Delaware Really Wants to Be Las Vegas

I'm a little late discussing the move by Delaware to legalize sports betting but it's still worth a mention. The state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the recently enacted statute permitting sports betting to be run by the state lottery. The justices correctly found that sports betting, particularly a parley on professional football with the points spread, constitutes a lottery within the meaning of the statutory definition of a lottery being a game of chance. The NFL had argued that sports betting contained too much of a skill element to be a game of chance.

In a prior life, I had the opportunity to be involved in this identical type of case in Kentucky. The Kentucky lottery wanted to conduct what was essentially a parley game on professional football. After extensive research, including discussions with Las Vegas bookmakers and sports book operators and an exhaustive review of their historical data, I concluded that parley betting in particular is indeed a game of chance. If I remember the statistics correctly, and we're going back to the late 1980s here, the betting line favorite in NFL games beat the spread 50.1% of the time. You just don't get much more random than that. The lottery was then sued by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, among others, and the Supreme Court, in an unpublished decision (Order No. 89-SC-792-I (October 23, 1989) vacated a lower court decision against the lottery and remanded it to the trial court for further proceedings. The governor, however, bowed to political pressure and the game was never introduced. At the next legislative session, legislation was enacted (KRS 154A.063) that prevented the lottery from ever again attempting to conduct a game based on the outcome of an amateur or professional sporting event.

The NFL has chutzpah, I'll give them that;. They don't seem to be bothered one bit by the seeming contradiction of campaigning loudly on every rooftop about the evils of gambling, legal or otherwise, but if a lottery offers up sponsorship money, then, bam, those hands come out quicker than you can say lotto. Gambling is just fine when the money finds its way back into the ever increasingly large bank accounts of the NFL owners. It's only bad when the fans want to do it. Forget that the league was built on gambling and if there had never been a point spread invented, the NFL would still be playing in Canton.

Of course, hypocrisy isn't limited to the NFL. Remember the lawsuit in Kentucky back in 1989? Recall that the plaintiff was the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association which is a collection of horse breeders and owners looking out for the general welfare of the thoroughbred industry, which they felt would be threatened by money siphoned off to the lottery. Well, times have changed and now there is a movement afoot to bring casinos, or at least video lottery terminals (don't you just love these euphemisms for slot machines) to Kentucky. Who is leading the charge? Yep, the thoroughbred industry who want the casino or VLTs placed at the state's racetracks with a portion of the proceeds dedicated to purse money.

Now, personally, I think this is a good idea and the industry definitely needs the money to compete with racinos in nearby Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It's the same reason that the Delaware legislation, in something that seems to be flying below the national radar, authorized table games at its racetracks. Kentucky's horse industry is in trouble and does need the help. There were far too many short fields at Churchill Downs this spring and that spells trouble for the whole industry. It's too important to Kentucky not to help out. It's just the hypocrisy I have a problem with.

Kentucky President: We Knew About Calipari and We Support Him

The University of Kentucky has not had a good couple of days this week. It started off with the weekend disclosure that one of the stars of the football team had been suspended for his senior season for failing a drug test, due to performance enhancing drug he used from an over the counter supplement he was taking while rehabbing from an injury.

The last couple of days is when things really got interesting. First, it was announced that former and fired basketball coach Billy Gillispie filed suit against the university in federal court in Dallas for $6 million due him as a result of his firing. Yesterday, the university fired back, suing Gillispie in Kentucky state court, alleging that, properly, it can only be sued in Franklin County, Kentucky circuit court and is not subject to suit in Texas, particularly over a contract made in and performed in Kentucky. If this case ever goes to trial, it could get real interesting, given all the various rumors about Billy Clyde's lifestyle while he was in the Bluegrass.

His replacement was not to be denied the headlines yesterday either. It looks like Coach Cal is going to go two for two in Final Fours, becoming the first coach in NCAA history to have Final Four appearances vacated for two different schools. UK officials are saying that Calipari was forthcoming about the investigation, that he is not currently named by the NCAA as being investigated and that UK stands by Cal and supports him. If that's true, Kentucky is a bigger whore than I thought, and that is really saying something, since the boys in blue rival Jerry Tarkanian for the NCAA detention list. This scenario smells a whole lot like the Indiana - Kelvin Sampson saga only with far more serious violations and a university whose basketball program has far less integrity.

