Monday Musings

It's going to be Monday musings by other folks we're having a few links to start the week:

Nice work if you can get it, Kansas athletic director making more than Bill Self (Sports Economist)

Are personal seat licenses coming to Wrigley Field? (Crain's Business)

MSG airs Rangers in first network 3D hockey game, but who was watching? (Darren Rovell)

Believe it or not, we actually have one fewer bowl game, RIP International Bowl (Brian Bennett)

CKX, Inc. which manages David Beckham, owns American Idol, the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali and manages a stable of the top comedic talent around is in talks for the sale of the company (24/7 Wall Street)

Interesting story last night on 60 Minutes about the new owner of the Newark/New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets.  If you missed it, you can catch it below.  It's worth watching - I'm not sure the NBA knew what it was getting when they approved him.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

More Details and a Clearer Winner Emerge on MLS Labor Accord

The new MLS Collective Bargaining Agreement salvaged the on time opening of the season, and the debut of the new Philadelphia Union at year old, and league success, Seattle Sounders.  Unfortunately for MLS, the debut will take place Thursday night opposite perhaps the most attractive Sweet Sixteen Regional matchup between Cornell and Kentucky.  Nevertheless, without the last minute deal, the players had committed to a walkout that would have delayed the opening of the season for an unknown length of time.

So, as details of the new CBA emerge, it's fair to judge who won and who lost in this standoff.  The winners are actually fairly clear:  ESPN and the league's other broadcast partners, Adidas and the other sponsors and most importantly the owners; the losers, the players.

Certainly the players came away with much of what they were seeking: a raise in the salary cap from $2.3 million to $2.5 million, a raise in the minimum from $34,000 to $40,000, and a re-entry draft for players out of contract.  But, most significantly, the players did not achieve any form of free agency, which going in had been their single most important demand.

Realistically, the players were probably never going to achieve free agency, at least not in this go-around.  The owners position was simply too strong, financially and legally.  A player's rights never left the league even if his contract expired with a particular club.  So, the players set out to gain some measure of freedom of movement.  Unfortunately for them they were simply not in the economic position to battle it out with the owners.  They had not built a large enough strike fund to support the players through what would have been a very lengthy work stoppage, not to mention the difficulty and potential damage to their future a work stoppage would have wrought in a year when soccer interest in the US should be at near an all-time high due to the upcoming World Cup.  At the end of the day, the  players had little choice but to take the owners last offer and start the season on time.
 

UCF Finally a Nike School

You may remember the stir caused last year when Marcus Jordan, son of you know who, a basketball player at the University of Central Florida, refused to wear the adidas shoes that all players were supposed to wear in accordance with the schools exclusive contract with adidas.  Jordan wore his father's Air Jordans and, as a result of that dispute, the school and adidas terminated its agreement last November. 

The inevitable other shoe has now dropped.  The university announced a shoe and apparel contract with Nike, but refused to release any details.  It is believed to be a five year contract with multiple renewal options. The tangled web of shoe companies and collegiate athletics continues to get more tangled every day.

The Real Driver To a 96 Team March Semi-Madness

There has been a lot of watercooler, spilled ink and digital space taken up in the last month in discussions about the possibility of the NCAA expanding the basketball tournament to 96 teams.  The primary reason for any expansion seems to be the possibility of a greatly enhanced television contract from CBS (with a cable partner) or ESPN.  I haven't written about it before because it was mostly a great deal of pontificating from the media about something that appeared like it was going to be decided strictly on the basis of how much bigger would the TV contract be.

From a basketball standpoint, expansion to 96 would mean the end of the NIT.  Now, those of you who focus exclusively on the Big Dance this time of year may not care but the NIT has a long and distinguished history.  In fact, it is older that the NCAA and for much of its early life, it was the more important tournament.  Since the NCAA bought it, the rules have been changed to provide automatic qualifiers to regular season champions who lose their conference tournaments and don't make the NCAA.  Presumably that rule would carry over into a 96 team tournament, taking up a few low and mid-major slots away from the big boys; always a good idea.  The NIT was a tough tournament to get into this year and fans have responded accordingly - attendance has been high and crowds enthusiastic.  I'm not sure the same could be said for all of the first round site.  From a basketball perspective only, I would expand to 68, have four play-in games involving the last four selected and the bottom four rated conference titliests.  It would a bit of the unwanted label currently associated with play-in game.


While I think that ultimately the decision by the NCAA executive committee will come down to how much more money is at the table and not what is best for Division I basketball, another factor I believe is at play that will influence the decision and is not being discussed.  The NCAA may be very concerned that it will lose a class action lawsuit filed against it by Ed O'Bannon, The suit alleges that the NCAA has violated antitrust law by exploited his likeness for commercial purposes.  The NCAA recently lost a motion to dismiss the case, which has been joined by eleven additional plaintiffs purssuant to an amended claim which was recently filed in federal court in California.  Any damages a court may order the NCAA to pay in this case could be trebled under antitrust law; considering the substantial licensing fees that the NCAA and member institutions derive from video games, jerseys and other items bearing the likeness, name or otherwise identifying with players, those damages could be a very large number.

