Naming Rights On Hold For Cowboys Stadium

When the Dallas Cowboys play their first game here later this year, team owner Jerry Jones might have a temporary name for his stadium and a lot less cash than he expected.

When the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium opens in June, there may not be a corporate sponsor attached to its name. 'Chances are, there are offers, but they are coming in well below what the Cowboys want,' said naming rights consultant Terry Burton, who is not involved with the negotiations.

A naming rights deal to add hundreds of millions of dollars to his bottom line hasn't materialized, and sports business professionals said Jones might not find a sponsor this year unless he's willing to offer a deep discount. Even optimistic naming rights consultants are saying that a blockbuster deal is probably off the table in this year of economic turmoil.

"Chances are, there are offers, but they are coming in well below what the Cowboys want," said naming rights consultant Terry Burton, who is not involved with the negotiations.

He said the Cowboys would be best served by waiting for the economic downturn to "play out." Burton, owner of Vancouver, Canada-based Dig In Research 2007 Inc., which evaluates sponsorship and philanthropic naming rights deals, said he believes the market could bounce back to previous levels in time for Super Bowl XLV in Arlington in 2011.

However, such a delay means that a sponsor would miss all the publicity surrounding the opening – such as concerts, large-scale tours and other high-profile events – as well as national attention when the Cowboys play their first regular-season game in Arlington.

Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels declined to comment about naming rights negotiations for the $1.1 billion stadium, which is projected to open June 1. Team officials, including Jones, also have declined to discuss specifics in the past.

Daniels also would not say what the team would call the stadium if a naming rights deal weren't in place when it opens.

AT&T officials, who have been rumored to be interested in the stadium's naming rights, said they have not signed a deal with the Cowboys. Sarah Andreani, spokeswoman for the telecommunications giant, said several high-profile stadiums are opening soon, and "we have been approached about most of them."

She declined to say whether AT&T was negotiating with the Cowboys.

AT&T is among the world's biggest corporate advertisers and spent about $1.3 billion to promote its brand last year. Its name can be found from the San Francisco Giants' baseball stadium to the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic to the AT&T Center in San Antonio, home of the Spurs.

Tough Times For Development Around New Cowboys Stadium

The new Dallas Cowboys stadium was predicted to transform its surroundings into a vibrant urban center comparable to Times Square or at the very least Victory Park.

But the bright lights, restaurants, hotels and pedestrian-friendly shopping district are nowhere to be seen. The severe recession has sabotaged much of the planned development around the $1.1 billion stadium, whose inaugural event will be a June 6 concert featuring George Strait and Reba McEntire.

Aside from road improvements, a row of new town homes and a few more commercial vacancies, the neighborhoods surrounding the Cowboys stadium differ little from when construction began. And the chances of any major development opening in time for the 2011 Super Bowl are shrinking daily.

"We're totally helpless to make that go forward until we're over this problem that we're having," Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said. "The economy is beyond anyone's control."

The 1.2 million-square-foot Glorypark retail, residential and entertainment project from Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks is being redesigned after nine months on the shelf and has no timeline yet. Just a few blocks from the Cowboys stadium, Glorypark was expected to be a center of activity on game days and during the week of the Super Bowl.

When the Cowboys kick off their first preseason game in late summer, it's likely that rather than upscale sports bars, the closest dining will be CiCi's Pizza, Panda Express, Pitt Grill and a handful of other small restaurants.

Developers planning the Solaris Plaza hotel, retail and office complex for the historic but long shuttered Eastern Star Home off Division Street called it quits before the project was publicly announced and never even bought the land.

That project was expected to also include parking garages and convention space, according to e-mails sent to city officials in March 2008. It wasn't clear when plans for the development were halted. Portions of the old retirement home were in such bad shape that they had to be demolished, said former owner Hal Thorne, a Grand Prairie lawyer.

The e-mails about Solaris Plaza and others relating to projects around the stadium were obtained as part of a Public Information Act request made by The Dallas Morning News last year. The city appealed to the Texas attorney general's office, which decided that many of the documents and e-mails were public records. The city disagreed and sued the attorney general's office to prevent their release.

Some of the documents were finally released early this year.

Arlington supporters of the new Cowboys stadium hoped that it would be a catalyst for redevelopment in an area dominated by parking lots, motels, auto sales and repair and retail targeting immigrants. The mixed-use developments and pricey condominiums planned for the area would have targeted the more affluent football fans who could afford tickets that cost as much as a few hundred dollars and seat licenses that cost thousands.

The city is contributing about $325 million in funding toward construction of the stadium.

"The city of Arlington was clearly banking on that ancillary development," said economist Bernard Weinstein. "It's not the city of Arlington's fault or the Cowboys' fault that we're having the worst economic downturn since the 1930s."

The adjacent developments were considered particularly important since most of the money generated inside the stadium will go to the Cowboys or toward paying off a portion of their debt.

Since the stadium will also be owned by the city ($325m in funding), it will not generate property taxes.

As far as the Super Bowl is concerned, even if dirt started to fly this week, there's no guarantee that a large, full-service hotel or big mixed-use development near the stadium would be finished in time for the Super Bowl.

Source: Dallas Morning-News

Past Bankruptcies In The Sports World

With the current economic downturn, here are some of the sports franchises or majority owners who have declared bankruptcy in the past 30 years.

The Pittsburgh Penguins Partners, who owned 100% of the Pens, filed for Chapter XI protection on June 13th, 1975.

The Cleveland Barons, an NHL franchise that started out as the California Golden Seals in 1967 and moved to Cleveland in 1976, were merged with the Minnesota North Stars, who were also having financial problems, in 1978.

Bruce McNall, who owned 28% of the Los Angeles Kings, filed for Chapter XI protection on May 12th, 1995

The Pittsburgh Penguins, then owned by a group headed by Roger Marino, filed for Chapter XI protection on October 13th, 1998

In early January 2003, the Ottawa Senators, who listed debts of $166.2 million, including $50.7 million to Covanta Energy Corp., $40 million to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, $20 million to FleetBoston Financial Corp., and $14.2 million to the NHL, filed for bankruptcy protection

A few days later, on January 13th 2003, the Buffalo Sabres filed for Chapter XI protection, listing $206 million in debt to its 40 largest creditors.

On June 6th, 2008, William "Boots" Del Biaggio, who owned 20% of the Nashville Predators, filed for bankruptcy.

In addition, the Tribune Company, owners of the Chicago Cubs, file for bankruptcy protection on December 9th, 2008; the Cubs were not part of the filing.

The dates of these filings are not strongly related to business cycle downturns. The June 1975 filing by the Penguins took place two months after the March 1975 trough (identified by the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee) and the Del Baggio filing was during the current downturn. The rest took place during expansions. Only one of these franchises, the Cleveland Barons, did not emerge from bankruptcy. In two cases, it was minority owners that were bankrupt.

It's pretty clear that we have not yet reached the bottom of the current downturn. Based on past events, if a North American pro sports team is going to file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter XI in the near future, it will probably be a franchise in the NHL, and that franchise is unlikely to disappear. I have not been following the events on the other side of the Atlantic recently, but I would guess that things could be bad for football clubs in the top European leagues.

Sports Teams Using Food To Draw Crowd

Forced to get creative from the "Great Recession," sports teams — already freezing or lowering ticket prices — are using food to coax us to the ballpark or arena.

It's not a bad idea considering the fact that the CDC says two in every three Americans are overweight.

It's also not a bad idea because like tickets and salaries, the markup on concession items at a sporting event are due for a major correction.

Two minor league teams — the Lakewood BlueClaws and the Trenton Thunder — are offering up a can't pass up type of deal. The teams recently announced that kids, 12 and under, will get a free hot dog, bag of potato chips and 12-ounce soda with their ticket.

But the minor leagues are the minor leagues.

So you can imagine our shock when we heard that the San Diego Padres are now offering the "Five for $5" plan. It's a bucket of popcorn, a cookie, a 22-ounce soda, a hot dog and peanuts for $5 total. As a reference point, the Padres charged $4 for that hot dog and $4.25 for that soda last year.

