November 2008 Archives
Major League Baseball is now facing the harsh reality that the economy is in a very bad situation. December 8th wiill mark the date the leagues $1.5 billion facility is set to expire. If MLB does not refinance that sum of money will turn directly into debt which baseball must begin paying off as early as next month. Bank of America and MLB are trying to workout a deal that will refinance for 7 years and make no payments due until 2014. Both sides refused to comment on the matter. It is just bad luck that the NFL and MLB had to workout renewal plans in the heart of the economic crisis. Unlike MLB the NFL was able to push back payments on their debt until 2010. It is going to be tough for teams to begin paying off debts, which also means players will not be getting large amounts of money. MLB could face many problems in the years to come if some deal is not reached and the players without a doubt will not be happy. I feel this is very bad because the players may eventaully strike. If they are not getting paid the money they want, their not going to play.
With the economy faltering, big parties, bashes, and smaller, private parties hosted by talent agencies CAA and Octagon, have been canceled. And Playboy, which usually had a huge party gathering, was that its plans are "up in the air," the magazine seemed close to cancel there event. Playboy Enterprises even announced cutbacks and staff reductions earlier this month due to the failing economy. At NFL headquarters, the organization acknowledged that the "Commissioner's Party" may too have fewer participants this year. "In part, because we anticipate our business partners will be cutting back on the numbers they bring to town," he said. "We are not immune." But many parties ar estill said to be on and at full throttle. "The Good Life Experience," with boxer Winky Wright and rapper P. Diddy, will be staged in St. Petersburg, Fla., with tickets going for from $200 to $800 a night. ESPN the Magazine still plans on a bowl bask along with another big party hosted by John Travolta. However, many of the big name bashes are being thrown out this year so buzz surrounding the excitement is scarce. "Our corporate clients and the individuals we send [to the Super Bowl], they want to go to Playboy and to Maxim because of the sexiness of the name," said Jim Zissler, vice president of sales and marketing at Inside Sports & Entertainment Group, which customizes Super Bowl hospitality packages. Without these parties in place, sales and sponsorships will decrease. But as they say, the show must go on and most parties will still go on. There just may be less staff running the event.
I love the Super Bowl. I love the game, the excitement, the commercials, and especially the parties. Parties are what makes the super bowl so fun and memorable. I know my parties I am refering to are low key friends and family parties but still, parties are the heart and soul of the big game. I have done countless amount of blog entries and almost all are intertwined with this failing economy. It is remarkable to see how much an economy can affect so many people, situations, and organizations. It is crazy that such a large frnachise such
as the NFL and how one of the biggest broadcasts on television is going to be affected by the economy. You look at Playboy and Penthouse which have so much money are laying off their parties, That says a lot alone. Even sports organizations such as Sports Illustrated had to cancel parties. It baffles me. The Super Bowl will be fun none the less but parties are needed. SAME PARTIES; NEW ECONOMY!
THATS IT!!! its a done deal finally. ESPN has now been named the new home for the four big BCS bowl games. It has been talked about for weeks now and everyone has seemed to see it coming. FOX sports was outbid by ESPN by around $100 million posting a staggering $495 million big to be paid out over four years. The news comes from the SportsBusiness journal reporting that it did not take long for the BCS presidential oversight committee to okay the deal from ESPN. University Presidents were expected to make a big stink about the games going to cable television, but no such resistance was met for ESPN and the BCS committee. FOX was reportedly overpowered by the bid and was not able to conjure up a reason for making their bid any higher, they were just not going to win this battle.
The BCS bowl games are now going to be on cable television... Hmmm is that good or bad? For one thing, its going to make ESPN millions of dollars as it still has part of the rights to the Rose Bowl as well which is already aired on ABC. They are expected to make record revenue from this deal just in advertisements alone. However, 16 million fewer people have the ability to watch the newly cable televised bowl games, I guess we will see how people react to that. This has been an interesting story to follow as we slowly begin to see more and more championship games and matches go from over the air television to cable stations. Who's/what is next to go??????
Good news Mets fans,
Despite one of the worse recessions in our country's history, the new Mets state-of-the-art facility "CitiField" will not be changing its name for at least another 20 years.
