Newstex Interview

An interview I did with Newstex,  the excelllent content syndicator, can be found here.  If you're not familiar with Newstex, they syndicate content to a variety of outlets including Reuters and Lexis-Nexis.  You can find out more about what they do here.

North American Sports Day

Sunday will be a groundbreaking day in the annals of North American sports  As far as I've been able to determine, Sunday will be the first day on which all four/five major professional sports leagues have played regular season or playoff games on the same day.  So far as I can tell, there have never been games that count in MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS all on the same day.  Thanks to Bud Selig, who seems to think that baseball has somehow become a winter sport, the World Series is being pushed further and further into the football season.  The NBA season kicked off this week and the NHL has been playing games for the last couple of weeks.  The MLS playoffs start this weekend, but you knew that.

Add in college football and the CFL for our friends up north, which has a game this Sunday and you have a full complement of sports. Oh, and just to be inclusive, there is a PGA tournament for those pros still trying to get their tour card and the WTA is holding its year-end championship in Doha, Qatar.

If you are a sports fan, outside the Olympics, you will never have more variety than this weekend

McCourts Battle Each Other Tougher Than Dodgers Fought Phils

The McCourt divorce is going to be the gift that keeps on giving this season.  Already, 700 pages of documents have been dumped on Los Angeles Superior Court, and the fight is just beginning.  We're talking about preliminary motions here; we haven't even gotten to any of the really good stuff.


So far, Jamie has demanded to be reinstated as CEO of the Dodgers and to be restored to her $2 million per year salary.  She has also demanded spousal compensation of $487,634 per month, which would be reduced to $320,967 if she were reinstated as CEO.  What, $2 million a year isn't enough for you?  Although if you read here, you can see why it might not be.


Frank today charged Jamie with having an affair with none other than the bodyguard and charging the Dodgers for their little romantic tryst in Israel and France.  Rather tawdry and common of Jamie to hook up with the bodyguard, don't you think.  Surely she could have done better than that.

Coyotes Sold to the NHL

Phoneix, your long nightmare appears to be over.  Jerry Moyes has agreed to sell the Coyotes to the NHL.  While the deal must still be approved by the bankruptcy court judge, that would seem to be mostly formality at this point since the deal was struck under his guidance, or shall we say stern warnings and nasty stares and other signs of what exactly he wanted to have happen.  All of this was going on in and around a Monday bankruptcy court session called to get his honor's guidance on how to make the NHL's bid acceptable to the court.  After much lawyer work and billing, I think that was achieved and the NHL has committed to fund the interim losses while the deal makes its way through the court system.

The league is moving on to find a buyer for the club, with its priority being to keep the club in Phoenix, however misguided a notion that may be.  Bettman and the other owners may not have liked Jim Balsillie but he was right about one thing - this team needs to move to Canada, and Hamilton is the logical place.  If New York can support three teams, and Los Angeles can support two, there is no reason Greater Toronto can't support two.

Michael Jordan's Son Could Cost UCF It's adidas Contract

Marcus Jordan is an 18 year old college freshman basketball player at UCF, formerly referred to by its proper name: the University of Central Florida.  When Marcus was being recruited by the UCF coaches he was promised that he could wear a particular shoe when he played for the Knights.  What was so special about a shoe that it elicited a promise during recruiting wars - it was a Nike Air Jordan, and yes, Marcus is the son of that Jordan.

The only problem was the coaches making the promise had neglected to clear it with the athletic administration.  UCF has a school-wide contract with adidas and is in the middle of negotiating a six year, $3 million extension.  Adidas is in no mood to make an exception for a basketball player in a contract that requires every athlete in every sport to wear adidas product.  

Not only has the coaching staff stepped into it big time here by promising something they can't deliver, but they may be jeopardizing the university's adidas contract.  In addition, should the university attempt to stand firm against Marcus' in his decision to wear only Air Jordan's, it could find itself facing a lawsuit (funded by Nike?) asserting a student's right to wear the clothes that he chooses.  After all, he is not the one receiving endorsement income from adidas for wearing its shoes; the coach is.  

