SportsBiz - The Business of Sports Illuminated

Baseball Realignment: A Lot of Motion for One Game

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:36:04 PST

This quarter's baseball meetings will be memorable for Bud Selig upsetting the natural order of things as he caught the realignment bug from the NCAA. In order to create more inventory for baseball's television partners, Selig forced the Houston Astros to move to the American League West, more on that in a moment, added a new wild card team and fundamentally altered inter-league play. What additional inventory did the TV networks gain? One playoff game in each league between the two wild card teams.

The Houston Astros were the designated franchise for realignment because Selig had the power to force the Astros to move. The sale of the Astros has been pending since early Spring and has been held up until the additional playoff game could be worked out with the players' union. Once the owners got the green light, the sale was ready to be approved but only on the condition that the franchise move to the American League, a prospect which doesn't particularly thrill the fans. That move cost Drayton McClane, the selling owner $70 million, as the price was reduced to entice Jim Crane to go through with the sale and the league switch. I don't know if that is a reflection on the American League or, more likely, the long history of the Astros in the National League.

Interleague play will now take place every day during the season. Since each league will now have 15 teams, in order for all teams to be playing everyday, one interleague game must be played. So, rather than the three or four windows that fans could anticipate and teams could design marketing plans around, interleague games are likely to become just another game. That's a prospect that I don't think is particularly beneficial to baseball, especially when it's done in return for a single playoff game in both leagues.

NBA Should Change Its Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:23:53 PDT

As I was running errands this afternoon, I was listening to Bob Valvano's talk show. He has an afternoon talk show on the local ESPN affiliate and does an overnight show for ESPN radio on the weekends. If you don't know Bob, he also does color commentary for ESPN during basketball season, and the occassional football game, as well as the local (Big East Network, for now) broadcast of Louisville games. He's Jimmy V's brother and a former college head coach.

All that is by way of introduction since I want to Bob the credit for this idea. He proposed today that, assuming the NBA ever solves its labor problem, and more about that at a later time, it should seize this opportunity to change its calendar and start games in December and run through July, instead of the normal October through June. Why, because on the front end there is too much competition (NFL, college football, NASCAR Chase, World Series) and no one pays attention to the relative meaningless early season and when the playoff start, there is still competition: March Madness, the Stanley Cup, the opening of baseball season, the Triple Crown, the Masters and some others.

However, once the middle of June hits, there's nothing. Baseball is in the middle of the season and it doesn't demand the interest of the casual fan and what else is there? From roughly mid-June to the beginning or middle of August, there is a relative sports desert. All we have is baseball, regular season MLS, golf, tennis and regular season NASCAR, if you will. Even horse racing takes most of July and early August off without more than a couple of major races. The NBA would have the field to itself. I think the networks would love it as it would give them some high demand television in traditionally slow months. It all makes a great deal of sense to me, which of course is why they won't do it.

NCAA Takes Steps In Athlete's Favor

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:10:53 PDT

The NCAA Board of Directors approved a proposal to allow schools to distribute up to $2,000 a year or the full cost of attendance, whichever is less, to student-athletes in "head count" sports, i.e. men's and women's basketball, football, and those in " equivalency sports" who reach the full value of a scholarship. Amazingly, the NCAA Board, which is composed of member university presidents actually followed through on a pledge to reform its policies in student-athlete friendly ways,

While the full cost of attendance change is likely to garner most of the headlines, the Board passed what potentially could be a more impactfull change, finally authorizing multiyear scholarships up to the full term of eligibility. This should help stop the oversigning problem which plague the SEC., and the disgraceful practice of wholesale running off of players that seem to accompany every coaching change. Additionally, the presidents voted to allow institutions to provide aid to any athletes who came back to school to complete their degrees following exhaustion of of their eligibility. They also raised the Academic Progress Rate required for postseason eligibility. Taken as a whole, this was probably the single most student athlete friendly day ever at NCAA headquarters. The presidents made good on a number of commitments they had made over the years and NCAA President Mark Emmert made a significant down payment on his credibility as a student athlete friendly reformer. Much is left to do, but we must always stop and recognize progress when it occurs. I've bashed the NCAA on many occasions for ignoring the welfare of the students in favor of the sports administration complex (similar to the military industrial complex.). These steps don't end the arms race, don't begin to reign the outrageous salaries being paid to coaches, or the sale of the programs to corporate sponsors, but they took significant steps toward making the student athletes lives better, both while at school and, importantly, after they have left without a degree. For that, they deserve our praise.

ESPN Behind Conference Roulette; May Jeopardize Colleges' Tax Exemption

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:21:27 PDT

Before I dive into the topic of the post, let me first say a word or two about the absence of recent posting. I realize it's been a while and I want to apologize for that. A combination of health issues, all now since resolved, thank you, and family matters have consumed my time for the last couple of months and I just haven't been able to devote any time to the blog. However, with most of that behind me, I hope to resume posting on a much more regular basis.

In my absence, it seems that college athletics is engaged in another round of conference roulette, touched off, in part, by another ACC raid on the Big East, grabbing Pitt and Syracuse. Has there ever been a more insecure conference commissioner than John Swofford? This time, of course, the SEC joined in the fun early with Texas A&M longing to get out from under the huge shadow cast by its Austin rival, jumping from the Big XII. The final shoe has yet to drop as Missouri is readying itself for a move to the SEC, with the Big XII then having to decide whether to just replace Missouri and stay at ten members or invite three schools and go back to 12. By all reports, there is no consensus yet, although the Big XII presidents meet this week.