I'm just going to guesstimate here, but I'm thinking the retail cost of this deal last year probably would have cost you about $18.50. This year, it's $5. That's a 73 percent drop in prices.

Crazy? Nah.

It still makes sense to the Padres. See, the retail cost of these items is around $1. So instead of making $17.50 on the sale of all of these items, the Padres will make $4. The difference of course is that, with the price lowered, the Padres will likely sell at least twice the amount of food and potentially more tickets. Last year, the Padres had their lowest total attendance in five years. If the game is a great background for a cheap dinner, so be it.

Expect more teams to understand this margin correction on concessions is coming pretty soon. The days of $1 hot dog night are over. At least for now, that's going to be every night in many places around the country.

By Darren Rovell, CNBC

Yankees, Bank of America End Sponsorship Talks

The New York Yankees and Bank of America have ended talks on pursuing a major sponsorship deal.

The deal was being termed as a "pseudo stadium naming rights deal" because the two parties had discussed giving the bank premium branding in the new Yankee Stadium.

On Thursday afternoon, Bank of America confirmed to Newsday that talks were suspended last month.

A Yankees official told CNBC on Thursday that the two mutually agreed to part ways after seeing the heat that Citigroup was getting for putting its name on the new Mets stadium.

New York Yankees spokesperson Alice McGillion released this statement Thursday afternoon:

"During our discussions with Bank of America, we discussed a special relationship, not a naming rights relationship, with the bank at the new stadium. In light of recent events, with the downturn in the economy and the effect on financial institutions including government support of those institutions, we have determined that it is better to enter into a traditional business arrangement with a financial institution."

Both Bank of America and Citigroup received $45 billion in TARP funds.

Source: CNBC

Coyotes Getting A Bailout From Glendale

The city of Glendale has been quietly bailing out the money-losing Phoenix Coyotes for several months, according to documents obtained by 12 News.

A record of lease payments by the Coyotes shows the city has been letting the team play virtually rent-free at Jobing.com Arena for seven months. Based on past payments, the break could be worth up to $4 million over the course of a year.
The city is giving the team the multimillion-dollar break even as it tries to plug a multimillion-dollar hole in its own budget.

AT&T On Tiger's Bag

AT&T is the new bag sponsor for Tiger Woods.

For the last nine years, Woods has had the Buick logo on his bag. The two ended their endorsement deal late last year.

AT&T is the main sponsor of the PGA tournament Woods hosts in July and is the presenting sponsor of his main charity event "TigerJam." Yet Woods has never done commercials with the company. Under this expanded deal, Woods will now star in spots.

AT&T said on Monday that it would invest more than $1 billion this year to expand its global telecommunications network. Woods is probably the best spokesman the company could have hired to help them reach that goal.

AT&T is very well accustomed to branding its name on sporting venues and tournaments. The company has naming rights on a pro stadium and arena. SBC had the naming rights to both the San Francisco Giants stadium and the San Antonio Spurs arena. But when SBC purchased AT&T and adopted the AT&T name, it turned into AT&T Park (Giants) and AT&T Center (Spurs). The company also purchased naming rights to the ballpark where the Oklahoma City RedHawks, the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, play.

Besides Woods' tournament, they sponsor two other PGA Tour events, including the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the AT&T Classic. They also are the presenting sponsor of the Cotton Bowl.

Despite all this branding, AT&T hasn't done much in the area of associating itself with individual athletes. They ditched their sponsorship of Jeff Burton's No. 31 car last year and ended their deal with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps when it expired in December. Woods will now obviously be their face.

AT&T has held up, to some extent, in this rocky economy. Over the past year, the stock is down 35 percent. That's compared to the Dow being down 42.5 percent and the S&P 500 plummeting 45 percent over that same time period.

Tiger's Foundation Linked With Stanford Financial

By Darren Rovell, CNBC

The Tiger Woods Foundation has a deal with the troubled Stanford Financial, which is still listed as a platinum partner on the charity's Web site.

At his WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship press conference today, Woods was asked about the relationship, but he didn't give many details about how the foundation will proceed.

The Tiger Woods Foundation has an agreement with Stanford Financial. I wonder if you can explain that and where that stands at the moment and what's going on.

Tiger: Everything is wonderful on our side. The foundation is doing well. Obviously as you said we have an agreement there, but everything is good on our side.

You haven't had any word from them whether that would continue?

Tiger: We're okay.

Easy Tickets? ACC Makes Tournament Tickets Available

In another sign of the trying economic times, Atlantic Coast Conference officials said Tuesday tickets are available for the men's basketball tournament.

The ACC will make tickets available to the general public for the first time since 1966. They go on sale starting next Monday for the March 12-15 tournament, which will be held at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

While tournament seats are normally among the toughest in sports to land, ACC commissioner John Swofford attributed the availability to a "unique combination of playing this year's tournament in a dome during very trying economic times."

The Georgia Dome, normally the home of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, is the largest venue used for the ACC tournament, seating more than 30,000 in its basketball configuration. Last year, the facility gained notoriety when a tornado struck during the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, forcing the remaining games to be shifted to nearby Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus.

This will mark the second time the ACC tournament has been held at Georgia Dome, and it's scheduled to return in 2012 -- the only time in the next six years the event will leave its traditional home, the Greensboro Coliseum.

"Playing in the Georgia Dome provides a great stage for our conference teams and Atlanta has been a terrific partner," Swofford said in a statement. "Having already sold more tickets to this year's tournament than the capacity of any of our other venues, our schools felt it would be appropriate to offer the remaining tickets to college basketball fans in the Atlanta area."

All available seats are in the upper deck. The entire 11-game book must be purchased at a cost of $363 -- an average of $33 per game.

The ACC did not immediately respond to a query on how many tickets were still available for the tournament.

Tickets are normally sold out in advance through the 12 member schools, but the economic downturn made it tougher to find buyers. This will be the first public sale of tickets since the 1966 tournament, the last held at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C.

Source: AP

University of Northern Iowa To Drop Baseball

Northern Iowa will eliminate its baseball program after this season, a cost-cutting measure officials say will save the school about $400,000.

Athletic director Troy Dannen made the announcement Monday, three days after the baseball team began what is now slated to be its last season.

Dannen noted an expected athletic department budget shortfall of up to $600,000 next year, thanks to a 9 percent drop in state funding.

The baseball program is expected to cost around $485,000 to run in the 2009 fiscal year but only bring in about $87,000 in ticket sales and fundraising.

Northern Iowa also plans to reduce its athletics travel budget by $200,000 and leave some vacant staff positions unfilled to help fill the gap left by state funding cuts.

Northern Iowa coach Rick Heller broke the news to the team Friday -- right after its season opener at Arkansas-Little Rock -- and Dannen spoke with the team for 90 minutes Monday.

"They're emotional. I'm emotional, and they're mad. They should be mad because they've worked hard for a very long time to make this program go. We're at a point where, as much as we want it to go, we can no longer fund it," Dannen said.

Dannen said the athletic department based its decision on potential cost savings, facilities, weather and travel requirements and gender equity issues.

The school said it decided to eliminate one sport rather than spread the cuts across the entire athletic department because of concerns that doing so would hamper the ability of the teams to stay competitive.

The elimination of baseball leaves Northern Iowa with 17 varsity teams, 10 of which are women's programs.

Dannen said that the decision to cut baseball wasn't directly related to the NCAA's Title IX gender equity requirements. He said the school wouldn't have considered dropping any sports if it weren't for the pending budget cuts.

But because 57 percent of Northern Iowa's students are women compared to just 39 percent of its athletes, Dannen said cutting a women's program wasn't feasible.

"This isn't a matter of equity. This is a matter of funding," Dannen said.

The team has 35 players, and the NCAA will let those with remaining eligibility transfer to other schools without sitting out a year. Those who remain at Northern Iowa will have their scholarships honored.

Northern Iowa has gone 248-254-1 since Heller took over before the 2000 season.