Myron Rolle: NFL Delayed for a Rhodes Scholarship

There is a must read story in the New York Times today catching up with former Florida State defensive back Myron Rolle, who put the NFL on hold to accept a Rhodes Scholarship and a year at Oxford.  All too often we hear coaches, athletic directors and university presidents talk about student athletes and it's a myth.  In this particular case, it's no myth and his story should be an inspiring one to young kids everywhere to know that you really can combine academics and athletics at a high level for each.

Goodell Says London May Get NFL Franchise

The NFL is holding its annual regular season game at London's Wembley Stadium Sunday. This year features the New England Patriots playing the Tampa Bay Bucs, who are owned by the Glazer family, owners of the English Premier League and European Champion League's defending champion Manchester United.  Speaking at a conference while in town for the game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made his annual announcement that the NFL would eventually put a franchise in London.

I don't think there is any doubt that the league would eventually like to put a team in London, right after it puts a team in Los Angeles, Toronto, Monterrey Mexico, Vancouver and perhaps Mexico City.  All North American cities currently without franchises, some with ready-made stadiums, and all much more convenient than London.  The key word in Goodell's speech was "ultimately."  That is a timetable for the sometime in the next twenty to fifty years, which is about how long I think it may be before a franchise relocates to London.

On the flip side, Patriots owner Bob Kraft expressed once again his interest in owning a Premier League team. However, he wisely tempered his enthusiasm for the EPL saying that he had no interest in buying a club until the league adopts a salary cap. Since there has been some talk but no movement on that front in recent years, I think Mr. Kraft has a wait on his hands. Enjoy American football Bob - you've got a good thing going.

A New Civil Rights Movement for the MIddle Class

This is a non-political blog and while I have strong political views and am very active in politics, I have not used this blog to discuss those views or issues, save the joy I felt, and still feel, with the election of President Obama.  However, I am breaking that stance for a moment and if you don't want to read anything political feel free to skip this although I really hope you don't.  This post is really all about you and your economic well being.  

More specifically it's about the rape, pillage and plunder of the American Middle Class.  Official unemployment is running at about 9.5%.  Total unemployment and underemployment is somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-14%.  Meanwhile, we have no idea where the $700 billion bailout money that was given to the banks in the first bailout went.  Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor who chairs the Congressional Oversight Panel appointed to oversee the TARP program had this to say about the initial bailout:

We don’t know where the $700 billion dollars is because the system was initially designed to make sure that we didn’t know. When Secretary Paulson first put this money out into the banks, he didn’t ask for ‘what are you going to do with it.’ He didn’t put any restrictions on it. He didn’t put any tabs on where it was going to go. In other words, he didn’t ask…

I recommend that you read this guest post written by John Bougearel, Director of Futures and Equity Research at Structural Logic at the excellent blog Naked Capitalism for a much fuller exposition of this topic and a full-throated call to action. 

Dodgers Owner Fires Wife as CEO

Los Angeles Dodgers fans better enjoy the memory of this year's run to the NLCS.  It may be the last time the team gets there for a while if what has happened to other team's whose owners went through bitter divorces are any indication.  Dodgers' owners Frank and Jamie McCourt are estranged and in the process of a not very pleasant divorce.  Today, it was revealed that Frank has fired Jamie from her position as CEO of the Dodgers.  The exact timing of the termination is a bit unclear, but Jamie's response is not.  Her lawyer's comments to the L.A. Times when asked about the termination can be summed up in four words, words that Dodgers' fans don't really want to hear, "see you in court."

If the McCourts wind up in a bitter, protracted divorce, litigating everything from their claims to houses to Jamie's employment rights to their interests in the Dodgers, ownership Jamie is likely to want, it is inevitable that the organization will get caught up in the drama.  Direction will be lacking. The decision making structure will break down with no clear authority at the top, meaning major personnel decisions may go unmade and free agent signing will be unlikely.

If you want an example of what a divorce can do to a team look no further than the Dodgers National League neighbor to the south.  The Padres had built a contending team well suited to its new Petco Park.  Then owner John Moores and wife Becky decided to get divorced, and the club goes on the club is sold, in installments to a group headed by player agent John Moorad.  The deal involved Moorad's group buying one-third immediately and the rest over five years, with John Moores staying on as Chairman and control person for MLB purposes.  Moorad became CEO, causing Sandy  Alderson, the Padres immensely capable CEO and former MLB COO, to resign.  It will take the Padres several years to recover from the turmoil of the divorce and that one was relatively short and while not amicable was at least conducted in a manner conducive to private resolution of issues, as it was done through mediation.  The McCourts don't appear to be headed down that path, much to the detriment of the Dodgers and their fans.

