2016 Olympics Winner's Stock Market May Get Boost

Seemingly counter-intuitive, at least to me, a study reported by Bloomberg claims that in the five days following the award of the hosting of an Olympics the stock market of the new host gains an average of 2%. I say counter-intuitive because with the exception of the recent games staged in America, almost every Olympics in the last 30 years or more has lost money, often considerable money.

The award of an Olympics to an American city does not have as marked an effect on the US stock market as an American city is not as significant to the American economy as is any city hosting an Olympics in any other host country. With Chicago's likeliest strongest competitor being Rio, the impact on the Brazilian stock market may not be as significant as the Olympics has been in the past, given that the Brazilian market has been one of the world's best performing markets this year, with the Bovespa index up 63% so far this year. On Intrade this morning, Chicago's chances are up 1.4 to 63.4, while Rio was unchanged at 34.6

Great Recession Hits Horse Sales

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale is the largest and usually most expensive sale of thoroughbred yearlings in the world. It recently concluded its annual 14 day run while posting the largest declines in its history, as the full weight of the global economic crisis and the difficulties faced by horse racing in states that have not adopted some form of casino gambling or video poker, primarily Kentucky and Maryland.

The sale’s $191.9 million gross was down 41.5 percent from last year, with only 3,159 yearlings sold, compared to 3,605 last year, a 12.4 percent decline.This year’s average sale price of $60,734 was down 33.2 percent, while the median of $22,000 was down 40.5 percent.

It hadn't dropped near this bad since 1947. The largest buyer was once again the representative of Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, who bought the sale topper at $2.05 million, the cheapest topper since 1997. There were only four yearlings sold for over $1 million compared to 18 last year and more than 30 in each year from 2005-2007.

To sum it up , the thoroughbred industry is in free fall and it won't likely get better anytime soon. The only bright spot on the horizon is still several years out and that is rationalizing production as a result of these sales results. Stallion fees will go down again this winter and fewer mares will be bred. Next year's crop will be smaller and in time, supply and demand will begin to equalize but until the global economy turns and the industry does some serious work to heal itself, with significant help from a few state legislatures, Kentucky included, there will be several very lean years ahead.

Why Rent Your Stadium Seat When You Can Own It?

The introduction of personal seat licenses about 20 years ago revolutionized the financing of stadium and arena construction around the country. By asking fans to pony up a lump sum merely for the right to buy tickets, team owners and colleges and universities created a revenue stream basically out of thin air. The personal seat license revenue stream could then be used to collateralize bonds to pay for a portion of the construction costs of the stadium. Who would have thought, prior to this, that fans would pay for the right just to buy a ticket.

Well, the next logical step is now being tried by the University of California. The problem with the PSL from the standpoint of the fan, is that you are always exposed to market rate risk. As ticket prices rise, your costs of attendance increase and since most PSLs were for no more than 10 years, at the end of the ten years, another PSL fee would come due. What the folks at Cal are doing, according to the Wall Street Journal, is essentially taking a stadium seat and transforming it from a rental into a condominium. For a significantly larger fee than a PSL, $170,000 to $225,000, payable over 50 years, for the best seats, a fan has "title" to his seat and has capped his cost for the next 50 years: no ticket price to pay, no fee increases. Cal secures the funds to pay for its stadium renovation and the fans secure cost certainty.

Nice idea, but I'm skeptical than enough people in this economy will be willing to sign on to that type of commitment. Of course, we are talking about football and I've learned never to underestimate the lengths to which college football fans will go to spend their money in pursuit of their sport.

NFL Study Finds LInk to Dementia

The defending Heisman Trophy winner, heart and soul of the number one college football team in the country and the man crush of half the state of Florida, Tim Tebow, suffered a concussion in Florida's destruction of Kentucky last Saturday. Tebow's injury was significant enough to warrant his spending the night in the hospital in Lexington before returning to Gainesville on Sunday. Rather rashly, but totally in character, Florida coach Urban Meyer is suggesting that Tebow will likely be ready to play when the Gators take on number 4 LSU a week from Saturday.

It's timely then that a study commissioned by the NFL reports that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league’s former players vastly more often than in the national population — including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49.

The NFL has long denied that its players have suffered cognitive disorders at a rate higher than average and predictably, the hired gun physicians are quick to find fault with this study. It is admittedly not a definitive study but it adds to the growing literature both anecdotal and clinical that are developing a fairly convincing case and one that needs to be heeded by the coaches and parents of youth, high school and college players. Far too often, these young players are quick to emulate their NFL idols who are paid to play through pain or a concussed head, which may not feel much different than how they feel after being numbed up to forget the myriad of other minor injuries they may have. The sooner concussions are taken seriously for the potential long-term damage that may result, the safer our young and old athletes will be.