The Panthers, who were picked to finish seventh in the nine-team Missouri Valley Conference this season, don't have their own ballpark, playing instead at nearby Waterloo Riverfront Stadium. They'll also spend the first month of the season on the road to avoid playing in cold weather.

Dannen offered a possible, but highly unlikely, plan for saving the program.

He said it would take about $10 million in endowment funds to sustain baseball long-term. If $1.2 million could be raised in the next two months, the baseball team could survive for three years while giving the school time to build that endowment.

But since ticket sales and fundraising isn't expected to crack even $90,000 this year, few expect that to happen.

Northern Iowa's final home game is scheduled for May 16 against Bradley.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I'm not mad because I am. I'm angry. I don't particularly like the way [the decision] was handled," Heller said. "I really feel sorry for the players. That's where my focus is right now."

Northern Iowa is the state's second Division I baseball program to be eliminated this decade. Iowa State cut its program in 2001.

Northern Iowa previously dropped men's and women's gymnastics in 1981 and women's field hockey in 1983. Men's and women's swimming and tennis also were dropped in 2002, but the women's teams were later reinstated.

Yankee Stars Caught In Stanford Financial Mess

Johnny Damon, earning $13 million this season, cannot pay his bills.

Xavier Nady, earning $6.55 million, cannot purchase an apartment in New York.

The Stanford Financial Group scandal extends to Major League Baseball.

The issues facing Damon and Nady — both New York Yankees outfielders and both clients of agent Scott Boras — stem from the alleged $8 billion fraud scheme involving billionaire financier Robert Allen Stanford.

Damon, 35, and Nady, 30, told FOXSports.com on Friday morning that their finances are frozen because of money they have with a Stanford company.

On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission froze all assets of three entities — Stanford International Bank, Stanford Group Co., and Stanford Capital Management — all managed by Robert Allen Stanford. Those were the only three entities whose assets were frozen, according to the SEC filing.

"I can't pay bills right now," Damon said at the Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa. "That started on Tuesday. I had to pay a trainer for working out during the offseason. I told him, 'Just hold on for a little bit and hopefully all this stuff gets resolved.'"

Nady faces similar concerns.

"I'm affected in some ways. I have the same (advisor) as Johnny," Nady said. "He said I didn't have money with Stanford (investments). But all my credit card accounts are frozen right now because of that situation. I'm trying to get an apartment in New York. I can't put a credit card down to hold it."

Boras said his clients have no reason to worry about losing money.

"Our personal-management auditors have looked into the financial elements of it," Boras said. "None of our clients is in any financial jeopardy."

Both Damon and Nady said they were told by their financial advisors that the matter could be resolved within a few days. Damon said he was told that his money was insured by a bank in New York, which Boras identified as the Bank of New York.

First baseman Mark Teixeira, another Boras client who is a member of the Yankees, said he did not have money with Stanford. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who also is represented by Boras, was not available for comment.

Damon, Nady and other Boras clients use Personal Management Consultants, a division of the Scott Boras Corporation, to monitor their assets.

Players pay PMC a percentage of their earnings on top of the commission they pay Boras. The company employs CPAs who check investments, audit teams, do tax work, and perform other services.

"I talked to PMC, talked to guys at Stanford Financial Group," Damon said. "The first thing they kept saying was, 'You should be OK.' I was like, 'Not should be OK.' They clarified it that yeah, I've got nothing to worry about. But unfortunately, the money is frozen."

PMC does not make actual investments, Boras said.

"We have no link to Stanford, no financial connection to any investment company with any of our clients," Boras said. "We do not invest our clients' money and receive no compensation for it, unlike other agencies."

On Thursday, The New York Post reported that IMG, a sports management agency, quietly agreed to steer clients looking for investment advice to Stanford Financial Group, potentially exposing them to millions of dollars in losses resulting from the financial firm's alleged fraud.

According to the report, which cited three sources with knowledge of the situation, IMG and Stanford have a quid-pro-quo agreement under which Stanford Financial pays IMG a low- to mid-seven-figure consulting fee in exchange for IMG advising its clients to have their money managed by Stanford.

IMG has denied the quid-pro-quo charges.

The SEC alleges that Stanford ran an $8 billion fraud that involved luring customers into buying certificates of deposit that carried "improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates." Stanford's operation claimed the CDs were backed by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

"I have not gotten into the CDs," Damon said. "But I will tell you one thing: When I did see the CDs that were that high, I thought, 'Why don't I just do that?' It's a good thing I didn't."

Still, both Damon and Nady said they were uneasy about the state of their finances.

"I hope we're all safe," Nady said. "You're concerned because of things that have happened these last few months. To get that kind of news is never good news. You've got to hope you're OK."

Asked if the situation makes him nervous, Damon responded candidly.

"It does," he replied. "I'm not sure if the banks we owe mortgages would understand our money's frozen, start putting penalties on stuff. The whole financial world is all messed up right now. Hopefully they will go on a case-by-case basis. I'm not sure the mortgage is going to be paid this month. But hopefully it's only a couple of days."

Source: Fox Business News

15 NBA Teams Borrow From The League

As if one needed more proof as to whether or not the economic recession is affecting sports, the NBA announced that they will be borrowing $175M, in a private placement deal, to help “bailout” some of the teams in the league.

The NBA is set to borrow $175 million on Feb. 26, marking one of the first league financings since the crash of the credit markets last fall.

“In general, the NBA has a league-wide credit facility, just like the other leagues do. The league had already utilized the major portion of that,” Martins said. “The league went out to the 30 teams and asked if they were able to get another line of credit, would we be interested? We said, ‘Yes.’ “

The league surveyed its 30 teams, and 15 were interested in acquiring a loan. Each of the 15 teams can borrow a maximum of $11.7 million from the debt proceeds.

The private-placement deal was arranged by JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. In a private placement, non-banking lenders such as pension funds and insurers extend the cash, commonly at fixed rates for five- to seven-year terms and at rates higher than what banks offer for floating-rate loans.

Harvey Benjamin, the NBA’s executive counsel for business and finance, said it’s important not to compare the rates with what the NBA had been paying before the credit market collapse — about 200 to 300 interest points less for similar debt, sources said — but rather, what borrowers of similar standing are paying in today’s environment. In that light, he said, the 8.27 percent the NBA will pay on $100 million of the debt, and the 7.45 percent on the remaining $75 million, is favorable.

A New Football League? That's Guts!

It's the most improbable story in the sports business industry so far this year.

While sports leagues try to figure out exactly how they're going to deal with this economic downturn, a new sports league is being announced today.

It's called the United Football League and its season, dubbed "UFL Premiere," is scheduled to kick off in October with four teams that will play a six-game season in at least seven cities.

Led by former NFL executive and agent Michael Huyghue as commissioner and prominent sports marketer Frank Vuono as chief operating officer, the season has been financed through $30 million of capital provided by a group of investors including investment banker Bill Hambrecht, Google senior vice president Tim Armstrong and Paul Pelosi, the husband of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

The cities where the teams will play are: Las Vegas/Los Angeles, New York/Hartford, Orlando and San Francisco/Sacramento. Players are expected to be signed, at what the league says will be salaries higher than NFL minimums, starting this summer. They will be trained and housed in Casa Grande, Arizona, where the league says a $20 million training complex is being constructed.

The league says the average ticket price will be $20 to $25 per ticket and the single-entity league will do its best to lure the crowds by assigning players to areas where they played their high school, college or professional football. The financial model hopes for 20,000 to 25,000 fans per game in the first season.

The announcement comes after the Arena Football League announced plans to fold up for at least the 2009 season, and maybe forever. It also comes eight years after the XFL played its first game. That league, co-owned by the WWE and General Electric, folded after one season.

Asked if he’s scared that people will immediately shoot down the idea of the league being successful given the XFL’s past and the fact that they’ll be playing during the NFL and college football seasons, Frank Vuono told us, “I kind of like that.”

“People have been telling me I can’t do things most of my life,” Vuono said. “That motivates us. That and the fact that the business community doesn’t really know much about what we’re going to do.”