Tiger Heads Sports Entrants on Fortune's Forty Under Forty

Tiger Woods stands atop the sports world's under forty year old business people, according to Fortune's Forty Under Forty list, unless you consider Twitter, which is being used constantly to comic effect, by athletes everywhere, a member of the sports world.  Tiger ranked 6th on the list, the founders of Twitter checked in at five.  James Murdoch, Rupert's son and heir to the Fox kingdom is 3, but being heir to News Corp has never been a comfortable position and whether James is in favor this week is hard to tell.  It does pay to be family, however, as James came in second on the list of highest paid (Tiger, Jay-Z excluded as they were not salaried) with a cool $10.1 million.

Other sports related names on the list include: Kevin Plank of Under Armour at 15, followed by Jay-Z of the New Jersey/Brooklyn/Moscow Nets at 16.  Casey Wasserman of Wasserman Media Group came in at 39.

I know Erin Burnett doesn't have much to do with sports, but she is a business anchor, nobody from ESPN made the  list and she was the best I could come up with on short notice.

At the other end of the age scale, Fortune named 8 over 80, which included three with significant sports ties: T. Boone Pickens, of the Pickens, oops, Oklahoma State University Cowboys, O. Bruton Smith, of Speedway Motorsports, which owns 8 NASCAR tracks, and Sumner Redstone, the controlling shareholder of  CBS and Viacom.

Bankruptcy Judge Approves January Auction of Pimlico

Coninuing our legal theme of the day, we turn now to bankruptcy court and for a change our venue is not the Valley of the Sun, but the land of the Black-eyed Susans.   The federal Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Magna Entertainment approved a proposal to conduct an auction of Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park on January 8, 2010.  Under Maryland law, recently passed to protect the Preakness, the state has sixty days to review any bid for Pimlico and then match it. 


As a result of the state's review right, Magna asked the judge to require all bids be submitted by November 2, 2009.  That would allow time for the state reveiw to take place, although Magna has set as a condition of the sale that any potential buyer be required to keep the Preakness in Maryland. 


In case you have forgotten why Pimlico is important to racing and to sports fans in general, here is a video of this year's Preakness and a truly awe inspiring performance by that amazing filly, this year's surefire horse of the year, Rachel Alexandra.

Kentucky and Billy Clyde Settle for Almost $3 Million

When Kentucky hired Billy Clyde Gillispie to be the head basketball coach, no contract was signed.  Instead, the two sides agreed on a memorandum of terms with a detailed contract to be worked out later.  Well, two years later Kentucky decided to fire Billy Clyde and the contract had still never been signed.  After fruitless discussions about what he was to receive, Gillispie filed suit in Texas claiming that the memorandum constituted a contract and that upon his dismissal without cause, he was entitled to $6 million, which he claimed to be the buyout amount under the memorandum.


UK filed a countersuit in Franklin County, Kentucky Circuit Court alleging among other things that the memorandum did not constitute a contract and Gillispie was therefore employed on a year to year basis.  You can see how far apart they were.


After Gillispie's lawyers scheduled depositions of the UK president and athletic director, settlement discussions heated up and finally an agreement was reached whereby Kentucky will pay Gillispie $2.98 million, plus an additional $265,000 in attorneys fees.  Gillispie gave the university a standard blanket release of all claims and both sides agreed to not say anything disparaging about the other, so don't expect either one to talk about this suit or Gillispie's time in Lexington much anymore.  You can read the settlement agreement here.


Gillispie still has one more court date in the Bluegrass as he has to face charges related to a DUI from a couple of months ago.  It was his third DUI in several years, so it's not yet clear how the court will react.

Limbaugh Dropped from Rams Bidding Group

Dave Checketts announced tonight that Rush has been dropped from the group bidding for control of St. Louis Rams since "it has become clear that his involvement in our group has become a complication and a distraction to our intentions; endangering our bid to keep the team in St. Louis. As such, we have decided to move forward without him and hope it will eventually lead us to a successful conclusion.”

Rush had said earlier today on his radio show that he was not dropping out despite reservations expressed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and a statement from Colts owner Jim Irsay that he would oppose any bid that included Limbaugh.