The question still remains for AD Mitch Barnhart: What changed in the two years between the hiring of Gillispie and his firing that made you go after Calipari, when he was untouchable before Gillispie because of his reputation? An appearance in the national title game suddenly wiped out all the questions about his reputation, the way he runs a program and the way he recruits? Do you now have any regrets?

Here's a report from Jeff Goodman, a senior basketball writer from Foxsports.com

Cowboys Open Billion Dollar Stadium

The Dallas Cowboys unveiled their new $1.15 Billion stadium yesterday in an invitation only ribbon cutting ceremony attended by 1,5oo guests.  The basic figures surrounding this stadium are daunting enough at any time, but particularly so given the economic climate in which it is opening.  The new Cowboys Stadium will have permanent seats for 80,000 with the ability to seat 100,000 and will be best known for the world's largest video screens, costing $40 million and which run nearly the length of the football field.  It is not owner Jerry Jones' intent to keep the name Cowboys Stadium but given the Great Recession and the price tag associated with naming rights he is trying to sell he hasn't found any takers just yet.  In that quest, he is not alone, as the other billion dollar plus stadium coming on line in the New Jersey swamp has not sold its naming rights either.

Here is a video from yesterday's opening that will give you a little taste of the stadium:

Roof Planned for French Open

An arms race has broken out in tennis, particularly among the hosts and organizers of the four majors, and it's going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to play. Wimbledon unveiled its new Centre Court, complete with retractable roof, earlier this month. Construction of the roof was part of renovation of the stadium that was estimated to at least $146 million. With the roof, Wimbledon can now avoid the interminable rain delays that seem to plague it every year.

The French Tennis Federation, organizer of the French Open, being French, will not let the English gain an advantage for long and so just announced a planned construction of a new stadium for Roland Garros which will include a retractable roof. The new center court will seat 14,000 is estimated to cost 120 million euros and should be completed in time for the 2013 or 2014 French Open.

The USTA has contemplated adding a roof to the 22, 547 seat US Open Stadium for years, but has done little more than discuss it. Last year, the USTA did begin to accept architects plans for the project, which may mean a move towards construction of a roof. However, the cost is estimated to be in excess of $100 million and rain has not historically been a major issue for the US Open, unlike the other three majors. Given the cost and the configuration of Arthur Ashe Stadium, it seems unlikely that the USTA would begin construction anytime soon. That would leave the US Open as the only major without the possibility of being played under a retractable roof as the Australian Open has retractable roofs over two of its stadiums.

China Calling and the Cavs Answer

When you have the largest consumer market and the largest television market on the planet, every entertainment company dreams of getting its share and the NBA is no exception. In fact, it was one of the first professional sports leagues to reach into China in a significant way, with games being broadcast there to an audience measured in the hundreds of millions.

The next logical step in the evolution of North American sports relationship with China was recently taken as a group of Chinese investors agreed to purchase a 15% interest in the Cleveland Cavaliers. The agreement requiers the approval of the NBA's Board of Governors. The group is headed by JianHua ("Kenny") Huang, a Chinese born investor who has brokered marketing deals between the Houston Rockets and New York Yankees and a Chinese conglomerate.

While the deal is certain to spark increased Chinese interest in the Cavs, its major benefit may lie in helping to convince LeBron to remain in Cleveland following next season. Although he is a free agent after next year, and at least half the league has been busy clearing cap space to make an effort to sign him, LeBron has been very careful to publicly say he intends to stay in Cleveland. Nevertheless, I'm sure that Nike and LeBron will be very interested in the increased exposure that the Chinese investors can bring to the table. Allin all, very wise move on the part of Dan Gilbert.

Bottom of the Ninth

Recently received in the mail a new book by Michael Shapiro entitled, Bottom of the Ninth, Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball From Itself. It's the fascinating story of the late 1950's, early 60s and the Dodgers have left Brooklyn, the Giants have left the Polo Grounds and cities all across flyover country are besieging baseball for teams. The Yankees are alone in New York and a New York lawyer named William A. Shea and Branch Rickey conceive the idea for a third major league called the Continental League.