Yankee (or Gotham Redux) Bowl Slated for 2010

The Big East, Big XII and the New York Yankees will announce tomorrow the creation of a new bowl game to be played in new Yankee Stadium. The game will pit the fourth place finisher from the Big East against the seventh place finisher from the Big XII, with the inaugural game taking place following this season, assuming NCAA certification can be obtained in time.

This new bowl will mark the first time a bowl game has been played in New York since the Gotham Bowl in 1962, when Nebraska edged Miami 36-34. Now, as longtime readers may recall I have a certain affinity for Big East football, but Bruce Wayne I'm not and there is simply no way that Gotham City in late December can possibly be seen as an appealing post season destination. The whole idea of bowl games was to attract fans from cold weather climes to the beach in the dead winter. Granted, that idea is a bit old fashioned (take a bow, Shreveport, Toronto and Detroit) but at least Toronto and Detroit are indoors.

If you are so inclined, the press conference will be broadcast live on the Big East's website; you can register for free here.

Tuesday Tidbits and More

Sorry for the absence of posts the last several days. I've had family in town and with Yom Kippur, I've been away from my computer, so I'll try to catch up by throwing up a few links I had been collecting without too much commentary. There may be another post or two today that will be more of the regular pearls of wisdom you've grown accustomed to reading. So now on with the links:

As the Coyotes disaster heads to its final denounement, The Great One exits Phoenix with his legacy diminished (azcentral.com).

Interesting academic paper on game theory and sports: pitchers throw too many fastballs and football teams should pass more (NBER via Infectious Greed) Thanks Tad

Despite her less than ladylike appearance at the US Open, Serena Williams looks to retain her major endorsements, Nike, Kraft and most especially P&G's Tampax, which is her newest are all staying on board. (NYT)

Herb Adderley and Jim Brown asked a US District Judge to allow them to join Sam Keller's suit against Electronic Arts, Inc. for unfairly using their images in video games (Digital Trends)

ESPNBoston.com, the new Boston outlet of ESPN as it tries to compete with local newspapers, has entered into a sales agreement with Kraft Sports Group to sell local advertising. That's Kraft as in Bob Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots and presumably one of the anchor teams around which the site will be building its editorial content. (profootballtalk.com)

Another day, another Middle East royal buys into an English Premier League club; this time it's Liverpool and the royal is Saudi Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah al-Saud, who, among family ties is married to King Abdullah's granddaughter. (Bloomberg)

President Obama is heading to Copenhagen to woo the IOC, substantially increasing Chicago's chances for the 2016 Summer Olympics, where opening ceremonies would be held a short walk from his house. (NYT)

Coyotes Will Stay in Phoenix For Upcoming Season

While Coyotes' fans, Jim Balsillie and the NHL await a bankruptcy judge's ruling on who will be the next owner of the team, Balsillie, who intends to move the club to Hamilton, Ontario if he is the winner, committed to keep the team in Phoenix for the upcoming season. The NHL had earlier made the same pledge and Balsillie wanted to remove that issue from clouding his bid for the team.

Judge Baum has given no further indication on the timeline for the delivery of his opinion. He earlier had said it would be before the start of the regular season. Balsillie and Coyotes' current owner asked Baum to order mediation, a step the NHL opposes, as the league does almost automatically with any request that Balsillie makes. There has been no indication when Judge Baum will rule on that motion either.

Stay tuned, professional sports most interesting legal circus should continue to entertain us more than the Coyotes play on the ice for some months to come.

Thoroughbred Yearling Sale Prices Fall for Third Year

It's the perfect storm of financial disaster for the thoroughbred breeding business. In 2007, when the current crop of yearlings which are now going through the sales ring were conceived, stud fees were at their recent peak. As those yearlings now come to market, breeders are faced with the Great Recession, an oversupply of foals as a result of the breeding boom in the high times of 2007 and shrinking demand for horses as a result of the difficulties race tracks face.

This year's yearling crop was bred in 2007, a year in which prices were still rising and the industry was still filled with speculators(sound familiar?). 2006 had seen a record price paid for a thoroughbred at auction with the sale of a two year old later named The Green Monkey for $16.2 million. He had not yet proven what type of race he would become at the time breeding decisions were made and stud fees were sold and paid for. Of course, he never won a race and his stud fee is now a mere $5,000.

Keeneland is in the middle of its September yearling sale. The first four days have concluded and it is those days at which the highest price yearlings are sold. This year, sales were down 42% and if the trend continues, the sale will record lower gross sales, average price and median price. For the first time in almost 20 years, those metrics will be lower for three straight sales. It is particularly hard on breeders since 2007 was the peak of stud prices in recent years.

