PGA Lining Up New Sponsors As Autos, Banks Struggle

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem has held discussions with energy, retail and environmental companies to replace some struggling auto and financial sponsors of the U.S. golf tour if needed.

The PGA, which operates the main professional U.S. golf tours, depends on corporate sponsors such as U.S. automaker General Motors to help support its tournaments.

However, the turmoil in the auto and financial services sectors has left the sport vulnerable to a loss of marketing and advertising dollars.

"There are a number of companies clearly cutting back on their sports marketing budgets. We anticipate some of those kind of conversations," Finchem told the Reuters Media Summit in New York on Wednesday.

"We've got to assume and prepare for some slippage, and prepare for some replacement there."

Finchem said the PGA had already held a wide range of discussions with companies about adding new sponsors or expanding existing deals if necessary.

Finchem said Toyota Motor Corp, the world's largest automaker, could be one candidate for a bigger marketing presence in U.S. golf, while others could come from industries that "have performed relatively well during the downturn".

Such sectors include energy, the environment and retail, and Finchem mentioned the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart may be one company that could broaden its role.

Finchem said ticket and other sales remained "reasonably robust" in 2008, but it is unlikely to be able to sidestep "a pullback in spending in the branded area, advertising area -- those things come home to roost" in a downturn.

He said advertising and public relations budgets were often the first trimmed by corporations in recessions, although Finchem added that in the past the PGA Tour has come through any cutbacks "reasonably well".

Source: Reuters

University Of Tennessee System Discussing Athletics Cuts

University of Tennessee trustees today discussed eliminating athletic programs, providing more courses online and changing the way tuition is calculated as options for cutting the UT budget by up to 15 percent.

The trustees also were told that administrators already are putting in place a program to provide counseling to employees who lose their jobs.

About 70 percent of UT’s costs come from payroll and benefits, officials said, so it is probable that 70 percent — perhaps more — of imminent budget cuts will come through layoffs, furloughs or other personnel actions. Already, UT has abolished 174 vacant job positions.

The UT trustees’ Committee on Effectiveness and Efficiency met in Nashville for the discussion, though it made no recommendations. UT President John Petersen said he hopes to present Gov. Phil Bredesen with a budget-cutting plan by mid-January.

Among options discussed were:

-- Cutting the athletic programs at UT-Martin and UT-Chattanooga, which are subsidized by taxpayer dollars. The state provides about $3.9 million per year for athletics at Martin and about $4.3 million at Chattanooga, officials said. At UT Knoxville, the cost of all athletic programs is covered money from revenue-producing football and basketball programs.

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel

Report: Honda To Quit Formula One, Citing Economy

Honda will quit Formula One on Friday.

The Japanese company hopes to sell its team, which costs $400 million a year to run, but is prepared to close the team early in 2009 if no buyer is found.

Sources told BBC Sport the team were "optimistic" they would continue, but no investor had yet been found.

However, according to the Reuters news agency, team bosses Ross Brawn and Nick Fry fear Honda could close the Brackley-based team within weeks.

According to a Reuters source, Brawn and Fry told a meeting of the Formula One Teams' Association: "They have a month to find a buyer, otherwise they are closing the team."

Honda appointed Brawn, the man who masterminded seven world titles for Michael Schumacher, as their team principal ahead of the 2008 season.

Honda, who recently cut road vehicle production as a response to the global economic crisis, is expected to make an announcement regarding the team's future on Friday.

A notoriously expensive sport in which to compete, teams have spent recent months in intensive discussions over cost-cutting measures.

However, Honda are considered a major player within Formula One, bankrolling more than 800 staff at the team's Northamptonshire base with the largest budget in the sport.

Source: BBC

Petty Enterprises Merging With Gillett-Evernham?

Petty Enterprises is in discussions to merge its storied franchise with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, The Associated Press has learned.

Multiple people familiar with the talks told the AP on Thursday that the two teams were discussing a deal that would merge Petty's famed No. 43 Dodge with GEM to become a four-car operation. They requested anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing.

Petty, the team founded by seven-time series champion Richard Petty, has no full-time sponsorship lined up for next season. The team fields its flagship No. 43 for 2000 NASCAR Cup champion Bobby Labonte and a second car that Chad McCumbee and Kyle Petty shared this season. Kyle Petty was expected to have a minimal role — if any — with the organization next season.

Drew Brown, a spokesman for Gillett Evernham, said the team would not comment on any potential merger with another team. But it's no secret that majority owner George Gillett Jr. has canvassed the industry looking for a partner that would help his team expand from three cars to the NASCAR maximum four cars.

Gillett is believed to have had earlier discussions with Toyota teams Bill Davis Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing, as well as Ganassi. Earlier this year he terminated an agreement with Robby Gordon that would have brought Gordon into his organization as a fourth car.

As potential deals failed to develop, Gillett turned his attention to struggling Petty Enterprises. Richard Petty in June sold majority interest of the family-run team to private equity firm Boston Ventures, which assumed day-to-day control of the 60-year-old operation.

But the new leadership has yet to put Petty Enterprises on solid footing, largely because the economic crisis has made sponsorship very difficult to secure. Numerous teams have reduced their staffs since the Nov. 18 season finale, and Petty laid off 30 employees last month.