Rickey, most well-known for signing Jackie Robinson was a baseball genius and a man always ahead of his time. He went about collecting millionaires around the country for his new league, not realizing that most of them were about landing a team in the existing two leagues. Still Rickey had some ideas that had baseball adopted them at the time might have headed off the rise of professional football, which at that time, was little more than something to use baseball stadiums in the fall. Among his most enduring ideas and perhaps the single best idea that baseball should have adopted then and should adopt now, was that all television money should be shared equally. Why shades of Pete Rozelle, Rickey realized that a league is as dependent on its weakest franchises as it is on its strongest. Most fans don't know how well the game is played as long as it is played competitively. A principle which guided the NFL to its present day dominance.

As I get further into the book, I'll be back with more, but I can already recommend it if you have the slightest interest in either baseball or sports business. Shapiro tells a good story and he tells it well.

You can find an interview with Michael Shapiro about the book at the Gothamist blog, here.

What's the Best Sports City in North America?

Think you know? Is your first thought Boston, now enjoying a nirvana of professional sports success probably unequaled in the city's sporting history? Well, according to this study by the folks at the Toronto Star, limited to the cities in North America north of the Rio Grande (I guess success in the Mexican Football League was too hard to track, you know with all those Latin American tournaments they play in), Boston is only second best; the winner is probably the least likeliest city you would imagine. Oh, and did I mention that it has exactly one championship in the last two decades to its credit? One more thing before we get to the winner that makes this little study a bit suspect. The third place team, and highest ranking Canadian city is Vancouver. A gorgeous city and one of my favorite cities in the world, but didn't it lose a NBA team, okay, it was the Grizzlies, but still...

Enough suspense, according to the Toronto Star, the best sports city in North America is Indianapolis?!? Yes, the Colts finally won a Super Bowl and the NCAA is headquartered there which brings the city the Final Four on a regular basis as well as numerous other NCAA championship events, and once a year there is the Indy 500, but don't you have to have winning teams to be the sports city? Has anybody at the Toronto Star actually watched a Pacers game lately? Does anybody know where the Indianapolis Racers hockey team went?

The city does have a decent AAA baseball team in the Indians, the AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have a very nice relatively new ballpark near downtown. Still, I'm not sure AAA baseball, even if successful qualifies you for this award.

To measure the relative sporting success of major North American cities, the Toronto Star ranked 37 cities with at least two professional sports teams based on their winning percentages since 2000. Teams — which were drawn from baseball, hockey, football and basketball — were awarded bonus points for making the playoffs or winning a championship. The results above rank the winningest — and losingest — across the continent.

Arena Naming Curse Continues

The Arena/Stadium naming curse continues picking up its latest victim with the FDIC seizure of BankUnited in Coral Gables, Florida last week. If the name is familiar to you and you don't live in Florida, then you must be an ACC basketball fan, as it is the name of the University of Miami's basketball arena. Bank United signed a ten year naming rights deal in November, 2005. The U is still flogging a variety of naming opportunities within the BankUnited Center so it could add the name on the outside of the building to the list should that become necessary. Of course, it hasn't been able to sell the $2 million opportunities so naming rights could be a problem in this economy.

Wild Ignore Playoff Hiring Ban; Hire Pens Asst. GM

When you're in desperate need of help, I guess rules, written or unwritten just don't apply. That must be what the Minnesota Wild must be thinking as owner Craig Leipold announced today the hiring of Pittsburgh's assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher to be the Wild's new general manager. Fletcher will start his duties immediately, despite the Penguins being in the middle of the Stanley Cup playoffs. True, assistant general managers don't get on the ice, but it is highly unorthodox to start raiding a team's front office in the middle of a playoff run.

The Penguins GM, Ray Shero, believed that Fletcher was ready to be a GM somewhere and I'm sure he recommended him for the Minnesota job. I 'm equally sure he would have preferred it not happen until after the Pens playoff run was over. I'm sure Commissioner Bettman will have nothing to say about this as usual. In the other three major sports, no such hiring would be permitted until after the candidate's team had concluded its playoff run and Bud Selig doesn't permit any personnel announcements during the playoffs - especially during World Series week. This was admittedly not the finals but it is conference finals week and still the Wild could have and should have waited.