We have recounted some of the problems the industry is facing at the track and if breeding farms are losing money in substantial numbers as well, that doesn't bode well for the future of racing. While it is likely that the market will resolve breeding economics, it will not be without pain. The number of farms that will close is not yet known but it will be substantial, especially those with both significant debt and reliance on yearling sales. The crop of yearlings will be smaller, reducing supply and increasing demand, but the number of tracks may decrease as well, placing additional constraints on breeders that may not be foreseen in their current breeding plans.

Horse racing and breeding has always been a bit of craps shoot, to mix a gambling metaphor. It has been exacerbated by the global Great Recession, as smaller breeders are being pushed out of the business and larger breeders are reducing the numbers they buy. The Great Recession is also increasing the already difficult operating environment of race tracks without any additional source of income, i.e. casinos. That will also place a greater constraint on demand for horse, furthering the depression in thoroughbred prices and increasing the likelihood of smaller farms facing bankruptcy. As Kentucky legislators will again be called on to look at approving adding at least slots to tracks, they would do well to keep in mind the pressures on the Commonwealth's signature industry. I would hate to see them have to redesign our license plates so quickly after spending all that money on new branding.

Adidas, Puma to Patch 60 Year Feud

The sports shoe giant Adidas and smaller rival Puma were born of a feud between brothers in a small German town more than 60 years ago. The two companies were formed in 1948 when Adolf and Rudolf Dass had a falling out during World War II and split up their growing athletic shoe business. They each set up factories on opposite sides of the river in Herzogenaurach, a town of about 23,000 in southern Germany.

The rift between the companies is be bridged by a soccer match between workers of both companies to be held on Monday, September 21, in connection with the "Peace One Day"' initiative, an annual day of global ceasefire and nonviolence. Naturally, both brothers are no longer with us; Rudi having died in 1974 and Adi in 1978. Still, remarkably, it has taken more than thirty years after the deaths of both brothers for the rift between the companies to be healed and one small town in Germany to once again be united.

HT. SportsBusinessNews

Nets New Owner to Be a Russian?

Now that the Nets owner Bruce Ratner has secured all the approvals necessary to build his proposed new Barclays Arena in Brooklyn, the final search for the needed $700 million to fund construction is underway. In addition, or as part and parcel of the arena funding depending on which story you believe, he is negotiating a sale of a substantial and controlling (or managing) interest in the team itself. The leading candidate to provide the $700 million in construction funding, according to the Star-Ledger is Russian oligarch Mikhail Prohkorov, who would wind up with a managing interest in the Nets ownership for a dollar as part of the deal. Prokhorov is number 40 on the Forbes top 50 wealthy people in the world and is a metals mogul with close ties to the Kremlin.

According to the New York Times, whose story was not quite as detailed, the Nets are talking to Prokhorov about a sale of the team and are searching for planning to sell tax exempt bonds to fund construction. Of course, they could still do that if Prokhorov was the buyer.

In any event, it looks as if David Stern and the other owners are going to have to face the question of foreign ownership, something which hasn't been on the agenda at owners' meetings before now. It would make sense for the NBA to be the first major American sport with substantial foreign ownership, as it is the most globally focused league, and one of the two (with the NHL) with the most non-North American players. There is no reason not to accept foreign ownership, it will just make the vetting process a little tougher.

How the Forbes 50 Live

If you have ever wondered how the Forbes top 50 (well, 51 to be exact) lived, the Wall Street Journal today gave us a picture of the lifestyle of at least one member. Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich is a Russian oligarch, that fast fading breed of natural resource plundering friends of the Kremlin who made billions in the transformation of the old Soviet empire into the free-wheeling capitalist wild west of the late 90s. He managed to hold onto his money, selling his oil company to energy giant Gazprom for $13.1 billion.

Now Abramovich spends his time spending freely to attempt to win the Premier League and Champions League with Chelsea, dominate the art world with his girlfriend and shuttle between his various homes and his yachts. Oh, and he is governor of the most godforsaken territory of the Russian Federation in easternmost Siberia. Still, must be a nice life, don't you think?

The CEO of the WWE Wants to Be Your US Senator

if you live in Connecticut, that is. Of course, the question is, wasn't one former WWE character in politics enough for this country? Apparently not, as Jesse Ventura's former boss, Linda McMahon, CEO of the WWE and the wife of WWE chairman and impressario Vince McMahon has announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination to the US Senate in 2010. She has joined a crowded field of candidates lining up to take on a weakened incumbent Chris Dodd, who will be seeking his sixth term.