Earlier this week, in a drastic move to save the company's assets, Citigroup has laid-off 20% of its work force (roughly 53,000). Most financial experts are predicting that the group certainly will sell its company to another banking empire. A CNN report stated Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan Chase may be in the running to buy the company.
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However, Mets officials have declared that the naming rights that was signed in 2006, will continue to pay no matter who owns the company, Mets will recieve 20 million a year until 2029. The stadium set to open this April, in which it will hold over 40,000 seats and 48 luxury suites.
To be honest here, I would hate for a New York sports venue to change its name regardless of which team plays in it. Since 1995 when baseball parks began naming rights, there have been 16 venues that have changed their names due to a corporate buyout. I do not want to see that happen to this new beautiful park.
But then again, it makes you think why no one ever considered changing the name of Shea Stadium, to "Big Purple Toilet Bowl" Inc.
Baseball's try to get back into the Olympics begins Friday, when Harvey Schiller, International Baseball Federation president, goes to Switzerland, to make a presentation before the International Olympic Committee. Their goal is to stop the embarrassment of the 2005 vote that calls for baseball and softball to be taken out of the Olympics in the 2012 London Games. This vote is due to the lack of MLB players taking partin the olympics do to their season.Six other sports are battling baseball for a spot in the Olympics, including rugby, softball and golf. The committee will most likely pick two sports o
ut of these making 28 total sports. Schiller says that basebal should not be taken out of the olympics because it is a sport that many of our youths are playing and look for role models in it and the fact that Europe is beginning to adapt the sport. he also says that their ar enow up to 40 MLB players participating in the olympics and that he believes he can get more into the next games.
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60534
I am not a strong baseball fan to begin. But after seeing the Olympics in the recent games, i am appaled. I would rather watch mens water polo or a boring track and field event then watch our most beloved sport in our country. I could not recognize one name player in the MLB. I thought that the sport was supposed to portray the best players in your country. This obviously is not true. The Olympics and baseball simply do not mix. Softball, perhaps, but not baseball. Players are too expensive and are deeply rooted in their own teams. Unless the MLB comes to a stand still during the games, no players will go to the Olympics. Its all or nothing so let the vote pass and bring in rugby!
The current global financial turmoil will not affect South Africa's guarantees on hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup, says Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa.
"Financially speaking, South Africa is in good standing, and we will deliver on our promise of hosting the biggest soccer event," he said, adding that the current economy was stronger that what it was 10 years ago. "Increasingly we are showing resilience to global economic dips. I have no doubt that we will register a decent gross domestic product [in 2008/09]." According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), world growth is expected to achieve little pickup in 2009, with a 25% chance that the global economy will record three percent or less growth in 2008 and 2009 - equivalent to a global recession. Mpahlwa said the government's response to the tightening economic conditions was to speed up industrial development, to continue promoting small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), and to further strengthen the state's capacity to unlock the country's economic potential. "We remain confident that we have measures that can, to some extent, shield us from this global turmoil," he said.
The world is in a recession and South Africa is set to be hit hardest by it. South Africa has to build numerous stadiums before 2010, currently there are five stadiums that are being constructed. The other five stadiums are being uprgraded. Fifa says that they trust South Africa to pull through so much for the World Cup, that they have no backup plans in case Sout Africa fails. I don't think the recession should affect South Africa's economy or building plans if they speed up building the stadiums. On top of that, according to the article, Sub-Saharan Africa is set to experience its best period of sustained economic growth since its independence.