Lingerie Football League Looking for Interns

If you are looking for a way to break into the sports industry and you're a fan of lingerie, this may be just the thing, The Lingerie Football League is looking for interns for all ten teams. Interns will gain exposure to all aspects of sports business involved in running a franchise. If you're interested, send your resume to: Talent@LFLUS.com. or go here for more information.

Kentucky Horse Industry Pleads for Help

To many people outside the great Commonwealth, Kentucky is known either for Fried Chicken or the three sins of bourbon, thoroughbreds and tobacco (or hemp, depending on your age and smoking preference). You can throw Muhammad Ali and basketball in there too but those two aren't really business related although the University of Kentucky treats basketball as both a business and a religion, with a extraordinarily well paid head minister in Coach Cal.

One of those signature industries is in trouble of fading away according to its leaders. The CEOs of the five thoroughbred tracks and three harness tracks, together with the head of the largest thoroughbred horsemen's group gathered together yesterday for a press conference to discuss the problems facing the industry and their preferred solution. The location of the press conference was extremely symbolic. It was held in the afternoon in the paddock at Churchill Downs, a place that would normally be filled with people and horses getting ready for the next race on the afternoon's card. However, due to the difficulty the Downs has faced in filling its races this spring, it has reduced its number of racing days by dropping one day a week, so it was "dark" yesterday.

All of the assembled industry leaders pointed to Churchill Downs' problem with filling cards as the sign of the danger to come. Trainers and owners have moved away from the Kentucky circuit because they can find more lucrative purses in other states whose industry is supported by slot machines or casinos. The Kentucky tracks would like slot machines at their tracks and are claiming, with justification, that if they don't get that authority soon, the tracks will suffer severely to the point that several will be forced to close and others will have to reduce their racing dates. The outlook for slot machines is mixed. The Governor was elected on a platform of approving gambling and the Democrat House of Representatives would pass any slot machine bill that would benefit the tracks. However, the Republican controlled Senate is a different matter entirely. The Senate Majority Leader is opposed to expanding gambling and it will take a monumental lobbying effort on the part of the horse industry to get a bill passed through the Senate.

Without at least the approval of slots at the tracks, the prospects for horse racing is grim. Unless expanded gambling is passed soon, Kentucky may soon be known as the former home of the global thoroughbred industry.

Yankee Fans Find Away Games Cheaper and Easier Than New Yankee Stadium

It takes Yankee fans about an hour to get to the Bronx from some suburban New York locations and once there it can cost up to $1,500 from ground level seats. It takes about 5 hours to drive to Baltimore for a Yankees-Orioles game and ground level seats in Camden Yards go for about $70 a ticket. Throw in a hotel room at $150 a night and dinner for two people at $75 and the two day short vacation taking in a two day Yankee-Oriole set in Baltimore can run about $5oo counting gas and miscellaneous expenses. All in all, about $500-$1000 cheaper than ground level seats at Yankee Stadium for one game. If you don't think that is going to be a long term problem for the Yankees and an opportunity for the Orioles than you just haven't been paying attention to baseball economics in the year of the Great Recession.

During the May 7-9 Yankee-Oriole homestand, the Radisson Lord Baltimore hotel saw a 40% spike in attendance to near capacity. There is no doubt in the minds of the hotel's management nor that of the Orioles that the increase in crowds at the hotel and the stadium was due to an influx of Yankee fans. And that influx was fueled by the affordability of Orioles games, especially when compared to the cost of new Yankee Stadium. According to Team Marketing Report, the average cost for a family of four to attend an Orioles game this season is $163.68, while the average cost for a game at Yankee Stadium is $410.88.

If Man U Loses Saturday, They Could Get Sued

Manchester United has won the Premier League championship so its game on Saturday against Hull City is like one of those late September contests in the late 1950s in the American League and the Yankees had won the pennant back in August. You know the kind, the ones that just don't mean anything. On Wednesday of next week, however, in Rome, the Red Devils have a game that means a whole lot, perhaps even more than a Premier League championship. On Wednesday, Man U takes on Barcelona in the Champions League final as they attempt to win back to back Champions League crowns for the first time since AC Milan did it in 1989 and 1990.