McMahon has announced that she will step down as CEO to devote her full time to the campaign. Vince McMahon will take over her duties in his addition to his own. McMahon intends to self-finance her campaign, refusing to accept any donations in excess of $100 and any donations from PACs.

If nothing else, Linda McMahon's entrance into the race should make for wonderful theater. Say what you will about professional wrestling, but the WWE does know how to put on a show and certainly knows how to market to their customers. Whether that brand of entertainment, and whether Linda's past antics in the ring and her former contributions to the Democratic party will play well with the Republican establishment in Connecticut is hard to imagine. Below are tow videos: her announcement of her candidacy and an example of the type of WWE ring participation she will have to live down.

Premier League and UEFA Propose New Spending Requirements

It seems to be soccer week here at SportsBiz and we're back in Europe today. Both the English Premier League and UEFA have proposed new financial rules in response to the flood of money that has been flowing into the game over the last few years. Let's look at the EPL first, as the reaction of the Premier League's clubs will impact the ability of UEFA head, Michael Platini's ability to get his proposals adopted.

The Premier League is first attempting to address those clubs who simply cannot keep pace with the big clubs and fall into receivership. Before that happens, under the new regulations, the Premier League may step in and agree to a budget for the club, but more significantly, the EPL would have the ability to ban transfers and the renegotiation upwards of player contracts. EPL chief executive, Richard Scudamore, expressing the view that is widely held among soccer fans, but perhaps less so among the owners, says:

"Our view is the current owners are just the current custodians and the clubs will be there before them and long after them. It's absolutely right that the clubs are sustainable and that they are able to meet their obligations to fans and the competition."

The heart of the proposed UEFA rule is that no club would be permitted to spend more on player salaries than the club's gross revenue for the year. While that on the surface might seem to be a proposal that would go a long way towards equalizing the playing field between the big and small clubs, in fact, it may well lead to the opposite result. Since clubs would be limited to spending no more than the revenue they take in, no club would have the ability to rely on its owners to fund a rise in the standings by spending to attract talent in the manner of, for example, Manchester City this year. The proposed rule would in effect consign the small clubs to the ranks of small clubs for the rest of their days, unless the managers turn into the most astute judges of talent on the continent.

It is for this stated reason that Scudamore believes no EPL club will support the proposed rules. How they will fare with other European clubs remains to be seen, but it is difficult to believe that any of the big clubs would be too agreeable to the concept.
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Liverpool Signs New Jersey Sposnor

Liverpool's search for a jersey sponsor to replace Carlsberg, its sponsor for the past 18 years is over. The club has signed a new five year deal with London based bank, Standard Chartered, for four years, for what is believed to be 80 million pounds a year, equal to the deal Manchester United has had with AIG, the recognized highest jersey deal in soccer. The deal is set to begin with the 2010 season.

Carlsberg had been given the first chance to continue its sponsorship but would not meet Liverpool's price. The two North American owners of the club, the perpetually feuding George Gillett and Tom Hicks, needed to get the highest jersey sponsorship they could possibly obtain in order to assist paying down the massive debt they incurred in buying Lliverpool a couple of years ago. The strain of the Liverpool debt, and the added stress of the global financial crisis, has caused the owners to sell off, or attempt to sell off, pieces of their North American sports holdings. Gillett has sold the Montreal Canadiens, while Hicks has the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers up for sale.

Coyotes Auction Ends With No Decision

Friday's auction hearing in the Coyotes' bankruptcy ended with Judge Baum requesting lawyers for the NHL and Jim Balsillie, the two bidders for the club, to file written versions of their revised bids by Tuesday and he will review them and then render a decision. He promised a decision prior to the start of the NHL season on October 1. Both the NHL and Balsillie submitted revised bids on Friday, with the NHL provided for payment of more money to Jerry Moyes, the Coyotes owner and a major creditor.

Both the City of Glendale and the creditor's committee backed the NHL bid, which still stands about $100 million less than Balsillie. However, it does not raise the legal issues inherent in Balsillie's bid, particularly whether a bankruptcy court may ignore provisions of a league constitution requiring approval by league owners of a franchise relocation and approval of a new owner. The NHL has voted unanimously not to approve Balsillie as an owner and its bid is an attempt to keep the team out of Hamilton, Ont. and in Phoenix. However, the NHL has only committed to Phoenix for one year and said it could relocate the franchise after that although it hasn't specified any possible location to which it might move.

After the hearing, Moyes broke his silence to blast Commissioner Gary Bettman over his handling of the league, expansion into the Sunbelt, and his failure to support Moyes in his attempt to make the club work in Phoenix. While it's nothing that hasn't been said before, it certainly sums up much of the criticism leveled against Bettman or his failed Southern strategy.