Vuono says there will be advertising on jerseys and sponsors in eight categories will have exclusivity. He also said that when the league is established, the idea is to have it trade publicly. It was Hambrecht who convinced Google to use an internet-based auction for their IPO five years ago.

Unlike the XFL, Vuono says the NFL will be “quietly happy” with the startup. “It will be like putting 200 people on their practice squads,” Vuono said.

League officials say they are in final negotiations with a television network and the venues where the games will be played.

Stanford Financial Caught In $8b Fraud

The sports world is reeling today after the SEC accused Robert Allen Stanford of the Stanford Financial Group of massive fraud.

Stanford made huge investments in the sports sponsorship world, so much so that the London Times recently named Stanford the 65th most powerful person in the business of British sports.

The athlete with the most to lose is golfer Vijay Singh, who signed a big sponsorship deal with Stanford earlier this year. Stanford is the sole logo that appears on Singh's hat and shirt. Singh's agent Clarke Jones did not return calls for comment, so it is not known how much money Singh got up front or whether he invested any money with the firm.

Other golfers said to have relationships with Stanford include Henrik Stenson, Camilo Villegas and Morgan Pressel. Villegas wears the Stanford Financial logo on the side of his cap.

Stanford Financial recently pulled out money from his worldwide cricket tournment called the Stanford Twenty20 Super Series. But there are many more deals that are still active.

Stanford is one of many host sponsors of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, the fifth largest tennis event in the world which will take place from March 23-April in Florida. Tournament director Adam Barrett said that it's most likely that Stanford paid up for the majority of its 2009 sponsorship bill. "We're hearing about this along with the rest of the world today," Barrett told us. Stanford Financial has been a sponsor of the tournament for five years.

More exposed, certainly for the future, will be the PGA Tour's Stanford St. Jude Championship, which will be played June 11-14 in Memphis. PGA Tour spokesman Chris Smith said the tour has no comment at this time. The company started sponsoring the tournament in 2007.

There are so many deals here we simply didn't have time to reach out to others before the business day ended. Stanford Financial has a commitment to sponsor the year-ending LPGA Championship and a big naming rights deal with the Miami Heat. The company sponsors one of the entrances to the American Airlines Arena, where the Heat play and they have co-sponsored many events with the team, including a recent Miami Heat Celebrity Cook-Off Event last month.

Real Madrid, Manchester United Top Richest Soccer Clubs

Manchester United have come second in the list of the world's richest clubs, while Real Madrid stay top for the fourth year in a row.

Deloitte's Football Money League, based on financial information for the 2007/08 season, features seven English clubs in the top 20 positions.

The authors said that United would have been top of the Money League if the pound was still at June 2007 levels.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Exchange rate factor

"If the exchange rate value of the pound had not depreciated, there would have been nine, rather than seven English clubs in the top 20 and Manchester United would have topped the Money League ahead of Real Madrid," said Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

United won the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League in 2008, posting a significant 21% pound-denominated revenue growth. Real Madrid posted only a 4% revenue increase.

WORLD'S WEALTHIEST CLUBS BY REVENUE
1) Real Madrid: $414.02m
2) Man Utd: $367.49m
3) Barcelona: $349.32m
4) Bayern Munich: $334.15m
5) Chelsea: $304.28m
6) Arsenal: $299.13m
7) Liverpool: $238.68m
8) AC Milan: $236.88m
9) AS Roma: $198.45m
10) Inter Milan: $195.59m

Source: Deloitte: 2007/8

Lancaster Barnstormers Convert Ballpark To IcePark

Is your organization looking for new ways to generate revenue during the off-season? Are you looking for ways to cross-promote your organization during the off-season months?

For three consecutive years, the Lancaster Barnstormers have successfully converted their ballpark into a winter wonderland for fans within the local community. The Barnstormers teamed up with Lancaster County Hyundai and the Lancaster County Motors Subaru Superstore to feature the "Ice Park at Clipper Magazine Stadium". The team sees the ice skating initiative as a great way to generate incremental revenue and buzz during the off-season months.

From December through March, the team erects a 135'x80' ice rink in the outfield of Clipper Magazine Stadium that is made available to fans for skating on Thursdays (6-10pm), Fridays (6-10pm), Saturdays (12-10pm), and Sundays (12-6pm) of every week. In addition, the team offers group sessions and Ice Park birthday parties on weekdays at a select price.

In 2007, the Ice Park attracted over 15,000 people out to the ballpark, willing to pay $9 per ticket for the experience ($6 if they owned their own skates). The team closes the rink when temperatures rise above 50 degrees.

The A-Rod Brand Is Tainted

Alex Rodriguez's image transformed in a three-day span, costing himself millions of dollars in future endorsements.

Marc Ganis, president of the consulting company Sports Corp. Ltd., said Rodriguez will be viewed differently by fans and sponsors as his home-run total climbs from 553 and nears Barry Bonds' mark of 762.

The A-Rod brand has been tainted.

"He is going to have a cloud over him, particularly as he approaches the home run record, where before this revelation, he was considered the anti-Bonds, the guy who was going to get the greatest record in all of sports back into the hands of a clean athlete," Ganis said Tuesday. "He will always have this postscript. Sponsors don't like postscripts."

Baseball's highest-paid and perhaps most-talented player, Rodriguez said Monday that he used banned drugs from 2001-2003 while playing for Texas. The admission came two days after Sports Illustrated reported that his name was among 104 players on a list seized by federal agents five years ago.

Rodriguez was at the University of Miami's campus Tuesday morning for a workout session, with several photographers staking out the gym he frequents and surrounding his vehicle. He did not comment.

Rodriguez is to be the headline attraction at the school's annual baseball banquet Friday night, when the Hurricanes' home park gets renamed in honor of the $3.9 million gift he gave Miami in 2003.

Manager Joe Girardi, speaking on WFAN radio, predicted his players will rally around the three-time MVP. He's spoken with Rodriguez and texted.

"He's been through so much already as a person, as a Yankee, as a baseball player, and I think it's just another challenge for him," Girardi said. "And the one thing that I think Alex loves is challenges."

Former AL MVP Jose Canseco, who in a pair of books revealed details on drug use in baseball, hopes to meet with commissioner Bud Selig and Fehr.

"I think I have the ear of the nation now," Canseco said. "I think everyone realizes I have not in any way, shape or form tried to create smoke and mirrors like Major League Baseball has and the players have. I have been excruciatingly honest about what's going on in baseball."

The list was a spreadsheet seized by federal agents from Comprehensive Drug Testing in Long Beach, Calif., in April 2004. The agents had a search warrant for the testing records of 10 players involved with BALCO. When they saw the spreadsheet, agents obtained additional search warrants, copied the entire computer directory and took the records of all the players.

Test samples and records were to remain anonymous and be destroyed, but MLB and the players' association couldn't arrange for the destruction with the test companies between Nov. 13, 2003 — when the results were finalized — and that Nov. 19, when the union became aware of the subpoena.

The players' association filed motions to get the records back and won in three U.S. District Courts. But a 9th circuit panel reversed in a 2-1 vote in December 2006, a decision the panel mostly reaffirmed in January 2008.

The full 9th Circuit then threw out that panel decision and decided to have 11 judges hear the matter. It included five judges appointed by Bill Clinton, four by George W. Bush and one each by Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Oral arguments were heard in December, and it's uncertain when a decision will be issued.

"I think it's too close to call. These are very hard issues and they're new issues. It's really hard to predict," said Orin S. Kerr, professor of law at The George Washington University Law School. "This is a lawyers' battle for people that can hire very good lawyers, and that's not true in most criminal cases."

Prosecutors want to ask the wider group of players where they obtained steroids, which might advance investigations. The players' association, citing privacy rights, claims the search violated the Fourth Amendment.

The case, which could wind up before the Supreme Court, might define what "plain view" means in the digital age. Or the 9th Circuit could decide it on procedural grounds.

"It really depends on how they write it. So this could be an extremely important case, and it could be a very narrow case," Kerr said. "It's an unusual case in that the information has value outside the criminal case, which is not normally the case."

