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

Redskins Lay Off 20

Washington Redskins director of player development John Jefferson was among more than 20 people laid off by the team this week as the economic downtown took its toll on one of the NFL's most valuable franchises.

Salary cap analyst Jimmy Halsell also was released, along with the team's longtime director of publications and a member of the public relations department. There were also layoffs among the team's marketing, legal and technology departments.

The layoffs were first reported by The Washington Post.

Jefferson, the former receiver for the San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers, had been with the team for nine years, working with players on off-the-field matters during the transitions in and out of their NFL careers.

Jefferson and Halsell were the only people directly involved in the football operations to lose their jobs.

The Redskins are the second most valuable NFL franchise with an estimated worth of $1.538 billion, according to Forbes' annual rankings. They play in the NFL's largest stadium and have sold out every home game since the 1960s.

Source: Washington Post

Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium Gives A Sponsor Bang For Its Buck

The Indianapolis Colts closed out their first regular season at Lucas Oil Stadium last week. The stadium offers an example of how teams are working to generate more dollars from sponsors while giving companies more real estate and fans more things to do inside sports venues.

Sponsors don’t just get signage anymore. That’s been true for some time, but in Indianapolis, companies’ names are connected to an actual section of Lucas Oil Stadium. The companies work with the Colts to decorate and program the areas to maximize their businesses and entertainment for fans.

There’s the Lucas Oil Gate, naturally, the Huntington Bank Gate, the hhgregg Gate and so on. The Air Tran Food Court features a first class fuselage that people can sit in. The team’s five- to eight-year sponsor contracts are worth $10 million to $12 million annually.

“We are considered a small market NFL team so a new stadium was critical for us. Based on the way the economics of the National Football League work today, we needed a stadium that was going to drive revenue,” said Peter Ward, Colts senior executive vice president. “This helps us stay competitive on the field...This allows us the opportunity to maximize our revenue.”

At the Lucas Oil Gate, there are dragsters; old-fashioned gas pumps that have LCD TVs installed in them; over-sized oil cans that also serve as stations for TVs; planes that hang from the ceiling; and a horseshoe-shaped stage for bands and TV and radio shows.

“Our goal was to create areas that could be sponsored and themed that also create points of interest for the fans. It had to work for the sponsors as well as our fans,” Ward said.

Hhgregg, a TV and appliance retailer with stores in nine states including Florida, has a 26,000-square-foot interactive fan area at the stadium’s south entrance with flat screen TVs, digital cameras and even washers and dryers on display. There’s an interactive video game in which fans can throw or kick a football across a virtual screen designed to look like Lucas Oil Stadium.

There are also six 52-inch Samsung TVs, a seating area in the shape of a horseshoe, and poles that look like goalposts. There’s a product pavilion with Electrolux appliances, including refrigerators. Everything is wrapped in hhgreg signage, but there's also signage for Electrolux, Sony and other appliance brands.

In addition, the Colts’ official appliance retailer of flat panel TVs, has sales associates working the gate entrances, handing out coupons.

“We’ve had a long-standing partnership with the Colts,” said Jeff Pearson, hhgregg vice president of marketing. “We sell a large number of flat panel TVs. All of that helps us sell TVs … Lucas Oil Stadium is going to be a place a lot of people go through in the next number of years.”

NFL Cuts 150 Jobs

The economic downturn continues to affect the world of sports.

The NFL will cut 150 jobs, or "more than 10 percent of its headquarters staff", in the next sixty days due in part to the crumbling economy. The cuts will affect "its staff of 1,100 in New York, NFL Films in New Jersey and production facilities in Los Angeles."

The league also announced the cancellation of a preseason game in China.

The NFL "will fall at least $50 million short of projected revenue" for this fiscal year, which began on April 1 and will end on March 31.

Source: NFL

Cowboys Look To Refinance $350 million debt

The Dallas Cowboys are seeking to borrow $350 million by Dec. 1, according to numerous finance sources, in one of the worst credit environments in the nation’s history.

The club’s proposed deal would refinance $126 million the team borrowed last year through the now-imploded auction-rate securities market, as well as add new debt to cover cost overruns at the team’s $1.2 billion stadium that is set to open next year, the sources said.

“Everyone is looking at the Cowboys’ deal. It is a huge bellwether,” said one finance source. “This is one of the only deals, period, in the market [sports or otherwise].”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the team’s lead lender, Bank of America, hosted more than a dozen banks at the suite sales center adjacent to the under-construction stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Oct. 27, offering a deal priced 2.5 percent over the London Interbank Offered Rate, a floating-rate index, sources said.

The Cowboys and Bank of America want the other banks to buy pieces of the loan, a process called syndication. The Cowboys and Bank of America declined to comment.

The Cowboys are relying on a few factors to get the deal done. One is the allure of the Cowboys brand. Second, the team has pledged in the proposed deal nearly all revenue lines from the new stadium, sources said. That’s a feature that was common in stadium financing six years ago but disappeared during the go-go years of easy credit, when pledged revenues were lighter.

A third factor is the growth of the Dallas market. During the bank meeting, according to a banking source, Jones pitched Dallas as being second only to Chicago in terms of market size among NFL cities with just one team. He referred to the Dallas Metroplex, which includes Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington.

For the Cowboys, getting out from underneath the auction-rate debt is a pressing concern. They are one of four NFL teams to have borrowed from the auction-rate securities (ARS) market, a market that allowed companies to borrow cheaply and continue to reset the interest rate with auctions of the debt weekly and monthly.

The Cowboys estimated the stadium would cost $650 million when they announced the project in 2004. With $350 million of public funding and $76 million from the NFL, it looked like a choice deal for the team.

The club arranged to borrow at least $450 million through Banc of America Securities for its portion, with the first $126 million through the ARS market. But Jones agreed to cover cost overruns as part of the team’s share, and like many stadiums in this period, the price has spiraled.

The team has not yet secured a naming-rights deal for the stadium, which would bring in additional revenue. The club also could raise as much as $735 million from the sale of personal seat licenses, according to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram report. There are 55,000, 30-year PSLs available at prices ranging from $2,000 to $150,000.

The stadium will seat 80,000 but will be able to expand to 100,000 for special events like the Super Bowl, which Dallas is scheduled to host in 2011.