program from scratch, while also building winning Olympic sports programs across the board is truly phenomenal. It takes a special person to be able to do that and Foley deserves the praise and rewards coming his way.

New League To Be Post Collegiate NFL Lite

One month after the announced birth of the United Football League, comes activity and announcements from a group that is trying to form yet another professional football league - the All American Football League. The hook here is the group is closely connected with folks who used to run college programs, including the group's chairman, Cedric Dempsey, a former NCAA president. The league intends to play its games on college campuses and all of its players must have earned their degrees.

The league has announced tryouts for its first season of play planned for spring of 2008. It intends to play a spring schedule in order to avoid playing opposite the NFL and to avoid stadium conflicts with the college teams whose stadiums the league hopes to use. So far, plans are tentatively made for teams in Florida, Knoxville, Birmingham, West Lafayette (Purdue) and Raleigh. The league hopes to place a team in Texas, Mississippi and Little Rock.

The demise of NFL Europa should help the league by increasing the pool of players available to it. However, the league has no television contract as yet and stadium plans seem tentative at best for most locations and non-existent in others. The launch was postponed once and hardly seems ready. There doesn't appear to be significant money behind the league beyond its one financier mentioned in the article. I'm not optimistic that it will succeed.

What is needed is not a proliferation of minor league alternatives to the NFL but a real minor league backed by the NFL with working agreements between NFL teams and the minor league clubs. It's past time the NFL relied solely on colleges to supply it with talent. Let these two leagues start and fail and the NFL can spend the time between now and 2010, planning the launch of a minor league in football appreciative cities ( we all know where they are - Birmingham, Little Rock, Memphis, San Antonio) so that the league will be ready to go when the time goes.

Living in a Cage

You have to read the great article on page on of today's New York Times about Angels outfielder Reggie Willits home. He, his wife and son live in this batting cage. That's right, a batting cage. Before you laugh too hard, it got him to the Show.