Citi Stands By Mets Naming Rights Deal

As the days go by, the pressure seems to be mounting on the folks at Citi to get out of their 20-year, $400 million naming rights deal with the New York Mets.

Citigroup has received $45 billion in government bailout money and some believe the deal for the new stadium is therefore not the best use of funds.

Despite all the noise, including a front page story in the Wall Street Journal today, the Mets just sent us this statement.

"In conversations this morning, Citi reinforced that they will honor our legally binding agreement."

Costas To Join Upstart MLB Network; Remain At NBC

Bob Costas, a 19-time Emmy Award winner and NBC broadcaster, has signed a multi-year contract to join the upstart MLB Network, CNBC has learned, though he will remain at NBC Sports.

The MLB network, which debuted on Jan. 1 as the largest launch in cable history at 50 million homes, will announce the news later today.

Costas will host original programming on the channel and will serve as play-by-play commentator for a select group of regular season games broadcast by the network, which is owned by the league.

"Bob's love for baseball is well documented and very sincere," said his agent Sandy Montag of IMG. "When this opportunity came up, it made a lot of sense. The network's distribution out of the box is strong, the management is strong and the place looks great."

He is the author of the bestseller, "Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball," which was written in 2000.

Montag also said the network's geographical location was also a plus. The MLB Network is based in Secaucus, N.J., close to New York, where Costas now lives.

Costas, who hosted NBC's recent coverage of Super Bowl XLIII, will continue his responsibilities with NBC Sports, including hosting the Olympics and the Sunday Night Football show, "Football Night in America." Costas has been with the network since 1980.

As part of the deal, Costas will leave HBO, where he hosted "Costas Now" and "Inside the NFL" over the last eight years.

Although a deal wasn't finalized at that point, Costas interviewed Don Larsen and Yogi Berra for the network as part of its rebroadcast of the 1956 World Series perfect game, which was the first thing viewers saw when the network debuted on Jan. 1.

Costas will host a new one-hour program for the network called "MLB Network Studio 42 with Bob Costas."

His first interview, with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, will air on Thursday, Feb. 5.

Chiefs Change Supermarket Sponsorship

Say so long to “Chiefs and Chopper.”

After nearly three decades, the homegrown Price Chopper chain will no longer be the Kansas City Chiefs’ “official” grocery sponsor. Price Chopper said the Chiefs indicated that when the sponsorship contract ran out in March, Iowa-based Hy-Vee Food & Drug would take over.

“Price Chopper has been a sponsor for 28 years, back when the Chiefs were building their fan base and the stadium wasn’t as full as it is now,” said Phil Hermanson, a spokesman for Price Chopper. “Being a local company, Price Chopper wants to support the Chiefs.”

Hy-Vee declined to comment, referring calls to the Chiefs.

Tammy Fruits, vice president of sales and marketing for the Chiefs, said the National Football League team had a “long and good relationship” with Price Chopper, but she confirmed that the contract was ending. She declined to elaborate “out of respect to our partners.”

Industry experts say grocers depend on community support and that one way to garner that is by supporting things the community cares about — from local schools to major-league sports teams.

Indeed. Sports have become one of the largest categories of sponsorship spending in the United States. IEG, a Chicago research firm, estimates that sports leagues and their teams generated $11.4 billion in sponsorship revenue in 2008, compared with $9.9 billion in 2007, a nearly 15 percent increase.

Hy-Vee’s timing may be pretty good. Although the Chiefs’ last two seasons were dismal — the team compiled records of 4-12 in 2007 and 2-14 in 2008 — there is renewed excitement since Scott Pioli was named general manager this month.

Still, overcoming the Chiefs and Chopper connection may be a challenge.

“Hy-Vee bought a category, so they are the ‘official’ grocery. But that only gets them in the game,” said Dave Wilson, a partner of InQuest Marketing LLC, a Leawood-based marketing and communications company that has worked with Price Chopper owners and other grocers. “Then it’s how you leverage it.”

The Chiefs logo has been prominent in Price Chopper ads and in the stores. Players, team owners, broadcasters, cheerleaders and even the KC Wolf mascot have made guest appearances at Price Chopper supermarkets. And the chain used the Chiefs to push its deli value meals called Wolf Packs.

How Hy-Vee handles the sponsorship remains to be seen.

“In the early days, Price Chopper would buy out remaining tickets — sometimes thousands — so the local game would be televised,” Wilson said.

William Chipps, senior editor for IEG, said Hy-Vee, which is based in West Des Moines, Iowa, probably had to offer something “pretty extraordinary” to the Chiefs.

If the chain offered more money, Hy-Vee has the luxury of spreading costs across its region of 225 stores in seven states. Price Chopper is a local banner of Associated Wholesale Grocers with 48 locations in Kansas and Missouri.

In response to losing the official sponsorship, Price Chopper recently made a “major commitment” to advertising within KCTV-5’s telecasts of Chiefs games and pregame and post-game specials, along with “Locker Room” and “Kick-off” shows.

Super Bowl XLIII Winners and Losers

By Darren Rovell, CNBC

WINNERS

Santonio Holmes: His 131 yards receiving and amazing game-winning TD grab secured him the MVP, the Disney World spot, and a nice pension of sorts from the collectible world for always being a Super Bowl MVP.

The Business of the Super Bowl

Dick's Sporting Goods: the Pittsburgh-based sports retailer hit the jackpot with the Steelers winning. They have virtually no competition in Pennsylvania, made a huge bet on the Steelers winning it all and it will pay off to the tune of major sales of full priced merchandise -- a rarity in these times.

The NFL: Incredible championship games like this help separate the NFL from the rest of the major sports leagues.

James Harrison: The NFL Defensive Player of the Year, previously cut three times by the Steelers, will forever be known for the amazing 100 yard touchdown return.

Disney: Not only did they get Roethlisberger and Holmes on the contingency list so that they had them "Going To Disney World" after they won. But officials with the company were surprised when Bruce Springsteen finished his set with "I'm going to Disneyland."

Bridgestone: The tire company gets halftime when Springsteen finally says yes. Not only that, two of their ads -- tires on the moon and Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head -- are among the most popular.

NBC: The network still managed to sell out ads to the tune of record revenue and actually gave those who bought second-half spots value for their money.

Ben Roethlisberger: Two titles at such a young age, combined with the tradition and fan base of the Steelers, makes him the most marketable player in the league once again.

President Barack Obama: To our new president's credit, he avoided being politically safe and boldly picked the Steelers, proving that he knows a winner. Getting thanked by Dan Rooney as the biggest member of Steeler Nation in the postgame gave him more cred.

Mike Tomlin: Winning Super Bowl coaches have a long leash. For Tomlin, the youngest coach to win the Big Game, this is the best job security you can hope for.

PUSH

Bruce Springsteen: Sure, it's a big deal to play at the Super Bowl Halftime show. Just see Tom Petty's rise in digital music sales last year. But the crowd was dead when he was trying to convince them to like his latest, "Working On A Dream."

Michael Phelps: Nothing good can come from evidence of smoking pot, but if there were a day for this story to emerge, you'd want this game, and a five-setter between Nadal and Federer, to bury it deep into the paper.

Kurt Warner: The Arizona Cardinals quarterback still comes away with a book deal, though a bit less lucrative, and another great game to add to his legacy.

El Salvador: They will still get a great donation of "Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl Champion" gear, but the donation would have been larger had the Steelers lost.

Ticket Sellers: After predictions that this would be the worst market ever, no one was getting tickets at face, as too many Steelers fans showed up with no tickets to keep the ticket market soft.

LOSERS

Larry Fitzgerald: An amazing game for the Arizona Cardinals wide receiver -- two touchdowns in less than five minutes in the fourth quarter. But it's hard to get attention in Arizona and Fitzgerald won't get big marketing deals without a championship and a Super Bowl MVP in his hands.

Stanley Druckenmiller: With the Rooneys squabbling over what to do with the Steelers, Druckenmiller appeared to have the cash to do the deal before the Rooneys backed off. Having a championship months after buying the team would have been sweet.