That Wednesday game is the rub as Hull City is fighting to stave off relegation. A win against Man U on Saturday will keep it in the Premiership and if Sir Alex decides to rest all of his starters, a not unlikely prospect, and field a primarily reserve team, that possibility is greatly enhanced. The possibility of Sir Alex doing just that has enraged the three North East clubs: Newcastle United, Middlesborough and Sunderland, that are battling with Hull to stay up.

Paragraph E20 of the Premiership rules states: "“In every league match each participating club should field a full strength team.” If Man U fields a primarily reserve team and loses the North East clubs have threatened to sue it, at least according to SunSports to seek to recover the millions in damages the clubs would suffer by being demoted from the Premiership. It's estimated to cost a club upwards of $30 million to be relegated to the Championship due primarily to the difference in TV rights. If such a case were filed, it would be, as far as I can determine, a case of first impression, not just in the UK but in Europe and possibly anywhere. Because there is such a clear rule in place, Manchester United might have some difficulty with its defense.

In addition, Premier League officials have indicated that they are watching and could take action. Such action could include fines or point deductions. If penalized four points, that would result in Liverpool gaining the top spot. However, the rule has never been enforced so it would seem unlikely that Man U would actually be penalized but the litigation is another matter entirely.

NFL Settles with Comcast; Extends Deals With Fox, CBS

The spring owners meeting of the NFL has certainly been busy this year. So far, in two days, the owners have approved and announced an carriage agreement with Comcast for the NFL Network, finally ending a contentious and interminable negotiation and legal battle, and extensions of television deals with Fox and CBS for an additional two years.

The two agreements are linked since part of what brought Comcast to closing is the addition of the NFL's red zone look-in package providing live look-ins on every game being played all day. That required an agreement from Fox and CBS, so it was an opportune to negotiate an extension of their pacts. Comcast will put the NFL Network on the same Digital Classic level of service as the Major League Baseball Network for a fee which is substantially below the 70 cents that the NFL had been demanding. Both parties will dismiss all pending litigation and regulatory actions. By finally settling with Comcast, the NFL Network can now reasonably expect the other major cable networks to start falling in line soon, since most of them take their cues from deals cut by Comcast.

The CBS and Fox deals were extending for an additional two years through the 2013 season. The networks will be paying an increase fee of 3-5%. CBS will carry the 2013 Super Bowl and Fox will get the one in 2014.

It's Open Season on Bowl Affiliations

The BCS Conferences are all conducting their spring meetings in the next couple of weeks at various luxury golf resorts around the country.  Topic number one on the agenda of each conference meeting will be the league's bowl affiliations as most bowl contracts, other than the BCS bowls and a couple of others, will all be up at the end of the upcoming season.  We are likely to see considerable movement among the conference affiliations of the mid-tier bowls aligned with the Big Ten, Big XII and Big East conferences.

Each conference has its own idiosyncratic reason for desiring changes in its bowl lineup, but in each case, it looks as if change is likely.  For starters, the Capital One and Champs Bowls, both held in Orlando and run by the same organization are held in a stadium, the Citrus Bowl, which is in desperate need of renovation.  The commissioners of both the Big Ten and SEC, which meet in the Capital One Bowl have repeatedly expressed their desire for renovation of the stadium.  So far, the promise of renovation to come and the bowl's $4.5 million payout, the highest of a non-BCS bowl, has been enough to keep the conferences content.  That may no longer be the case as the Cotton (with its new home at new Cowboys Stadium), Houston and Outback are likely to push hard for the position as number two for both the Big Ten and the SEC.  

The Big Ten may look for more geographically friendly bowls as may the Big XII.  The Big East will look to substantially upgrade its bowl slate based on the respect its members have gained since the ACC raid in 2004, in both on field performance and fan support.  The Big East league officials are being close mouthed but have given some indication that they believe an upgrade is in the works.  Any Big East upgrade could have a domino effect on the lower tied bowls of the Big Ten, Big XII, SEC and ACC, not to mention the bowl affiliations of CUSA and the MAC.  It should make for a very interesting eight months of negotiations among conference suits and men with brightly colored blazers. 