“I feel pretty poorly over it, to be honest with you,” Moyes said of the process that began about one year ago when he told the NHL he could no longer pay for the club’s losses. “I just don’t think I’ve been treated right. I gave it the 100-per-cent try. I feel betrayed by the NHL.”

He went on to say:

“We spent two years trying to sell this team, trying to make it work in Glendale and it just will not work in Glendale.

With or without a $25-million [annual] subsidy from Glendale, which I don’t think [the city] can do, this team just is not going to be here."

Moyes then explained that 16 years after Bettman became commissioner, the promise to change hockey from a regional sport to one spread across North America by spreading teams across the Sun Belt still hasn't worked:

“I put plenty of money in it, I put a lot of time in it, I gave it the best try I could. Hockey will not work in the South. Mr. Bettman’s plan is not working out.

You’ve got Phoenix, you’ve got Dallas, you’ve got Atlanta, you’ve got Tampa Bay all in trouble. These teams have got to go north where everybody loves hockey.”

So now, the hockey fans in the Valley of the Sun and those in Hamilton sit and wait on Judge Baum, hoping that sometime before October, they'll know if they get to see hockey in person this season.

Insurance Companies and Lawyers Cashing In on Fantasy Teams

I suppose this was inevitable. Wherever there was this much money, you know that the lawyers and insurance companies couldn't stay away forever. You can now insure your fantasy against catastrophic loss, you know like Tom Brady, your number one draft choice, going down for the season in the first quarter of the first game, or submit your league dispute to arbitration by "real lawyers", as opposed to the ones played on TV.

Fantasy Sports Insurance , catchy name don't you think, will provide disability coverage in the event a key player on you fantasy team goes down with an injury and is forced to miss eight of the first twelve games. If that happens, then the company will reimburse you the entrance fee and any additional fees you incur to replace your injured player. Premiums depend on the player and the insurance you buy.

I'm sure every league you have ever played in has disputes. Well, now, instead of relying on the commissioner to resolve them, especially since the dispute may involve the commissioner, there are mediation and arbitration sites popping up where the dispute can be settled for a small fee. One example of this type of site is sportsjudge.com, where the dispute is submitted in writing and the judge renders an opinion, all for $15.

Coyotes Auction Tomorrow, Maybe...

The US Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing the bankruptcy case of the Phoenix Coyotes today held the first of what was expected to be two days of hearing in the auction of the club. Right now, there are only two bidders for the Coyotes: Blackberry co-founder Jim Balsillie who has made his offer contingent on moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario, and the NHL, which has said it will play in Phoenix next season while it searches for a new owner. The NHL will make no commitment to Phoenix beyond one year.

The auction has taken many twists and turns before today with two other bidding groups appearing and then dropping out leaving the league as the only alternative NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman could find to Balsillie. Today, in court, the City of Glendale, which owns the Jobing.com Arena (great name don't you think), came out strongly in favor of the league bid despite Balsillie's offer of a $50 million payment to terminate the club's lease and the NHL's promise of only one year in Phoenix.

The Judge today threw out a new possibility, that is that neither bidder would satisfy him and therefore he would not award the team to either one. The judge indicated some difficulties with the league bid as he said it favored some creditors over others. He has a problem with Balsillie in that the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously not to approve him as an owner. In addition, the league and Balsillie are arguing over the value of any relocation payment needed to move into the Hamilton market.

Nets Get Practice Jersey Sponsor

In the NBA's closest move yet towards adding sponsors name to jerseys, the New Jersey (Brooklyn?) Nets have signed an agreement with PNY Technologies to add the company's name to the Nets' practice jersey. The company was already a Nets sponsor, with in-arena signage, and that signage will continue. The practice jersey sponsorship, as well as the facility naming rights agreement discussed below, are add-ons to the existing sponsorship agreement, which has also been extended.

However, the more significant aspect of the deal, which has been lost in the media hype over the practice jersey, is that PNY Technologies has also bought the naming rights to the Nets practice facility. It is likely that the practice facility will generate more ongoing earned media impact than will the practice jersey sponsorship. Even if the Nets sell practice jerseys, and I'm sure they will start to do if they haven't' been before now, I just don't see the general fan population having that much contact with a practice jersey.

The company has further insured its that its name and logo will be visible,by adding to the deal that the name and logo of PNY Technologies be on the media backdrop used for all interviews at the practice facility. In addition, the name and logo must be on the shirts worn by the coaches at practice.