George Steinbrenner ended his 35-year run as head of the New York Yankees when he passed control of the team down to his son Hal Steinbrenner on Thursday. It has been known that George has withdrawn much control of the team over the past couple years and now it is official that his son Hal has full control. The elder Steinbrenner has been one of the most storied owners in all of sports ever since he took over the Yankees in 1973. Whether it was controversy or him backing up the team that he loved, his name always seemed to be in the tabloids. It wasn't until recently that George has been less heard from in the media. Last year it seemed to be his other son Hank that was constantly in the tabloids. Hank, just like his father always seemed to have something to say. But now it is the quieter son Hal who will be in full control of the team as his father's long run has come to an end. Over the past couple years Hal has been in control of the team's financial operations and it seems he has enough experience to take over the team. His role will not change too dramatically as he has been involved heavily with the club ever since his father has stepped down a bit. Whatever the case, a great owner is stepping down and will always be remembered as a true great in his business.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of NASCARs most popular drivers without a doubt. He has earned this popularity due to his outstanding racing skills that have gotten him to the point where he now is in his career. Earnhardt lately is in a bit of a drought and is looking to break that streak of 62 winless soon. Among NASCAR fans 1/3 people consider Earnhardt their favorite driver. Earnhardt is on the line if he does not start winning some races. At this point he earns around $22 million a year in endorsements which is far more then other drivers. This shocks some since he is far behind other drivers as far as success goes. NASCAR feels Earnhardt is becoming the A-Rod of their sport. Even if Earnhardt doesn't start winning consistant his sponsors won't leave him out in the cold. NASCAR needs Earnhardt to start winning to help the organization as a whole. If the big gun isn't winning people arent watching. Although Earnhardt will still be making his money, NASCAR is losing money while he finishes outside of the top spot. Earnhardt is the big star of the sport and they need him to succeed in order for the organization as a whole to grow.
Written By Michelle Corso and Jose R. Valdez
Then it hits you, there's no music. No "CHARGE" bugle, not organ at the baseball game, nothing. Music and sound effects help pump up the crowd at any sporting event.
Teams do have streaming audio and video on their website of the game being played. But how great would it be to log onto Last.fm, and play "Shout!" at home every time the Bills score. Yeah, that would be awesome.
Having a partnership between a league and internet music site would be a huge boost in both of the companies. A Miami Dolphins fan can hear a talk show with Chad Pennington, even though they live in Oregon. Football, or as most Americans know it as soccer, can listen to live feeds of games. Baseball fans can listen into the game from their desk, rather than just watching a box score from their computer.
True: Most teams provide this for their fans already. But if partnered with Last.fm, one of the largest music based social networks, leagues would be able to get their sport out to more people. A simple idea would be to have users check off if they would like game feeds, if selected the user would choose which teams they would like to have feeds from. Every time the user is logged on, there would be an update sent to their Last.fm player. If they decide they want to listen to the game, a simple click on the score would transfer them to the audio feed for the game.
It is a no-brainer to have this partnership. And hopefully, we will soon be able to see this implemented in the near future.
--- Christopher Adamek, Joseph Cardinale, Mike Mendez
Finding the best way to travel is usually a pain. However, with Lonely Planet you can arrange your vacation fast and without any hassle. Lonely Planet gives you a chance to completely customize your trip, and it does it with great ease. You can read reviews from people who have actually visited the places that you are interested in, even if they had a bad experience. Not every travel destination is perfect, and Lonely Planet gives you the truth.
Lonely Planet has some great features, including different places of interest for every continent in the world, as well as a store where you can buy things for your upcoming adventure. It is free to set up an account with Lonely Planet, and they do not send you any junk mail telling you to visit their site. Each day there is a different place that would make for a good vacation, with suggestions and things that you can do in that particular place.
If it is a sporting event that you are looking for, just type in your team into the search bar and Lonely Planet will give you all the information on that team's stadium is and a little bit about that particular area. If you are going on a vacation out of the country, Lonely Planet can help you find the place that best suits your interests and can then help you get there.
This is a great site to use, even if you are just going someplace overnight. The world is big and is open for everyone to explore, so let Lonely Planet help you figure out where to go. If you do not go out and see what the world has to offer now, when will you? Edited by Kaufman, Brett & Lazarski, Kathryn
The website www.ovguide.com can be used for many different things. It has videos for all sorts of catagories to fulfill your viewing pleasures. One of its more popular catagories is its sports catagory.
Inside the sports catagory or different channels that you can enter for whatever sport you are looking for. It links directly to most league's video section and it also has links to other media feeds such as ESPN and Youtube. Also, the website has user ratings to let you know which sites have the best content. It is a very useful site to get replays from last night's game or for any other video that you may be looking for.