Rachel's Day At the Preakness Before Smaller, Subdued Crowd

Calvin Borel is not just the best big race jockey working in America right now, he is also likely the best handicapper. Continuing the best May of his life, Calvin booted home the wondrous filly Rachel Alexandra in Saturday's Preakness, finishing a length ahead of the fast closing Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird. Borel, who was aboard Bird in the Derby and Rachel in the Kentucky Oaks the day before, chose to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness and became the first jockey ever to win the Derby and Preakness on two different horses when the Derby winner was also in the Preakness.

With story lines abounding, you would think that this year's Preakness would have drawn a large and boisterous crowd. You would have been wrong. Demonstrating incredibly poor timing, if nothing else, the management of Pimlico decided that this would be the year to institute a ban on bringing your own beer/alcohol into the track, thereby shutting down the Freakness, as the Preakness day long drunken, port-a-potty racing, wet t-shirt contesting participants had come to be known. Why pick the year when ownership of the track is in bankruptcy and the future of the track and the race is in jeopardy? The BYOB ban had the desired effect of cutting down on the infield carousing;; it also had the less desirable effect of significantly reducing attendance. After falling last year by about 7.5%, attendance this year was off around 30%. While all of the drop may not be attributable to the change in alcohol policy, the lion's share of it most certainly is.

The race itself was dramatic and everything that is good about horse racing. The scene at the track, however, with its relative sparse attendance demonstrated once again the substantial problems facing Maryland horse racing and Pimlico in particular.

Why Does Gary Bettman Hate Canada?

Okay, maybe he doesn't really hate Canada, but he sure doesn't like it very much. In his sixteen years as commissioner of the NHL he has done everything he possibly can to grow the game in the US at the expense of Canada. Since he took over, all expansion franchises and relocated franchises have been placed in American cities, sometimes - Jets and Nordiques - at the expense of Canadian cities.

The latest and most blatant example is unfolding in the Valley of the Sun. The ongoing debacle of the Phoenix Coyotes may be a textbook example how mismanagement of a situation turns a merely bad one into a raging financial and public relations disaster. A short background in the Coyotes recent history will help you understand the current situation.

The franchise has been hemorrhaging money for the last several seasons, to the tune of $73 million in the last three fiscal years, and in August, 2008, owner Jerry Moyes notified the NHL that the team would have trouble meeting its obligations for the 2008-09 season. Later that month, the league advance the club $8 million and went on to lend the Coyotes a total of $35 million during the season, allegedly making it the second largest creditor after an affiliate of computer magnet Michael Dell. I say allegedly because that is the claim in the NHL's most recent bankruptcy court filing, however, a significant portion, at least $100 million, of Moyes' investment in the team is in the form of debt, which would make him the largest creditor by a significant margin.

According to the league's filing, in October Moyes notified the league that he was done funding the team's losses and in November, he signed control of the team over to the league. What exactly that meant will be decided by the bankruptcy court. The league contends Moyes no longer had the power to file bankruptcy while he contends that he only signed over control of day to day operations and financial decisions and that he retained ownership and therefore control of the ability to file bankruptcy and accept purchase offers, subject to league approval of the purchaser just like any other sale of a team.

Where this story gets really interesting is that Moyes/Coyotes have received a $212 million offer from Jim Balsillie to purchase the team and move it to Hamilton, Ont. Bettman, who may not really hate Canada but almost assuredly does not like Balsillie, wants to quash that sale and instead sell it for $130 million to Jerry Reinsdorf, of White Sox and Bulls fame, contingent on getting a new and much improved lease with the City of Glendale. So far, Glendale officials are not enthusiastic about altering the lease so where does that leave Bettman/Reinsdorf? Thinking about Las Vegas apparently.

This story gets more tangled by the minute, but the major takeaway for me is the continued efforts by the commissioner to prevent any relocation of a franchise (Pittsburgh, Nashville, Phoenix, Atlanta) to a Canadian city where it will almost assuredly be successful, and instead his near slavish devotion to failed vision of expansion in the American Sun Belt. How much longer will the Board of Governors permit this travesty to continue? Did the league expand to the Sun Belt for failing franchises just to get its games televised on Versus? Whendoes Canada get its game back?