Tampa Business Owners: It's better than normal business, but it doesn't seem like there was a whole lot of spending going on here. Not only were people pouring their hard earned dollars into the game ticket, but there was a big contingent of people staying 80 miles away in Orlando.

Rahal-Letterman Racing In Doubt For 2009 IRL

The Rahal Letterman Racing team says it is making a last-ditch effort to find a sponsor so it can compete in the 2009 IndyCar Series.

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal said Thursday the situation looks "pretty grim" but he remains hopeful the reeling economy won't prevent his cars from running.

Earlier, Rahal said in an e-mail to The Associated Press: "At this time Rahal Letterman will not be in the IRL in 2009." But he's not giving up.

"We are continuing to search for sponsorship to run the 2009 season and to run in the Indianapolis 500," he said in a statement, "and we feel that there is still time for us to put something together that will allow that to happen."

The IndyCar opener is April 5.

RLR is co-owned by talk-show host David Letterman.

Rod Tidwell Will Be In The House At Super Bowl

It has confirmed that "Rod Tidwell" himself will be at the Super Bowl as his Arizona Cardinals play in the game for the first time.

Nancy Kane, who represents Cuba Gooding Jr., told us that the actor who won the Oscar for his role as the Cardinals wide receiver in "Jerry Maguire" will be in attendance this weekend in Tampa.

It is not known whether Gooding Jr. will be wearing his No. 85 jersey around town. He attended last year's Super Bowl in Arizona, but spent the previous year in New York City at the 40/40 Club.

Here are a couple interesting tidbits on the Rod Tidwell character:

The No. 85 is currently worn by tight end Jerherme Urban. The best Cardinals player to play in that jersey since the movie (1996) was Rob Moore, whose footage was used in the flick.

Reebok sued Tri-Star because they thought they weren't portrayed in a positive light. As part of the settlement, a Reebok commercial featuring Tidwell was attached to the end of the movie.

Four companies currently have live trademarks to the phrase "Show Me The Money."

It includes the rights to use the phrase on clothing, on slot machines, on radio programs and has even been trademarked by a sports management firm.

The play-by-play announcer for the game against the Dallas Cowboys, where Tidwell had his big catch, was Al Michaels. Michaels will be the play-by-play announcer this Sunday.

Stanford Considering Cutting Sports

Stanford’s athletic department is projecting a $5 million loss in revenue over the next three years and is considering cutting staff and eliminating some sports teams, The Associated Press has learned.

The school is expected to decide in the next 30 to 60 days on staff cuts, a Stanford employee familiar with the budget issues told the AP on condition of anonymity because the person is not authorized to discuss the shortfall.

The person also said Tuesday it wasn’t clear which teams, if any, would be considered for elimination—and it likely wouldn’t be until next season so at the earliest in the fall.

“That’s the last thing they want to consider. They don’t want it to affect student-athletes,” the person said, noting another department was looking to eliminate 50 positions from a staff of about 140. “We do have some serious budget problems. We’re looking at other ways (to save).”

Reducing travel costs also was being discussed.

Times are tough all over. Because Title IX essentially puts a cost on men's teams that is not placed on women's teams, how will Title IX be used if it comes to cutting teams?

Despite Poor Economy, Super Bowl Won't Lose Luster

The sagging economy has put a hit on plans for this year's Super Bowl, not that visitors to Tampa for the game and hundreds of millions watching on TV will be able to tell the difference.

America's bacchanalian bash in honor of football will still roll for the TV cameras with all its over-the-top glitz. Yet there are signs — fewer and smaller parties, maybe not quite so many reporters and traveling fans — that the shine will be a little less bright this year.

The game will still be sold out. The town will be crawling with party-hopping celebrities. Hotels will be busy, fans wearing Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals garb will be ubiquitous on the streets, and hundreds of media members will descend to cover the event, which will still likely be the nation's most-watched TV broadcast this year.

The impact of the nation's economic woes on the event are more subtle.

The Super Bowl Host Committee had to lower its fundraising goal by $1 million. Corporations that are sponsoring the game are sending fewer bigwigs to town. A couple of the big Super Bowl parties and other events were bagged, others are downsizing, and some media companies — especially hard hit by the downturn and the changing habits of news consumers — are sending fewer scribes to cover the game.

"No one is immune from the economy, not the NFL, not the host committee for the Super Bowl," said Reid Sigmon, the host committee's executive director.

The committee lowered its local fundraising expectation from $8 million to $7 million after sponsorships lagged, but it will still meet its financial obligations to the NFL, Sigmon said. The committee started early and got a lot of the money raised before the economy took a hard turn in late summer, he said.

The auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicted the economy would be a factor on game week, resulting in "fewer visitors and media, a shorter average length-of-stay per visitor, and less spending in the hospitality and related industries throughout the Tampa Bay area."

The projected $150 million in direct spending tied to the game will be about 20 percent off what it would have been if the economy were stronger, the company said in a report Wednesday.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league tried not to spare any expense for this year's event, adding that "we're bullish on the Super Bowl and what it means to America."

If the NFL's private sponsors' party seems smaller this year, it's simply because some sponsors are sending fewer people to the game, which the league sees as its pinnacle event, McCarthy said.

As an "acknowledgment of what our fans are going through," a block of 1,000 game tickets were offered for $500 each — $300 less than the face value of most game tickets, he said.

Tourism officials say it's still too early to tell how well Steelers and Cardinals fans will travel and whether the area's more than 50,000 hotel rooms will fill up. Tampa Bay & Company, the area's tourism bureau, is reaching out to media outlets in the Pittsburgh and Phoenix areas to drum up business.

"We're still expecting 100,000 fans in Tampa Bay," visitors bureau spokesman Travis Claytor said, citing the estimated number of visitors expected for a typical Super Bowl.

The economic woes led Sports Illustrated and Playboy to pull the plug on their traditional high-end Super Bowl parties this year. Sports Illustrated spokesman Scott Novak said "it wasn't the right thing to do," given the state of the economy.

However, there will be no shortage of glitzy fetes and red carpet scenes around town in the days leading up the game. Among the hosts and other big names: Kevin Costner, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jenny McCarthy, Carmen Electra, Pamela Anderson and T-Pain.

The Maxim magazine party is still on; it's just being downsized a bit. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend what has become one of Super Bowl week's most popular affairs.

"We're all cognizant of the difficult economic environment in which we operate, and our party reflects that," said Glenn Rosenbloom, co-CEO of Alpha Media Group Inc., which publishes the men's magazine. "So we're going to have it in a smaller venue and it will be more exclusive."

Viewers at home will get to see plenty of quirky Super Bowl commercials, as usual. Although Super Bowl regulars such as General Motors Corp. and FedEx Corp. opted out of advertising on the broadcast, NBC said it had sold 90 percent of Super Bowl ads as of mid-January.

Most ads have sold for about $3 million per 30-second spot — an all-time high price for the Super Bowl, which will be seen by about 100 million U.S. viewers.

AIG Will Not Renew Man United Shirt Sponsorship

AIG has confirmed it will not be renewing its shirt sponsorship of Manchester United when the deal expires in 2010.

American International Group Inc. is in the process of restructuring its business and shedding assets to raise funds after receiving a $150 billion bailout last year from the U.S. government.

The company has already ended its decade-long sponsorship of the U.S. Davis Cup team.

The Manchester United deal is worth a reported 19 million pounds ($27 million) annually.

"The shirt sponsorship runs to May 2010," AIG said in a statement given to The Associated Press on Thursday. "There are no plans to renew the deal."

United has already started looking for a new sponsor and has sounded out Sahara, a leading Indian business conglomerate as well as Saudi Telecom.

"We are in dialogue with a select number of companies worldwide," United spokesman Phil Townsend said earlier this week.

Even with the current economic climate, United should have no problem securing a deal better than the AIG agreement. Manchester United is the most popular soccer team in the world and won the Premier League, Champions League and the FIFA World Club Championship last season.