Now, if a merger with Gillett goes through, a team that has been in NASCAR since 1949 may cease to exist as it has been known.

Source: Associated Press

Forbes: Knicks Most Valuable NBA Team Again

For the fourth straight year, and despite front office and player turmoil, the New York Knicks are the NBA’s most valuable team.

The Knicks are worth $613 million, according to Forbes’ latest rankings, an increase of 1 percent over their 2007 value. Throughout the past year, the franchise has made many headlines off the court, ranging from former team president Isiah Thomas being found guilty in a sexual harassment lawsuit to guard Stephon Marbury’s feud with management and coach Mike D’Antoni.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Los Angeles Lakers are ranked second by Forbes, at $584 million, up from $560 million.

Rounding out the top five are the Chicago Bulls at $504 million; the Detroit Pistons at $480 million; and the Cleveland Cavaliers at $477 million.

The biggest change in value belongs to the Portland Trail Blazers, who increased by 21 percent to $307 million. They still rank only 20th out of 30 franchises.

Also showing a huge increase are the NBA champion Boston Celtics, up to $447 million from $391 million.

The biggest drop in value hit the New Jersey Nets, who fell 13 percent to $295 million, 26th overall. The Nets have had delays in their plans to build and move into a new arena in Brooklyn.

Below the Nets are the Memphis Grizzlies ($294 million), New Orleans Hornets ($285 million), Charlotte Bobcats ($284 million) and Milwaukee Bucks ($278 million).

The average team value is $379 million.

Forbes ranked the value of franchises in the other major pro sports earlier this year. The Dallas Cowboys topped the NFL at more than $1.6 billion, the New York Yankees led baseball at over $1.3 billion and the Toronto Maple Leafs led the NHL at $448 million.

Source: Forbes

AL MVP Pedroia Gets $40.5 Million Deal

The Red Sox wasted no time locking up American League MVP Dustin Pedroia with a six-year, $40.5 million contract, with an option for 2015, that takes them through three arbitration and two free-agent seasons.

It is one of the four biggest non-arbitration deals ever, along with the contracts given to Hanley Ramirez, David Wright and Ryan Braun.

Generously listed at 5-foot-9, Pedroia has quickly piled up a huge stack of hardware. Besides being named the AL's MVP, he also won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger this offseason. He was the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year and capped off that season with a World Series ring.

Pedroia led the AL in hits, runs and doubles in helping the Red Sox win the wild-card berth. He batted .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs and also stole 20 bases.

The deal demonstrated how much the Red Sox value Pedroia's production, energy and leadership at a middle-of-the-field position.

That it got done this quickly shows how much Pedroia loves playing in Boston, and that he prefers playing to dickering over arbitration and free-agent dollars. His favorite phrase is "it's all about winning."

And he means it.

Source: Peter Gammons

Bad Economy? WNBA's Houston Comets Fold

The team that won the first four WNBA championships is disbanding.

The Houston Comets will be shut down because new owners could not be found for the team.

Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander sold the team to Houston businessman Hilton Koch last year. The WNBA took over the franchise earlier this year.

League president Donna Orender said a new owner needed to be in place before the end of the year if the Comets wanted to stay in business. The sluggish economy slowed that process and Orender announced the franchise will fold.

"It's a sad day for me personally and, of course, for the city of Houston," former Comets Coach Van Chancellor told KPRC Local 2 Sports Monday evening. "We had a terrific run and I really feel for the fans who won't have the Comets in town to support anymore."

The Comets were one of the original teams when the WNBA debuted in 1997 and won the league's first four championships under the leadership of Chancellor on the bench and the combination of Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Cynthia Cooper on the floor.

Orender said there is no indication that any of the league's other 13 franchises are in any trouble.

Source: KPRC Houston

Leagues Do Well On Black Friday

The sports leagues did pretty well on Black Friday. The NBAStore.com and the NBA Store in New York City had its best Black Friday sales ever.

The NBAStore.com and NBA Store had a combined sales increase of 38 percent as compared to last year. The best selling item was a Chris Paul jersey.

The NFL reports that sales on its NFLShop.com were also a record high for Black Friday and the site's third highest grossing day ever. The top four best selling items since Thanksgiving all involved New York: Favre jerseys were No. 1, a Giants hooded sweatshirt was No. 3, while Eli Manning jerseys were fourth.

In an interesting side note, the new quarterback for the Packers, Aaron Rodgers, placed 25th on the jersey sale list while Tony Romo of the Cowboys was second.

Source: Various

Got An Extra $3 Million? Super Bowl Ads Available

Turns out that rapid Super Bowl ad buying recorded in September has slowed down significantly. NBC says it has eight 30-second spots still available during Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Feb. 1.

NBC, broadcaster of the 2009 game, says about 59 spots during the game have been spoken for and are running about $3 million each. That’s up from about $2.7 million last year. But the company also told the Associated Press it is negotiations for the remaining spots.

Regular Super Bowl advertiser General Motors announced in September it would skip the Super Bowl. FedEx Corp., Garmin Ltd. And Salesgenie.com are also not buying ads this time.

Monster Worldwide, however, which hasn’t bought an ad since the 2004, game will be back and competing with ads from CareerBuilder.com. Probably not a bad spend, given how many people have lost their jobs and are looking for work.

Source: NBC