Dismissing Limbaugh from the group not only increasing Checketts' chances of winning, it probably restores his position as a frontrunner, given his experience in running soirts franchises, his position in St. Louis (he owns the NHL Blues) and his relations among NFL owners (he was a finalist for NFL Commissioner).  Assuming he finds sufficient Missouri folks with deep enough pockets, put your money on him to come out with the team.

A Look at the New Jersey Nets Financials

Forest City Enterprises, the majority owner of the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets is a public company, with its stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange (FCE.A). As a result, its recent 10-K/A filed with the SEC last week in connection with the sale of the Nets to Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, provides us with the most detailed look to date into the financial affairs of a NBA team.

In each of the last three fiscal years (ending on June 30) the Nets gross revenue has decreased from $97 million in 2007, to just under $94 million in 2008 to almost $78 million in 2009. The drop from 2007 to 2008 can be attributed to the loss of playoff revenue; the drop off from 2008 to 2009 likely reflects the impact of the Great Recession. In 2009, three of the four categories of revenue the Nets report (exclusive of playoff revenue) were down, with the exception being TV broadcast revenue, the one item not affected by the recession. Revenue from ticket sales was off over $11 million.

The relatively good news was that operating expenses, dropped from almost $162 million in 2008 to $ 147 million in 2009. However, operating loss was slightly higher in 2009 at $68.5 million, compared to $68 million in 2008. Net loss totaled $77.2 million in 2009, up from $76.4 million in 2008 and $77 million in 2007.

The Nets player and team staff payroll was $66.2 million in 2009. The franchise is currently contractually obligated for $118.2 million in employment contract payments for the years ending June 30, 2010 and thereafter.

The Nets current lease of the Izod Center, which is now on basically a year-to-year basis as the team waits on the construction of the Barclays Center, is $53,395 per game for the upcoming season, rising 3% per year.

The team's broadcasting revenue is derived from the NBA's league wide agreements with TNT and ESPN/ABC. All league broadcasting revenue is divided equally among member clubs, with the four former ABA clubs receiving approximately 85% of their allocable share with the balance being paid to the former owners of the Spirits of St. Louis in "the best deal in sports history." In 2009, the Nets share totaled, 22.8 million. It's local broadcast revenue does not have to be shared. The Nets games are carried by YES, for which the Nets received $9.6 million last year. Remember, when YES was first established, the Yankees and Nets were part of an ownership group known as YankeeNets and the ownership of both groups were the owners of YES, along with outside investors, including Goldman Sachs. Owners of the Nets still own interests in YES.

There are four NBA subsidiaries reflected in the financials: NBA Media Ventures, Planet Insurance, WNBA Holdings and NBDL Holdings. Two things related to these struck me. The club received distributions of $3.5 million, $5 million and $5.2 million in 2009, 2008 and 2007 respectively, and the Nets are not required to contribute any funding to the operations of any subsidiary. That tells me that either they are all making money or the league is using league-wide revenues to fund any deficit incurred by the WNBA or the NBDL.

All in all, should you have any interest in how the NBA works from a financial standpoint I highly recommend you take a look at this. You don't often get a look at this level of financial detail of a professional sports franchise in the US.

South Florida Superpass

In what is probably a first in the annals of professional sports marketing, South Florida pro teams and sports attractions teamed up to present fans with a ten event package ticket. For $330 or $1,125 depending on seating, a fan will get tickets to see all four pro teams (2010 games in the case of the Marlins), Calder and Gulfstream race tracks, Nascar championship at the Homestead, the Sony Ericsson Open, the CA World Golf Championship and Miami FC soccer.

The revenue share is based on each event's cost because each event works differently. A different ticket level or location is being offered for each event as a result of existing ticketholders.

I have not heard of this ever being done before and I think it is a great marketing strategy, particularly in this recessionary environment with sports fans having limited disposable income. I'm sure that fans of several of these teams or events will be attracted to new events as a result of the exposure gained through this promotion. It is something that should be looked at by more areas that have similar multiple teams and events.

Rush Wants the Rams

It would be rapture for Dittoheads everywhere - their very own NFL team to salivate over. Rush Limbaugh, the unctuous radio talk show has expressed an interest in buying, in partnership with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts, an interest in the St. Louis Rams. Whether that interest comes from the 40% interest owned by Colorado Rockies owner Stan Kroenke or the 60% owned by the children of the late Georgia Frontiere is not yet clear.