Dolphins Sale Finalized

Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga was serious about wanting to sell his majority share of the team to co-owner Stephen Ross before Barack Obama became president.

Granted the sale didn’t take place during 2008, which means if capital gains taxes do increase this year, Huizenga is likely to be socked with a higher bill. But from what I’m being told, the deal to sell the additional 45 percent of the Dolphins and Dolphin Stadium was signed before Obama took the oath of office this afternoon.

Ross now owns 95 percent of the team and the stadium and 50 percent of the surrounding land. Huizenga, who maintains his attachment to the team calling the sale “bittersweet,” is hanging onto 5 percent of the team and stadium and half the land. Total value of the deal: $1.1 billion.

But with Tuesday’s deal, Huizenga gave up his last majority ownership in a South Florida sports franchise. In the 1990s, Huizenga owned three teams: the Dolphins, Marlins and Panthers. Huizenga brought both baseball and hockey to the region.

Tuesday began a new era. That wasn’t lost in Ross, a New York real estate developer and part-time Palm Beach resident.

“The United States is entering into a new climate, a new opportunity,” Ross said when asked about the sale being completed the same day Obama took office. “And I saw myself, being able to enter into a new opportunity for me that was very exciting, and I’ve always dreamt of.”

Ross wouldn't discuss the financial structure of the deal, but sources say Huizenga is holding a note on the transaction and allowing Ross to owe him a portion of the balance. He says he has been pursuing investors to buy a stake in the team.

"I always wanted to have a few people join me. And in these times, no one has joined me at this point in time," Ross said adding he is still talking with a few potential investors.

Ross didn’t reveal much about how he intends to run the Dolphins, other than he hopes to build on Huizenga’s legacy. He vowed not to increase ticket prices next season, saying now, in a struggling economy, was not the time to raise prices.

He said he plans to alter the game-day experience, but he didn't offer any details. He’ll examine the stadium and business side of the operation and the possibility for additional renovations or development, he said.

“We’re really looking into all of that and seeing the pricing of all of that and how we might put that together, but I’m examining every aspect of the business,” Ross said.

He said he never intended to offer a job to friend and former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson, who Ross invited to join him at the Dolphins-Baltimore Ravens playoff game.

He is still talking about former USTA CEO Arlen Kantarian possibly joining the team as a business side executive, but “there is no deal.”

And he offered some welcome news to those of us still in the newspaper business:

“When you love a sport which I do, I love all sports and am constantly reading the sports pages,” he said. “Even today, when I read the paper and I read a couple of them, the first section I go to is the sports section. You can’t get that out of your system no matter what you’re doing. I was brought up always wanting to be involved with sports, it’s always a dream. Since I wasn’t going to make it as a player, it was a dream to become an owner.”

City of San Diego Sues Chargers For Back Rent

Is it too late to funnel some of that bailout money to the Chargers?

In a move that surprised everyone, including the Chargers, the City of San Diego sued the Chargers on Wednesday, for breach of contract.

The San Diego Union Tribune reports that the city of San Diego has filed a breach-of-contract suit against the Chargers, claiming the team owes the city more than $170,000 for use of Qualcomm Stadium in 2004, including more than $44,000 in accrued interest.

The suit came as a surprise to the Chargers, who noted that the team’s lease with the city calls for any controversy between the two parties to be decided in arbitration – and not in a lawsuit.

The idea behind mandatory arbitration was to save legal expenses and time. Fabiani said he expected the suit to be dismissed because of this lease stipulation.

The city’s suit says the Chargers were obligated to pay $250,000 per game in rent for the city-owned stadium, subject to certain rent credits allowed by the city in the lease. In 2005, the city audited payments by the team for 2004 and found the team underpaid the city by $125,795 as a result of the Chargers claiming skybox rent credits that were previously disallowed by the city for the 1996 through 2000 seasons.

Papa John's Has Special Super Bowl Offer

Are you looking to create a unique football-themed promotion? Are you looking for an interesting way to tie in a media personality to your promotional offer?

Looking to capitalize on all of the frenzy surrounding the Super Bowl, Papa Johns has created a unique performance-driven promotion that has the potential to reward fans in a LARGE way.

If the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl (Papa Johns uses the terminology "The Big Game") is returned for a touchdown, every consumer who registers* on the Countdown To Kickoff webpage before 6pm on Super Bowl Sunday will become eligible to receive a large, one-topping pizza for just 25 cents. The 25 cent offer coincides with this year being Papa John's 25th anniversary.

Is the promotional offer possible? Yes, very possible - eight (8) kickoffs have been returned for a touchdown in Super Bowl history (seven (7) of which have occured since 1984). During the 2008-09 season, thirteen (13) kickoffs were returned for touchdowns (Source: Countdown to Kickoff webpage)

Papa Johns has called on ESPN football personality Desmond Howard, who holds the record for the longest touchdown return in Super Bowl history, to help promote the unique discount offer for fans. The Countdown to Kickoff webpage features a few great viral clips that show Desmond Howard expressing his love for football and Papa Johns pizza while working at a Papa Johns retail location. Papa Johns is also supporting the promotion with a Facebook application/group which already boasts 200,671 fans.

Tribune Chooses Ricketts To Buy Cubs

The billionaire Ricketts family has been selected by Tribune Co. as the winning bidder for the hard-luck Chicago Cubs, according to several reports.

The bid is worth about $900 million, according to the Web site of the Chicago Tribune, which also is owned by Tribune Co. The sale would include Wrigley Field and a 25 percent interest in a regional sports network, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The selection of Tom Ricketts, a member of the founding family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., and chief executive of InCapital LLC, was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times' Web site.

Both reports cited an unidentified source.

Tribune Co. purchased the Cubs from Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for $20.5 million in June 1981. It put the team on the market on opening day 2007, when real estate mogul Sam Zell agreed to buy Tribune Co.

Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said last week that the team hopes to have a new owner in place by opening day, April 6, but many steps must happen before a sale can be completed.

Ricketts must reach an agreement with Tribune Co., which filed for bankruptcy protection last month. While the Cubs and Wrigley Field were not included in the bankruptcy filing, a sale likely will have to be approved by the creditors' committee.

In addition, a sale must be approved by baseball owners.

Major League Baseball had not been informed by Tribune Co. of the winning bidder as of Thursday evening, a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions between the team and MLB are not made public.

Other finalists in the bidding included Hersch Klaff, who owns a Chicago commercial real estate firm, and a partnership between two New Yorkers involved in private equity, Marc Utay of Clarion Capital and Leo Hindery Jr. of InterMedia Partners.

Tom Ricketts grew up watching the Cubs on WGN, once lived in an apartment above a bar across the street from Wrigley Field, and met his wife in the bleachers at a Cubs game. His father, J. Joe Ricketts, founded Ameritrade and became a leading online stockbroker, but Tom never worked for that company.

He was a market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and finance executive before starting investment bank Incapital LLC. He has been serving as the family's point man in the bid to buy the Cubs.

If the deal is approved, the Ricketts would acquire a team that hasn't won the World Series since 1908 and hasn't even made it to the World Series since 1945. While the Cubs won the NL Central in each of the last two seasons, they were swept in the first round of the playoffs both times.

Tribune Co. considered selling the team and the famous ballpark separately but rejected a plan from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to purchase the ivy-walled stadium. Kenney said recently that the two would be sold together.

Stewart Adds Burger King

Tony Stewart is adding another sponsor to his roster for next season.

Burger King has signed a two-race Sprint Cup Series deal to serve as primary sponsor of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. The deal, which is valued at $2.8 million, also includes sponsorship of Stewart's Eldora Speedway dirt track in New Weston, Ohio.

The fast food chain will serve as primary sponsor for the second races at Daytona International Speedway (July 4) and Dover International Speedway (Sept. 27).

"I've been using my team card a lot," Stewart joked at the announcement. "So I'm not starving by any means."

Stewart's primary sponsorship of his No. 14 Sprint Cup entry will be split by Office Depot and Old Spice.

Super Bowl Tickets Falling

Prices for Super Bowl tickets are falling.