The Seattle Mariners hired a new manger on Wednesday November 19th and with the hire they made history. The new manager Don Wakamatsu becomes the first Asian American manager in the history of the MLB. Wakamatsu played 11 games in the majors as a player but mostly was a minor league player. Last year he was the Oakland Athletics bench coach, and before that he spent 5 years in the Rangers Organization. Wakamatsu becomes the 14th manager in the history of the Mariners and looks to turn a underachieving oraganization around. Last year the Mariners lost 101 games and had the second worst record to the Washington Nationals. With a decent amount of talent and a nucleus of young players the team from Seattle has potential to contend and they look to Wakamatsu now to bring them to the next level.
I beleive that this is a great hire for the Mariners. Seattle is a very multicultural city and has a rich tradition in Asian history. Perhaps the Mariners are looking to appeal to Ichiro Suzuki to keep him from going elsewhere in free agency. Suzuki, one of the most consistent and valuable players in the MLB, is an important part of Wakamatsu's success with the new team. This hire and the influx of Asian baseball players coming to the MLB will perhaps increase the amount of Asian managers in the future.
Dear MLB and Baseball Writers of America,
On Monday you awarded Albert Pujols his NL MVP award. I believe this decision was the correct one and he truly deserves the award for being the most valuable player to his team in the National League. However, I do not agree with the list of follow up's in the order they appear. Based on what I have listened to and read in years past compared to more recent years, I do not understand the criteria for how these decisions are made.
Is there any criteria at all? I do not understand how a handful of this year's nominees were ranked so high on the list, or how some of them made the list to begin with. Let me start with the following: For the runner up for MVP, the writers unanimously chose Ryan Howard. I am baffled as to how you can consider anyone for MVP when that
Yelp is a user reviews site that has recommendations of top restaurants, shopping, nightlife, entertainment, services and more. This is site is very useful because it gives honest reviews of places from actual customers. Also yelp is very accessible, it is very easy to navigate your way around the site. You can search by the category of what you want a review for, or you can search a specific area in the United States. You can even write your own reviews of a specific place. Also on the side there is a today in talk feature, in which you can discuss certain topics that have been brought up with others and give your opinion. If this isn't enough for you, to show your true love towards Yelp you can buy Yelp apparel. Yelp is a great site that can help you out with any uncertainties you have of any place.
Accessing private information online is not the easiest thing to do, especially if you want detailed information. All websites with private information make you pay in some way to get detailed information to get specific information about a certain person. These websites will give you very limited information until you do pay some sort of fee, whether it is a monthly fee or just an annual fee.
Criminalsearches.com is a website in which you can access information about anyone who has a criminal offense in their past. This type of website is good when you want to know about people you associate with daily, know from your neighborhood, or are just very curious about. Do you really know who these people are? We associate with them and even invite them in our homes. Do they have a criminal background? Are your children safe with them?
On this website you can access all sorts of information such as the type of crime the committed, where it was committed, and whether it is a felony or not. This type of website is good for families who want to see if there are sex offenders in their neighborhood and to see what types of criminals are around their homes so that they can keep their kids safe at all times.
This NFL season has been full of many surprises and eventful games. The Titans are undefeated, the Bengals and Eagles tied, and Brett Favre is in a different shade of green. However it seems this year especially there have been a lot of questionable calls by the referees. Just about when talks about Ed Hochuli's call were silenced, a new call has been butchered. However this call didn't make such a big impact on the NFL standings, but in Vegas. The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the San Diego Chargers last night 11-10. However with seconds running off the clock, Troy Polamalu (Safety of the Steelers) ran back a fumble against the Chargers. This would have made the score 17-11 or 18 pending the point after touchdown. This seems very pointless; however the spread for the game was 4.5. With the extra touchdown Polamalu scored, Pittsburg would have covered it.