One other thing which is not yet clear is whether Rush could be approved as an owner by the NFL. After all, he was essentially tossed off ESPN's pregame show after, what, three weeks for comments about Donovan McNabb that were justifiably considered to be racist. Not only that, Rush has had a serious run-in with the law over his oxycontin addiction. The investigation of the Palm Beach State's Attorney for doctor shopping was essentially shut down by a local judge over patient privacy issues. The State's Attorney agreed to drop all charges in return for Limbaugh paying $30,000 to cover costs and entering a rehab program. Whether the NFL wants to approve an owner with that history is questionable given the Commissioner's stance on drug abuse by players. I'm sure Rush would be a big hit with the Rams players should he become an owner.

Sports and Business Law Conference

On October 23, 2009, the National Sports Law Institute will be holding a conference titled The Evolution of Sports Law and Business From the 20th to the 21st Century at the Alumni Memorial Union, on the Marquette University campus in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The conference will include panels on Olympic/international, professional, college, and high school sports as well as a "catch-all" panel that will focus on common legal issues affecting different levels of sports competition (e.g., tort, Title IX).

More information about the conference can be found here.

Rio Gets 2016 Olympics; EvenObama Can't Deliver Chicago

The 2016 Olympics are heading south for the first time. On the third ballot, the games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro, marking the first time that the Summer Olympics will be held in South America. While Rio had always been considered to be one of the favorites, the sentiment towards moving the games into a new locale was strong, Chicago was thought to be a close competitor. However, despite the last minute appeal from a star studded cast that included President and Mrs. Obama and Oprah Winfrey, Chicago was shockingly dropped on the first ballot.

The bid from Chicago was probably collateral damage in an ongoing and very bitter dispute between the IOC and the US Olympic Committee over, what else, money. The primary source of the dispute is broadcasting rights, most particularly emanating from USOC's plan to start up an Olympics cable channel in the US without consulting with the IOC. In July, the USOC announced plans to start an Olympics channel in partnership with Comcast, without consulting the IOC and without notice to NBC, which had been negotiating with USOC, with the blessing and active participation of the IOC, to combine its Universal Sports channel with a new USOC channel.Needless to say, the folks at the IOC and NBC, which holds the broadcast rights to the Olympics through I believe the London 2012 games, were plenty pissed, enough so, that after much toing and froing, USOC finally shelved its plans, at least for the time being.

Relations between the IOC and USOC are so bitter that there is simply no way that Chicago's bid could be unaffected by it and seeing Chicago go out in the first round only confirms the influence that the IOC staff must have had. I'm sure that there was plenty of closed door lobbying by IOC executives against Chicago and not just because Jacques Rogge wanted the games to go somewhere new. It was just Chicago's misfortune to get caught in the crossfire. It would have been far better to have been bidding on the 2020 games, but of course, that's 20/20 hindsight (no pun intended)

Customizing Basketball Letters of Intent Now Banned

As the carnival of coaching changes in college basketball each spring has spun ever more rapidly, it has become increasingly common for top recruits to ask for, and for colleges to agree to, addendums to the letters of intent committing those recruits to attend that school. The addendums may vary from recruit to recruit but a common theme is that a recruit will be let out of his commitment without penalty if the coach leaves the school prior to the time school starts in the fall.

These addendums are some of the few developments with respect to letters of intent that are favorable to recruits. The national letter of intent was designed by coaches to bind a player to a school, while leaving the school free to do what it wished. If a player signs a letter of intent and then chooses to go elsewhere, he is barred from playing for his new school for a year. A coach is free to leave but even if the recruit would like to follow him to his new job, he would be subject to the one year eligibility penalty.

The national letter of intent committee that administers the letters of intent (they are not administered by the NCAA but by the Collegiate Commissioners Association) just sent out a memo to informing member institutions that they are prohibited from "establishing any additional conditions associated with the NLI agreement in advance of a prospective student athlete signing the NLI." Mostly because of the movement of coaches which annually takes place following the Final Four, it has been to the advantage of high school seniors not to sign a letter of intent if possible. That has usually only been an option for the most talented members of the class as they are the only ones who could be assured a place in a competitive recruiting environment. With this new enforcement from the CCA, it is even more advantageous not to sign, and more kids should seriously look into this option. It places more leverage back onto the kid's side of the table and preserves the student's options in case his favorite coach leaves the school he has been at while recruiting the kid.