MLS and Players Reach New Agreement

Sanity has prevailed and armageddon has been averted.  With less than a week to go before the season opened and a threatened player walkout, MLS and the MLS players union announced today that an agreement in principle has been reached for a new five year collective bargaining agreement.  While most of us may have suspected that a deal would get done this week, as these deals inevitably take until the eleventh hour, many observers, including this one, began to wonder if the powers that be at MLS were so misguided as to blow the biggest marketing opportunity that MLS has had in years. 

Coming off a year in which the league launched a tremendously successful franchise in Seattle, and is about to launch one in Philadelphia which has all the makings of another success, would the league have been so crazy as to have shut itself down?  Interest in the US Men's National Team is probably at an all time high following a great 2009 warm-up campaign and anticipation for South Africa 2010.  Last night, the Red Bulls debuted a new soccer palace in New Jersey that will undoubtedly become the Ease Coat version of the Home Depot Center, by that I mean, the East Coast home of US Soccer. A new stadium deal has finally been reached in Kansas City. With all the positive happenings around the league, I'm just glad to see that the league will not let this World Cup year, and the mighty and never ending ESPN hype machine go to waste.  Now, it just needs to formulate a good, comprehensive marketing strategy that can build off the World  Cup and not treat it as a mid-season distraction.

Carolina Again Most Valuable College BBall Program

Winning the national championship sure does have its advantages.  In UNC's case, it resulted in the single most profitable basketball season ever recorded by a NCAA program, knocking the Louisville Cardinals off their traditional perch.  The Heels recorded a profit of $17.7 million leading Forbes to value the program at $29 million for first place in its annual rankings, same place it held last year.  It was followed by Kentucky and then Louisville, just as in last year's ranking.  Kansas jumped one spot to fourth and surprisingly, Illinois climbed into fifth.  Duke, surprisingly fell out of the top ten, falling to eleventh.  Louisville should retake its spot as the most profitable program next year as it opens a new $262 million riverfront arena.

March Madness Cinderella Not Limited to Teams

It happens every year.  Schools from smaller conferences that never cross the radar of the TV networks or ESPN step and slay the big boys from the power conferences in a first round game, and, if we're fortunate, carry that through to at least the second weekend.  This year, it's been happening all over the bracket.  This year, too, it wasn't limited to the games being played; as this story in the New York Times relates, a cinderella apparel company broke through the Nike and Adidas juggernauts to provide uniforms for tournament team, albeit, Robert Morris, one from one of those smaller conferences who, was a three-pointer away from taking Villanova into overtime.

Will Congress Ever Authorize Online Gaming?

March Madness is now upon us.  Today marked the end of the first round of the NIT, the NCAA's warm-up act to the opening round of the NCAA.  Thursday afternoon, the Big Show kicks off and for the next three weeks, Americans young and old will have found an escape from the seemingly endless stories about the state of healthcare reform.  There is also another side to these three weeks.  

You see, it's the time when millions of otherwise law-abiding, taxpaying Americans commit criminal acts with abandon.  All those office pools you entered at $10 a pop - technically violate federal laws against interstate wagering or state laws against wagering and federal laws about gambling on amateur sporting events.  Yet, unlike the Super Bowl, most police departments, look the other way.  "We aren't actively looking for these things, " said Illinois Deputy Police Chief Theo Glover, as reported in CasinoGamblingWeb.com.  Hope may be on the way, however.

Congressman Barney Frank has introduced HR2267 Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act to legalize, regulate and tax online poker and gaming, but importantly, NOT, and I'll say it again, NOT, sports betting.  Chairman Frank's bill has picked up 66 sponsors and appears headed to a committee markup in the next few weeks. It also recently has attracted some new opposition from the politically powerful, but before now on the sidelines, Native Americans lobby. Which really isn't all that surprising, as they would be afraid their land based franchise could be affected, according to one of the prime casino news sites on the web, Online Casino Advisory.

States have begun to take matters into their own hands.  Florida is considering legalizing intrastate online poker.  New Jersey has authorized the President of the Senate to file suit against the federal government alleging that the exemption of Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana from the federal prohibition on sports betting violates the 10th and 14th amendments to the US Constitution by unfairly discriminating against New Jersey.  An interesting and compelling argument and one which could also be applied to the online gaming arena where online betting on horse racing is permitted but all other forms of sports betting are prohibited.  

How this will all shake out is anybody's guess. If you enjoy online betting or poker playing, be sure to keep your account well funded by June 1, as the suspension of the enforcement of UIGEA will expire then.  If the situation has not been clarified or Chairman Frank's bill has not been passed by then, it may become very difficult to fund offshore accounts, unless the money being used to fund them is already offshore. As Boy Scouts say, Be Prepared.

Rachel Alexandra Puts Zenyatta Match Race in Doubt

First, I haven't been posting regularly as I have been battling some sort of infection and just haven't felt up to it.  It responded quickly to antibiotics but left me drained and I haven't really spent any time on my computer before today.  So if you missed me, that's why.