LiveStub, a secondary ticket site that doesn't charge commissions for tickets it sells, says the average selling price is $2,278 per seat. eBay's StubHub has the average this morning at $2,790 per seat.

Considering the average price on StubHub for the last three Super Bowls has been over $3,000 (2008: $3,536, 2007: $4,004, 2006: $3,009), early indications are that it will be a bargain if you can get a ticket to Tampa.

But that could be deceptive based on what happens this weekend. The thinking in the secondary market is that an Eagles-Steelers (all Pennsylvania Super Bowl) could lead to the most expensive ticket ever, while a Ravens-Cardinals matchup could produce the cheapest ticket since the Patriots played the Rams in 2002, when tickets went for $100.

Source: Darren Rovell, CNBC

Cards, Eagles Sell Out In 6 Minutes

The bandwagon overflowed within minutes on Sunday.

Arizona Cardinals fans starved for success gathered by the thousands at the stadium's box office to purchase tickets for next weekend's NFC Championship.

Most walked away empty-handed as season-ticket holders already had purchased tickets and the 20,000 or so for the general public were gone in record time.

Ticketmaster sold out in six minutes.

The Cards even added more tickets to the mix by upping University of Phoenix Stadium's standard 64,500 seats to more than 70,000.

It was a far cry from the team's first home playoff game a week ago when the NFL had to give two extensions before the game sold out.

Clearly, the team's domination of Carolina on Saturday made believers out of skeptics. The Cards are for real and they're one win away from the Super Bowl.

This Sunday, the dust barely settled on the Philadelphia Eagles win over the New York Giants, which locked in the Cards' second home playoff, when fans converged on the mother ship in Glendale.

Barkley No Longer In T-Mobile's Fave Five

The repercussions from Charles Barkley's DUI arrest continue.

On Monday, T-Mobile announced that it will be pulling its ad campaign featuring Barkley and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade. The ads, which originally featured Wade trying to get into Barkley's 'Fave Five', had run since 2006.

In a statement, T-Mobile says that "for the time being, we've replaced TV ads featuring Mr. Barkley with more general-market advertising." It is unknown when, if at all, the Barkley ads will return to the air.

This comes merely three days after Turner Sports announced that the popular NBA analyst would be taking an extended leave of absence from his duties on the NBA on TNT.

D-Backs CEO Resigns; Will Buy Padres

Jeff Moorad has resigned as Arizona Diamondbacks chief executive officer and says he has reached an agreement in principle to buy the San Diego Padres.

Moorad said Friday he heads a "small but significant" group of investors that has an exclusive right to complete the specifics of negotiations with Padres owner John Moores. Moorad said he hopes the transaction can be completed in the next three months.

Moorad said he has a long friendship with Moores and his wife, Becky, whose divorce precipitated the Padres' potential sale.

Discussions on the potential purchase became extensive after Moores hired Goldman Sachs to oversee the sale of the club in late November, Moorad said.

"We have a lot of work to do," Moorad said on a conference call, "but John and Becky and the folks at Goldman Sachs have been very attentive and focused as I intend to be over the next month or so. I'm hopeful that we can get to the finish line."

The Moores reportedly own 90 percent of the Padres. Community property laws in California give Becky Moores a 50 percent share of that asset and she must agree to any sale.

San Diego owner John Moores confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Moorad had exclusive negotiating rights to buy the team. Jesse Jacobs from Goldman Sachs didn't immediately return a call or e-mail seeking comment.

Moorad said he would be the majority owner if the deal goes through. He would have to sell his share of ownership in the Diamondbacks if the Padres deal is finalized.

He said he first approached Moores about buying the team when rumors surfaced that the Padres might be for sale.

"I told him that I was very happy in Arizona, that I was very excited about the organization that the Diamondbacks had become," Moorad said, "and that the only thing that would turn my head would be the possibility of returning to California, particularly Southern California."

Moores got back to him "a couple of months ago" to say that indeed he was selling the team, and the talks progressed from there. Moorad said he was required to resign from his Arizona job in order to have exclusive rights to complete negotiations with the Padres. Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall replaces Moorad as CEO.

The Moores would continue to have a share of the team's ownership for a yet undetermined number of years, Moorad said.

The transaction would come in an economy that is reeling on all fronts.

"I think sports teams will be challenged going forward as all businesses will be in the short term," Moorad said, "but I'm bullish on baseball and I'm particularly bullish on baseball in Southern California. I think we've shown in Arizona there are ways to not only survive but win even on a medium-sized market payroll."

Moorad grew up in Modesto, Calif., and graduated from UCLA in 1978 before getting his law degree at Villanova. He and his family lived in Newport Beach, Calif., for more than 20 years and still have a home there.

Moorad was a formidable agent who represented several major sports figures, including baseball's Manny Ramirez and Eric Karros, before he purchased a share of the Diamondbacks in 2004. His connection as an agent concerned other owners, so Ken Kendrick continued to serve as managing partner, representing the team in league ownership issues.

However, Kendrick said those concerns have been erased by Moorad's performance since assuming his CEO position with the Diamondbacks.

"Jeff has established himself through the years with us and I think Major League Baseball, from discussions I've had with them directly, would be comfortable with him controlling an ownership group with another club," Kendrick said.

Moorad also said he's been assured his past as an agent would not be an obstacle to him being a principle owner.

"I think he has roots that are very deep in Southern California," Kendrick said. "To get an opportunity in San Diego is exactly on point for the family in terms of that element of their lives."

Moorad lured many of the current top Diamondbacks officials, including Hall and general manager Josh Byrnes, to their jobs in Arizona. Hall joined the team in May 2005 as senior vice president, communications. Marketing-related issues were added to Hall's responsibilities in December 2005. He was promoted to president on Sept. 6, 2006, and will retain that title in addition to his new CEO position.

Hall called his promotion "bittersweet" because of his long relationship with Moorad, but added that he looked forward to the challenges of his new position.

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

China & Bahamas Building Stadium

China is offering to help build a national sports stadium in the Bahamas.

The Bahamas’ foreign affairs minister says construction will start early next year in the capital of Nassau. Brent Symonette says China will send the Bahamas a $7.3 million grant as well as Chinese construction workers who will build the stadium.

The Bahamas announced the agreement on Tuesday.

Could be an interesting move. How long before the Bahamas is petitioning the NFL to host a Dolphins game (the Dolphins are very popular in the Bahamas) or maybe some games for the World Baseball Classic? Lets see what develops.

Newspapers Tighten Sports Belt

The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram will begin sharing some of their sports coverage with each other, the newspapers said Monday, in the latest example of increased collaboration between the one-time rivals.

Beginning Feb. 1, The News will provide its beat coverage of the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars to the Star-Telegram.

In exchange, the Star-Telegram will share its Texas Rangers coverage with The News. The two will continue to cover the Dallas Cowboys separately.

The deal will allow the two largest North Texas newspapers to cut costs at a time of unprecedented business challenges. The troubled newspaper industry faces falling revenue, rising costs and the mass migration of readers and advertisers to online information sources.

“This arrangement allows both papers to reduce expenses, eliminate duplicative stories and still maintain high quality exclusive coverage our readers have come to expect,” said Robert W. Mong Jr., editor of The News, in a memo to staffers.

The two papers will also share coverage of some college teams and a few other sporting events, he said.

The papers do not plan to share each others’ sports columnists, and columnists at both papers are expected to continue commenting on all local sports teams.

In addition, The News plans to supplement its Rangers coverage as it sees fit, and the Star-Telegram is expected to do the same with the Mavs and the Stars, Mong said.

“As I’ve said before, this only works because both papers have nationally recognized sports sections,” he told staffers.

Starting last fall, The News and the Star-Telegram launched a joint distribution agreement in which the Dallas paper delivers copies of its Fort Worth counterpart in Dallas, Cooke, Denton and Ellis Counties.

In return, the Star-Telegram distributes The News in Tarrant, Parker, Hood and Johnson Counties.

The two papers also began sharing some arts coverage and photographs late last year.