As a result of this deal, the company's name will definitely be seen in the local media markets as every local sports broadcast having anything to do with the Nets will feature the name and logo of the company , almost all of which earned media will come from some aspect of the deal other than the jersey sponsorship. Nevertheless, this is an important first step on the road to sponsors names on jerseys in actual NBA games, something which is inevitable once the owners realise how much money is there for taking.

HT to Sports Business

Women's Tennis Shows Strength Through Recession

The WTA has been able to withstand the Great Recession in excellent shape, according to CEO Stacey Allaster. The tour lost only one title sponsor in 2009, and is adding three new tournaments for 2010. Contrast that to the LPGA, which had to cancel seven tournaments this year because of a lack of sponsors.

There are any number of reasons for the difference in results between the two tours. The WTA is a unified world tour - it is the women's professional tennis tour. The LPGA, on the other hand, is an American tour. While it may have a tournament or two in East Asia, there are women's tours in Europe and Asia that are conducted independently from the LPGA and siphon off sponsors. Tennis may just be a more popular sport worldwide, and the global nature of the tour gives the WTA a much wider market within which to sell sponsorships. Of course, it just could be that, worldwide, tennis is just more popular than golf is right now.

Then, again, maybe it just comes down to , well, see photo.

10 Ways to Invest in New Beatlemania

Happy Labor Day! Hope you're having bright sunshine and few clouds as we enjoy the end of summer. It's thunderstorms here in the Bluegrass so I'm not tempted to go outside. You're the lucky beneficiaries of the storm since I'm cooped up in the house, you get a few pearls of wisdom, or just a few interesting items I've come across over the weekend. This one is a bit off our normal subjects but since we're going to be haring more and more about The Beatles in the coming weeks, I thought I would pass it along. So, here it is, courtesy of Smart Money, 10 ways to invest in the new Beatlemania:

1. Electronic Artts (ERTS): Publisher of The Beatles: Rock Band and, of course, the video game industry's leading seller, Madden 10

2. Remastered CDs: The entire Beatles catalogue is being released as remastered CDs; this may not be financially profitable but it will certainly make for more enjoyment than what we have been listening to for years.

3. Hain Celestial Group (HAIN): Has rights to the Linda McCartney line of vegetarian frozen foods - both Linda and Paul were/are vegetarians.

4. Sony (SNE): Owns 50%, Michael Jackson's estate owns the other 50%, of the publishing rights to The Beatles' catalogue.

5. Disney (DIS): Owns rights to the Yellow Submarine film and is in discussions to do remake in 3-D.

6. Apple (AAPL): Think iTunes not The Beatles publishing company. Rumor has it that The Beatles songs will finally be released on iTunes sometime in 2010, George's individual work is due out this fall.

7. Beatles memorabilia: New interest generated by the video game should drive prices for memorabilia; the white suit John wore on the Abbey Road cover sold for $117,000 a couple of years ago.

8. The Dakota: yes, that apartment building in NYC where John and Yoko lived. Four apartments are for sale ranging in price from $5.9 million to 18.5 million. It has a great view of Central Park.

9. Material World Foundation: George founded this charity in 1973.

10. Their instruments: Replicas will be sold for use with Rock Band: The Beatles and as gamers become musicians, sales of real instruments will increase.

Lingerie Football League Debuts

Last night marked the historic debut of the Lingerie Football League as the Miami Caliente came to
Chicago to take on the Chicago Bliss at the Sears Center Arena. The Bliss won 29-19. For a good write-up of the game, go here.

There are currently 10 teams in the LFL. The league will be playing one game a week on Friday nights through the end of January. Each team will play four games.

FIFA Gives Chelsea One Year Ban on Signing Players

Roman Abramovich's millions have transformed Chelsea into one of the major powers of European soccer. The only trophy that has eluded Chelsea in recent years has been the Champions League and they have continued to spend his millions in an effort to take that one home to Stamford Bridge as well.

However, money won't get you everywhere if you get caught breaking the rules. The French club Lens claimed Chelsea was encouraging 18 year old striker Gael Kakuta to break his contract and sign with Chelsea. Lens took its complaint to FIFA, which in an unprecedented decision, found in Lens favor and barred Chelsea from signing any new players, nationally or internationally, in the next two transfer windows. The earliest that Chelsea could sign any new players would be January, 2011.

In addition, Chelsea and Kakuta must pay Lens $1.12 million and Chelsea must pay an additional $186,000 training fee. Kakuta may not play in any games for four months. FIFA is using this case as an example in its efforts to get clubs to honor contracts. I would think that clubs will get the message after this decision, but only if the Court for Arbitration for Sport to which Chelsea is appealing upholds the decision. If the Court overturns it or significantly reduces it, then the clubs will go on their merry way of ignoring contracts and throwing money around like it was mardi gras beads.