While I was gone, Championship Week came and almost went, the Cards closed out their 54 year tenure in  Freedom Hall with a rousing victory over the 'Cuse and business upheavals galore in worldwide soccer.  We'll get to some of these and more today and tomorrow but first to the turf and yesterday's 2010 debut of the best fillies of a generation, as they both ran warm-up races for their much anticipated meeting in the $5 million Apple Blossom at Oaklawn on April 9.  While Zenyatta took care of business, winning the Grade I $250,000 Santa Margarita  Handicap over the synthetic course she loves at Santa Anita, Rachel Alexandra faltered in the stretch and lost to Zenyatta's stablemate Zardana in the inaugural $250,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes at the Fair Grounds.

Rachel's trainer Steve Asmussen blamed the loss on a lack of fitness, throwing in doubt the filly's participation in the Apple Blossom.  He refused to guarantee she would run, although I really doubt that owner Jess Jackson would pass on the opportunity to test her against Zenyatta on a surface that Rachel Alexandra likes.  In my mind, she will only skip the race if there is something wrong with her, which we should learn in the next couple of days.  If she just tired, Asmussen should be able to get her fit in time.

UPDATE:  Jess Jackson made it official yesterday that Rachel Alexandra will not run in the Apple Blossom.   in a statement, Jackson said: "Yesterday's race, while a disappointment, helped us define Rachel Alexandra's racing condition. While she is healthy, just as I had anticipated, she is not in top form. Therefore, I decided today she will not be going" to Oaklawn for the race.

See the Nets, Get Your Taxes Done

When you're historically bad, and not in an endearing New York Mets sort of way, what do you do to get people to actually show up for your games?  The New Jersey Nets came up with a unique promotion.  Come see the Nets lose to Orlando and get your taxes done for free.  That, at least, was the promotional piece, the reality was just slightly less appealing.

The Nets had made a deal with tax preparer Roni Deutch Tax Center, by which all fans in attendance at the Magic game would get free advice from Deutch personnel at the game plus a coupon for $50 good towards preparation of their state income tax return.   State returns are usually done after the federal return and generally require little additional work since most of the work has been done for the federal return.  Most states generally follow the federal tax code making the return fairly simple to do.

It's a clever promotion and there's no denying that the Nets need all the creativity that the marketing department can dream up.  The announced move to Brooklyn was bad enough - groundbreaking on Barclay's Center is scheduled for March 11 - but the club is moving its New Jersey home games to Newark and the Prudential Center next fall. 

Monday Musings

Random thoughts on a Monday suffering withdrawal from the rainfest in Vancouver (never thought I would suffer Winter Olympic withdrawal).

I hope Gary Bettman was watching the hockey game yesterday.  If he was and still wants the NHL to end its participation in the Olympics, then his tenure as commissioner needs to end, now tomorrow morning.  There is no better advertisement for the NHL than the Canada-US game yesterday, which drew NFL ratings on NBC (note to NBC: those ratings were for a LIVE broadcast).  I don't know about anybody else, but I have never enjoyed hockey as much as this hockey tournament.  The action was free flowing  and fast, without the clutching and grabbing that plagues the NHL, not to mention the absence of fighting, another issue that plagues the NHL.  Why is that? International rules, which should be adopted by the NHL starting next season.  I would prefer the playoffs, but I suppose it's not fair to change the rules in the middle of the season.

So, Michael Jordan is going to become the majority of the Charlotte Bobcats.  If I were a Bobcats fan, those few of you in Charlotte who are, I would be very worried about the future of the team.  Granted, it's future in Charlotte seems secure but it's chance of continually putting winning teams on the court may have been greatly diminished, given Jordan's lack of success in his post-Bulls career, especially in managing NBA front offices.

The NFL is listening to fans for a change and is in the process of adopting new overtime rules.  As one who thought the old rule was unfair and put too much emphasis on winning the coin flip, I think the new rule is a step in the right direction.  However, why is only going to be used in the playoffs?

Since this is the year of labor strife in North American professional sports, I suppose it should not be surprising that MLS and its players are hurtling towards a work stoppage and in a World Cup year no less.  The players and the league have been negotiating a new CBA for months and extended the current deadline several times, but it has now expired and neither side has expressed a desire to extend it further. The league has said it is content to play this year under the existing CBA, making it clear that any work stoppage will be at the initiative of the players.  Even more than any of the other leagues which may see work stoppages, MLS above all needs to find a way to avoid it.  The league has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception and this year, with the debut of the Philadelphia Union and the opening of Red Bull Arena as well as the expected boost from South Africa 2010, this is not the time to be thinking work stoppage.  The season isn't scheduled to open until March 25, so the league and players have most of this month to make a deal.  However,  we get our first test of the players intentions on March 9, when Columbus and Toluca are scheduled to play a CONCACAF Champions League game quarterfinal first leg in Columbus.