At first, the touchdown counted and the Steelers would have won by more than 4.5. When the Steelers were going for the PAT the play went under review. The refs first looked to see if the pitch from Tomlinson to Chambers was a forward pass. They reviewed it and said it was forward, but Pittsburg declined the penalty resulting in a touchdown. The ball was once again pitched back, and it hit the ground prior to Troy running it back. For some reason though the refs did not count this as a fumble and they called the play off. Today the refs admitted their mistake, but is it too late? "We should have let the play go through in the end, yes," Scott Green (referee) said. Bookies have already paid off for the game at 11-10. Even though that score is wrong, that's what the final was. There was over 100 million dollars on this game. $66 million of that was on the Steelers. Undeserving people are winning money off this game. Hopefully calls like this won't happen again, however it is a game and things like this happen.
th Insider Trading. Cuban tried to avoid a loss of $750,00 by allegedly using confidential information in a stock sale. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) stated that in June of 2004, Cuban was offered into the coming stock of offering by Mamma.com INC even though he agreed to keep the information private. Cuban allegedly knew that the stock was being sold at a lower price than the market price, and a few hours later he told his broker to sell his entire share (600,000). By selling his stocks at the time he did he did not lose the $750,000. "The SEC is seeking a court judgment against Cuban finding that he violated
the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, an injunction against
future violations, an unspecified civil penalty and restitution of the losses
Cuban allegedly avoided". Cuban "is likely to commit such
violations again in the future," as stated by the SEC unless he is subject to an injunction.Read On....
As I have talked about before, and continue to follow this story, it is reported that the major BCS bowls are ESPN bound. There is beginning to be a new trend in the sports world, that is moving from broadcast television, to cable television channels like ESPN. We have already seen it with the likes of "Monday Night Football," the Chase for the Sprint cup in NASCAR, and the British open starting in 2010. ESPN reaches 20 million fewer homes the
n its broadcast network partner ABC and other networks. This is why moving BCS bowl games, with such high levels of interest amongst the American people could be a gutsy move.
This has become just another case of looking for the highest bidder. Fox broadcast network, who has had the rights to these bowl games in the past has had the chance to match any offer given up until today. It is believed that they will not be able to afford the $100 million deal over four years which ESPN has posted to the BCS committee. It is obvious that the Disney Corporation is making out like a bandit who owns ABC, and eighty percent of ESPN. ABC still continues to own the rights to the all important Rose Bowl, and now Disney and ESPN may have all of the top bowl games on their cable network. If it is any consolation, the NFL, MLB, and NBA are not even close to being interested in making their post season championships to cable television networks. Who knows what the future has in store for championship play. Hopefully everyone will get to enjoy the excitement of big time games.
In late September the NHL instituted a new rule in which owners,who usually keep their
business private and to themselves, will have to disclose it. In response to some unknown finacial arrangements between owners, now owners will have to disclose all business and financial relationships between one another. The league has said all 30 teams have complied with the new policy and that the rule also applies to all potential new owners. Which means all potential owners must disclose all their relationships with other NHL owners at the time of the potential
purpose.
From:http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60609
With the passing of this rule, I feel the league will be more financially better. With the league aware of all business relationships, maybe they can prevent another unneeded lockout and stay financially safe. This also prevent secrets and so the league will not have any surprises. This will help the league regain status and flourish for more years to come.
In past years the Arena Football League relied on EA Sports to create revenue. However, for the 2009 season, EA did not renew their deal. EA Sports also decided not to buy into the AFL this season. Over recent years EA Sports created two AFL video games but opted out of making a game last season, ending the three year deal they had since 2006. The AFL celebrated it's 20th Anniversary in 2006 by creating it's first video game. Although the game probably didn't reach the standards of the NFL, it produced enough money to create a new game in 2007. The AFL was gaining a lot of popularity through EA Sports, because after all, EA does have deals with the NFL, NBA, and NASCAR. EA Sports cut the AFL short, hanging them out to dry. With the 2009 season quickly approaching, the AFL has a lot to do in very little time.
AFL executives must be very concerned over their company's possible loss of revenue in the upcoming season. Although the gamers that do enjoy playing AFL games, without EA Sports on the package, it will be a lot tougher to find the game and probably lower quality. The AFL is in a tough position right now, and little can be done to help.