Cubs Parent Company Tribune Files For Bankruptcy

Media conglomerate Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, as the owner of the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Cubs and other properties tries to deal with $13 billion in debt.

The Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field are not included in the petition.

Severe reductions in advertising this year because of the recession have put pressure on the Chicago-based company. Most of its debt comes from the complex transaction in which the company was taken private by real estate mogul Sam Zell last year.

Although the next major principal payment isn't due until June, analysts say Tribune has been in danger of missing lender-imposed financial targets.

Tribune made the filing Monday in bankruptcy court in Delaware.

Source: Associated Press

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