Tiger Woods - Billionaire

By his standards, this year has not been one of Tiger Wood's most successful seasons. Oh sure, he won six tournaments, is the likely player of the year, won over $10 million in prize money and last, but most certainly not least, won the Fed Ex Cup Championship with its $10 million accompanying $10 million check. However, he did not win a major so by his standards the year doesn't qualify as a total success.

There is one statistic that may raise this season above the ordinary even by Tiger's exacting standards. According to Forbes, the $1o million Tiger received for the Fed Ex Cup pushed his career earnings, on and off the course, above the $1 billion mark, making him the first athlete in history to cross the magic "B" threshold. The accomplishment is all the more notable for a couple of factors. He lost one major sponsor this year when Buick declined to renew his endorsement contract as it pulled back its advertising in the wake of GM's bankruptcy. The most notable fact about Tiger's accomplishments is that he is only 33 and showing no signs of retiring from the Tour, not that his retirement will necessarily cut into his earnings too terribly much.

Upon his retirement, his on course earnings will obviously disappear, or at least greatly diminish, and several of his endorsement deals, notably AT&T which is his bag sponsor, will need to be restructured, but his two major endorsement deals, Nike and Gatorade, will likely continue undiminished as they have for Michael Jordan. In addition, he will have more time to devote to his golf course design business which will likely earn more than enough to replace his on course earnings. Tiger is poised to be a billionaire many times over.

Coyotes Judge Rejects Both Claims; NHL Winner

The US Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing the bankruptcy of the Phoenix Coyotes rejected both bids to purchase the franchise but invited the NHL to revise its bid to meet his objections. He essentially ended any efforts by Jim Balsillie to purchase the team and move it to Hamilton, Ont.. Balsillie acknowledged his defeat, in a written statement:

"All I wanted was a fair chance to bring a seventh NHL team to Canada, to serve the best unserved hockey fans in the world. I believe I got that chance. I respect the court's decision, and I will not be putting forward an appeal."

Judge Baum invited the NHL to revise its bid to take into account the claims of owner Jerry Moyes and former coach and minority owner Wayne Gretzky. Moyes has filed a claim of $104 million and The Great One is believed to have a claim in the range of $9 to $20 million. The NHL bid did not provide for paying anything on either claim.

The decision is significant in rejecting Balsillie's claim as that results in no ruling on the ability of a bankruptcy court to set aside the NHL's, and by implication, the NBA, NFL and MLB's, to control the location and ownership of its franchises. It is now incumbent on the NHL to satisfy Judge Baum so as to confirm its bid to purchase the team and preserve his order rejecting Balsillie's bid. The league certainly doesn't want to give Balsillie any opening to get back in the game.

Vick Resigns Endorsement Deal With NIke

Michael Vick played in his NFL game in over two years last weekend and this week another step in resuming his career and restoring his standing in the sport fell into place. Yesterday, his agent announced that Vick has re-signed an endorsement deal with Nike. Vick had a deal with Nike that dated from his entry into the NFL but which Nike terminated when Vick entered into his plea agreement 18 months ago. Nike is the first significant endorsement deal announced for Vick since his release from prison and his signing with the Eagles.

That Nike was the first company to sign Vick after his return to the NFL is not all that surprising given his history with the company. Nike has a history of not shying away from athlete endorsers who run into trouble, case in point being Kobe Bryant and more recently, on an admittedly significantly smaller scale Serena Williams. As a marketing strategy, to the extent that being in trouble leads to more publicity and does not result in a drop in sales as a result of the notoriety, than Nike is all for it. The company dropped Vick because he was headed to jail and out of football and his endorsed products were not selling and subject to boycotts initiated by PETA.

Nike is banking on the continued rehabbing of Vick's image, which certainly appears to be proceeding smoothly; his Eagles jersey is already the fourth best selling jersey in the league. There has also been significant attention paid to his return; ESPN coverage of Vick's practice and the few snaps he took on Sunday was approaching Brett Favre proportions.