Here's a youtube clip of Kakuta to see what all the fuss was about:

A's to San Jose Brings $130 Million a Year to South Bay

A's owner Lew Wolf is a man in search of a home. Oakland draws the second fewest fans in the majors behind only the Florida Marlins and Wolf is convinced that baseball is no longer economically viable in Oakland. He tried to build a stadium in Fremont, but that fell through earlier this year. He has set his sights on San Jose and now has new ammunition in his favor.

The San Jose City Council Thursday received a report that indicated that a baseball stadium in downtown San Jose, housing the relocated A's would generate $130 million a year in benefits to San Jose. That kind of math makes the case for a public subsidy of stadium construction much easier to pass.

The bigger problem perhaps is that San Jose is designated as San Francisco Giants home territory and Wolf will need a waiver to move the A's there. He has asked Major League Baseball to look into the matter and a committee is investigating. Wolf wants Northern California to be treated as one area with two teams just as the other three areas with two team are. There are no territorial boundaries within the metro areas for the Yankees and Mets or the White Sox and Cubs, even though they have geographically distinct locations and fan bases. No further movement on a San Jose stadium will take place until Major League Baseball makes a determination about the waiver. It makes too much sense for the A's not to be able to move to San Jose - it's too big a market for the Giants to be able to control and the A's desperately need a new home. It's a perfect storm to keep the club in northern California and the Giants should not be allowed to stand in the way.

Cowboys Top Most Valuable List Again

Once again, Forbes has released its list of the value of NFL franchises and once again the list is topped by the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones' golden touch has seen the franchise increase by 2% to a whopping $1.65 Billion, yes with a "B", a value exceeded in the world only by Manchester United. The Cowboys are worth $100 million more than the next highest NFL franchise, the Washington Redskins, checking in at $1.55 million. What both of these franchises have in common is their own reasonably new stadiums, in the Cowboys case, brand new, with a large number of very expensive suites that generate revenue that the franchise does not have to share with other clubs. In addition, both have large regional markets, enabling them to generate more sponsorship dollars which, again, are not shared.

Forbes national editor Michael Ozanian reports that team values are being depressed by the unusually large number of teams that are currently for sale and which are finding no buyers due in part to the state of the economy. Ozanian says that eight teams are currently for sale.

Panthers Owner Fires His Sons

What a way to start a football season. Normally the days leading up to the final exhibition game are filled with stories about the team's final roster: who's going to make it, who may be cut, free agent signings, possible trades, even, as rare as those are in the NFL. However, in Charlotte this week, it was the owner's suite that got all the attention.

On Tuesday, team owner Jerry Richardson fired his own sons, team president Mark and Bank of America Stadium president Jon. Mark had been groomed as his father's successor for years, being president of the club since 1997. Jon joined the club after the franchise was awarded in 1993 to oversee construction of the stadium and has run stadium operations ever since.

It is speculated that differences between the siblings led to their firing. Both brothers reported to their father and neither had any responsibility for the other's operations. However, the brothers had vastly different ideas about how the franchise should be run, ideas that apparently could not be reconciled, so Jerry Richardson decided it was best for the franchise if both brothers found something else to do. Drop Carolina from the dwindling list of family owned and operated NFL franchises.

8 USL Clubs Threaten Breakaway League

Soccer in this country has had many obstacles to success. For one , the management of professional leagues before Major League Soccer has consistently chosen the wrong path and as a result, the leagues have imploded. So far, at least, MLS seems to have hit upon a financial structure that appears to be working and acceptance by the public and media seems to be growing, albeit far too slowly for my taste. The salary cap should be raised so that the level of play can be improved and a better coordination with FIFA's calendar implemented, but I think those will come in time.

The lower rung leagues of US soccer have been organized under the umbrella of the USL for several years now. What I didn't know until today was that Nike owned the USL. I had assumed that it was a team owned and run league, just like all other professional sports in this country. Nike, however, sold the USL to a group called Nu Rock Soccer Holdings, disregarding a bid from the owners of at least 8 of the USL-1 (the rung just below MLS) clubs.

Those clubs now threaten to break away from USL and form their own league. Conversations between that group and MLS about recognition and a working agreement are ongoing. The new owners of USL want to discuss the future with the breakaway group although since the group wants to have USL owned by club owners, it is hard to see where the compromise is going to be found. Perhaps the new USL owners will be willing to sell a significant share of their ownership entity to the club owners, giving the club owners a significant voice in operations and perhaps a veto over certain matters particularly important to them.