Pac-10 Starting Its Own Network?

Of the six BCS conferences, the Pac-10 has long been saddled with the worst television contracts. Not only is the money not particularly good, but the coverage, in terms of national audience reach, is terrible. Having most of your games on Fox Sports Net not only leaves you at the mercy of the local FSN or Comcast affiliate but the audience for FSN is significantly smaller than that of the ESPN family. That is only compounded by late night games in the east for any prime time West Coast games.

It appears that the conference may finally be doing something about it. Apparently, the Pac-10 is in discussions with Fox to create a Pac-10 network along the lines of the Big Ten Network. It is a natural for the Pac-10 for many reasons. Not only does the conference need better control over its football programming, but it desperately needs the money. It is taking a financial backseat to the other BCS conferences in revenue earning $88.78 million in gross receipts for 2007. That compared to the $177.4 earned by the Big Ten, the $162.4 by the ACC, the $149.1 by the SEC and the $119.2 by the Big XII. The Big East earned $78.4 but its earnings aren't directly comparable as there are only eight football members and the new ESPN contracts (which obviated the necessity of a Big East network) had not yet gone into effect. Also, the Pac-1o has plenty of inventory as it conducts the most extensive and consistently high performing Olympic sports program this side of the Big Ten.

Cable Network Recasts Itself as Sports Network

An item caught my eye in MediaWeek the other day from the headline alone. The headline read: "America One Redrafts Prime Time with Sports Themes." This network plans to give over each night of the week to one sport up to the 10:00 hour and devote the 10:00 hour to action sports. Now, it's all well and good to have more sports on television, especially in prime time and even better to have more coverage of some sports that don't get much attention here such as Canadian football and rugby. However, I don't know about you but I've never heard of the America One network and I follow the television industry fairly closely.

America One claims to be in 125 markets but must not be on many cable or satellite networks. The company acknowledges being primarily on low power stations, which generally are not picked up by the local cable company. As a result, I doubt many of you will actually see any of this programming, even if you wanted to, although most of it would seem to be on other cable networks anyway.

Team Sponsorship May Not Be as Effective as Thought

This morning's post on team branding got me thinking more about marketing. Over lunch something I was reading caught my eye and I went back and read the Turnkey Sports poll for March, 2009. This poll was difference than most Turnkey polls as it polled both industry members and the general public and was therefore able to compare the results of the two. It was the disconnect between the two that I found most interesting and most instructive.

On several subjects, the two constituencies were mostly in sync - television viewing and general views on the economy. However, on the impact of sponsorships, the views were dramatically different and not in a good way for teams or sponsors. The clear picture emerging from the data is that the sponsors' messages are not getting through to the public and seem to be getting lost in the crowd. In addition, there is no brand loyalty among North American sports fans.

The survey only covered the four "major" leagues of MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL. One important point to keep in mind while evaluating the results is that no team in any of those four leagues in allowed to have a jersey sponsor. In the rest of the world, where brand loyalty to sponsors, as well as sponsor recognition, is considerably higher than here, much of that loyalty and recognition is given to the jersey sponsor the fan is wearing on his or her chest. The fact that the sponsor is hanging in the fan's closet is a powerful tool that the four North American leagues are way behind in adopting. Perhaps this survey and similar studies may move the owners closer to permitting that in some small way. MLS has adopted it and the sky didn't fall in over the soccer stadiums in the US. It's not he end of the universe as we know it. It just might be the beginning of a substantial new revenue stream, just when the leagues need it the most.

How Fast Did Your Team Brand Grow?

Forbes just released a study of the fastest growing team brands in the four major North American sports, excluding Major League Soccer, which sticks to its single entity concept and really doesn't have individual team brands in the truest sense. There are certain patterns common to the ranking of the top five within each sport but those patterns do not necessarily cross over from sport to sport. For instance, in the NFL the five fastest growing team brands share one essential trait: they have moved or are moving into a new stadium. They are, for the most part, winning on the field, i.e. the Arizona Cardinals, but it is the added revenue and sponsorship from a new stadium that boosts the brand, at least according to Forbes.

In hockey, winning is the key ingredient, just as it is in the NBA. As the NBA is a star driven sport, more so than the other four, the emergence of a superstar helps you brand considerably - thus Cleveland and LeBron are the fastest growing brand in the league. In the NHL, which is not nearly as star driven, Sid the Kid Crosby drove the Penguins to the fastest growth but the other four were driven mostly by on ice performance.

Baseball is a bit of a mix of the two prevailing tendencies. Winning helps - the Tampa Bay Rays are the fastest growing band but the Rays started from perhaps the smallest base. A new stadium helps: both the Mets and the Yankees are in the top five. The mystery to me is the placement of the Dodgers in the top five (primarily due to winning and a certain suspended dreadlocked star) but not the Angels who I think have experienced the largest brand increase of any professional team in the North America in the last five years. That is not based on any measurement on my part just by observing at a (far) distance what Arte Moreno has accomplished. Winning has played a big factor but so has repositioning the team as both a LA and Orange county team not to mention the Southern California value proposition.

All in all, a interesting study that's worth a look.

Philly Soccer Union

I know that most of you soccer fans have probably seen this already but the logo and name of the new Philadelphia Major League Soccer franchise has been leaked and circulating around the net for a couple of weeks. In case you haven't seen it, here is the crest of the new Philadelphia Union:
The team will begin play next season in a new soccer stadium being built in suburban Chester, Pennsylvania. I don't know about you but it's going to take me awhile to get my head around the name. It's not the worse name in the league and it's far better than many of the crests - Columbus Crew on both counts, but it's not the best name I've ever heard. That's especially true when you consider that it's not really a union of any franchises, it's just a name picked out of the blue; one without any history whatsoever. Union just doesn't fit a brand new franchise. Oh well, MLS hasn't never been one for names that made sense, right Real Salt Lake?

Rachel Alexandra Sold to Curlin's Owner

Back from Chitown for what was a wonderful few days. The weather was great, food was good and the conference was interesting. What more could you ask for? One question for you Chicagoland residents out there - when did the Trib become a tabloid? Not a good move at all for a once great newspaper.

It was announced this week that Jess Jackson of the Kendall-Jackson Winery, and more importantly, the owner of two time horse of the year Curlin, has purchased the winner of Rachel Alexandra the runaway winner of the Kentucky Oaks. The filly is not only the clear class of the three year old filly crop, she may be the best three year old horse in training. In addition, she appears to be the best filly in a generation, although it's a little early to really give her that crown.

The purchase by Jackson sets up a couple of intriguing possibilities. The first of these is that she may now run in the Preakness. The previous owner was dead set against it but Jackson and new trainer Steve Asmussen, who trains most of Jackson's horses, have not ruled it out. Neither have they ruled out the Belmont, a race which would seem to set up for her nicely. The other very intriguing possibility is the potential mating of Rachel Alexandra and Curlin, once Rachel is retired. it will be almost irresistible to breed her to Curlin to see what a champion to a champion will produce. If that first offspring looks good, I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson keeps it and races it himself, a welcome development for the sports and a great storyline to be followed in the years to come.

On the Road

Posting will be likely non-existent until the middle of next week as I'm off to a conference sans laptop. Should be back in front of the trusty Macbook by Wednesday. Hopefully, you can mudddle along without me.

Saints Strike Deal to Stay in Superdome Until 2025

It only took a year of tough negotiating and a change in the resident of the Governor's mansion, but the New Orleans Saints and the State of Louisiana have struck a tentative deal to keep the Saints in New Orleans until 2025. The State will spend $85 million to renovate the Superdome, obviating the need for the construction of the new stadium Saints' owner Tom Benson had been demanding.

The deal is a complex financial package involving not just a renovation of the Superdome, but a complete restructuring of the Saints lease reducing the burden of the state's subsidies based on the Saints' revenue and eliminating the Saint's fixed rent, the sale of an adjacent high rise and parking garage to the Benson family and the development of the neighboring real estate and the creation of a new sports entertainment district.

This is great news for New Orleans as the Saints are a beloved fixture of the Crescent City and one of the true unifying forces in the city. As the recovery from Katrina slowly continues, the Saints continue to play a key role in lifting the spirits of a city still largely broken and forgotten by much of the country. It's great to know the Saints won't now be lured by the bright lights of Hollywood.