USL is critical to the development of soccer players in this country and therefore is critical to the success of both MLS and the US National Team. While I don't think it is the place for MLS owners to involve themselves in what is after all a family feud, I do think that US Soccer could play the role of mediator and get the two sides to speak to each other in a relatively hostile free environment. One way or the other, it is important that this matter get settled quickly. The November USL board meeting is a reasonable deadline for a final decision.

NY Giants Chase Bankruptcy Claim Against Lehman

The Giants and Jets are privately funding the construction of the $1.6 billion New Giants Stadium (catchy name don't you think) now scheduled for opening in time for the kickoff of the 2010 season. To raise its $800 million portion, the Giants turned to the auction rate securities market, selling $650 million securities in August 2007.  The Giants have filed a claim in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy seeking $301.8 million from the bankrupt estate which it claims is due the club from derivative contracts it entered into relating to the financing of New  Giants Stadium.

With exquisite timing, the sale took place just about one year before the market collapsed.  The total collapse of the market in the fall of 2008 and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, left the Giants with a $300 hole in financing, which they turned to personal seat licenses to fill. Unfortunately, the Great Recession has negatively impacted the sale of PSLs for both the Giants and the Jets, who are also using PSLs as a financing mechanism to raise a portion of its share of the cost.  The Giants still have about 3,000 unsold Club Seats and about 40% of the suites remaining unsold.  The Jets numbers are probably similar but the club won't release any numbers publicly. 

 And with the economy's problems, it's not just the PSLs that the clubs are having problems selling.  Both clubs have several thousand seats remaining unsold for the 2009 season, tracking a trend seen in a number of other NFL cities.  According to the Sports Business Journal, as many as 12 teams may experience blackouts of home games this season as compared to only three last season.  Under NFL rules, a game must be blacked out in the market of the home team in the event the game is not sold out 72 hours in advance of kickoff.  Jacksonville has already conceded that all eight of its home games will not be sold out.  The three teams from last year, Oakland, Detroit and St. Louis are likely suspects again.  Added to the list this year are likely to be Kansas City, San Diego, Miami and perhaps Minnesota and the Jets.  The signing of Favre may take the Vikings off the list and the Jets new viral marketing campaign may work for them, as may the Dolphins increased marketing and new celebrity cache from its minority owners.  Still the impact of the Great Recession on the NFL fan base and the rise in ticket prices over the last several years have combined to price the game outside the reach of most fans.  If a way is not found to address this somehow before the economy turns around the number of blackouts will increase exponentially and the NFL will begin to look like a studio sport.

P&G Signs On as US Olympic Sponsor

Reversing a recession induced trend, the US Olympic Committee has landed a major new sponsor.  Proctor & Gamble has signed on as a new sponsor and we will now see the USOC logo and the Olympic rings on 17 different P&G brands but especially on brands that appeal to women. The Olympics is one of the few sporting events that holds particular appeal to women.

The amount of the sponsorship has not been disclosed, however, P&G has signed on as an Olympic Partner, a sponsorship level at which companies typically pay between $15-$25 million for four years.  By signing on now, P&G will get the benefit of being an Olympic sponsor during the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which should do very well in terms of TV ratings, being in a TV friendly time zone.

The deal includes individual athlete partnerships; digital, print and television advertising, and Team USA-logo merchandising.

Do You Want to Sponsor a Golf Tour?

The LPGA is looking for a title or presenting sponsor for the entire 2010 tour, including a year-end championship tournament, which would include media inventory in the tour's new exclusive television deal with Golf Channel which begins next year.  The year-end championship would be moved to the beginning of the following season and include 32 golfers who earned their entry into the tournament through points earned by finishes throughout the prior season.

This marks the "highest profile and most exclusive sponsorship platform ever offered on the LPGA Tour.”  The tour has been searching for a presenting sponsor in some fashion since 2008. The season-ending championship tournament would be modeled on the now defunct ADT Tournament.  

The LPGA has had sponsorship problems all year, canceling at least seven tournaments this season for lack of sponsors.  As a result, and with the new Golf Channel deal, this could be a relatively inexpensive international exposure opportunity for the right company.  It would be a good fight for an internationally focused consumer goods or financial firm, particularly one with an Asian orientation, given the relative strength of the Asian and Asian-American contingent on the tour and the relatively high interest in the tour in Korea and Japan, in particular.

Delaware Limited to NFL Parley

The federal appeals court that had earlier handed the NFL a victory in its battle with Delaware over gambling, clarified what would be permissible.  The appeals court found that the grandfather clause in the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was meant to be strictly construed.  As a result, Delaware was not to be permitted to expand its program.  Therefore, it was only allowed to operate a game in which players wagered on at least three professional football games at once and the wager was determined by the outcome of all three games (or more) games.