The Big XII decision has ramifications for the Big East, which is trying to salvage itself with a plan to expand to 12 football members by adding Boise State, Air Force and Navy for football and Houston, SMU and UCF for all sports. Since Louisville and West Virginia are widely thought to be two of the three leading candidate to join the Big XII, all the Big East can do now is wait it out.

Aside from your favorite school may be playing next year or in 2013, there are two interesting undercurrents to all of this "ring around the rosey". One is the unseen hand of ESPN; the other is the potential effect this maneuvering may have on the NCAA's and its members' tax exemption. Let's take ESPN first. To accept what I'm about to discuss takes a little bit of belief in conspiracy theories. While I'm no usually prone to believing in them, this story has too many coincidences not to give at least a little credence. First, a little history. Within the past year or two, three major conferences have signed new television agreements for football and men's basketball: the ACC, SEC and Big XII. Both the ACC and SEC signed very lucrative long-term deals with ESPN, which created branded "ACC on ESPN", and "SEC on ESPN" networks among other enticements, like hundreds of millions of dollars. The Big XII spurned ESPN and signed with Fox, its previous media partner. Earlier this year, the Big East, in the final year of its existing ESPN contract, rejected an almost $1 billion contract in favor of negotiating next year, when all the other conference deals will have been completed. Leading the charge to reject the contract was Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg. The two conferences most adversely affected by all of the school movement so far: Big XII and Big East. One further bit of evidence is the comment by the ever lovable athletic director at Boston College, who, in discussing the admission of Pitt and Syracuse, said "It’s 85 percent football money. TV - ESPN - is the one who told us what to do."He later apologized and said he misspoke but what would you expect him to do?

The tax implications of the realignment game are potentially far more impactful than any monetary gain a new conference and new TV contract may provide. For more than five years, Congress has been "interested" in the tax exempt status of the NCAA and the athletic programs of its member institutions. For any number of reasons, members of Congress have thought that athletic programs sporting budgets in the tens, and even hundreds in the case of Texas and Ohio State, of millions and making decisions based on business necessity not the welfare of the student athlete were being operated as businesses and should be taxed accordingly. In 2006, the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to the NCAA asking it to respond to various questions and justify its tax exemption. While the issue has been on the back burner since, comments like these from our voluble friend at Boston College certainly don't help the NCAA cause. When schools are jumping to leagues with questionable geographic and academic ties (see ACC or Boise State to the Big East) it becomes increasingly easy for the opponents of the NCAA to question its right to a tax exemption.

When the primary justification for a conference switch is to access a greater pot of TV money, or even to gain access to the BCS, without regard for the welfare of the student athletes who must do the far flung travel while also keeping up with classwork, can it honestly be said that such a move is furthering the academic mission of the university. Before you say football is only once a week and they generally charter planes at this level anyway, remember that most of these moves are all sports moves requiring the Olympic sports, which do not have the budgets enjoyed by basketball and football, to make the same trips. Olympic sports generally travel commercial if they must fly and those are all day trips in both directions. We all know how pleasant the commercial flying experience has become. Athletic department actions which are so blatantly commercial, as jumping conferences for a share of TV money, may go a long way towards solidifying the argument that the NCAA and its member institutions are not engaged in activities that further the academic mission of the school, but are commercial enterprises that deserve to be taxed like ones. Should that happen, not only would there be tax to pay, but donations to the athletic department would likely lose their charitable deduction, significantly decreasing the attractiveness of many season ticket packages. As has been the case so often in the past, when it comes to college athletics, decisions are often made for all the wrong reasons or are not carefully thought through. Athletics seems to attract emotional decision-making more than any other aspect of university life and, as a result, the entire enterprise of college athletics as we know it may be placed in peril.

Tressel Just a Symbol of the Cesspool of College Athletics

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:55:49 PDT

I feel compelled to say something about "The Vest's" departure from tOSU since it has dominated the discussion in American sports this week. It has even overshadowed to a significant degree the opening of both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals (the opener proving just how exciting a 0-0 game can be the only goal was scored with 16 seconds left in regulation), So, where to begin?

I was not terribly surprised at what was his likely forced resignation, something which I believe should have happened months ago. This was far from Tressel's first brush with the NCAA. He had problems at Youngstown State, for scholarship and recruiting violations. After his arrival in Columbus, there was Maurice Clarett, followed by a steady stream of players, with the most prominent and public being the suspension of Troy Smith for the Fiesta Bowl following the 2004 season, for accepting $500 in cash from a booster. President Gee and Athletic Director Gene Smith were much too lenient when it first beacame known that Tressel had lied to the NCAA and to his bosses. With his compliance track record and for the lies, he should have been immediately terminated. It would have been in the best interests of the institution and set a better example of how a school should react when something like this happens, and rest assured it will happen again, somewhere. It wasn't until the Columbus Dispatch was about to go public with stories concerning additional violations that Gee finally decided to act, assuming as I do, that the resignation was not voluntary. I'm also convinced that Leslie Wexner, founder of The Limited and Chair of the Board of Trustees, saw the continuing controversy as adversely affecting the school's major capital campaign that President Gee was forced to act. This did nothing for his reputation either, but solidified the feel who went to B1G Ten that tOSU is really a SEC in witness protection.

Zach Price in a piece for Sports Illustrated, links the Terrell Pryor portion age limit, which, in this case, would be the stricter NFL limit once the players and owners sign a new collective bargaining agreement. While I don't really buy the connection, I do believe that the age limit is a bad idea from the colleges standpoint, particularly in basketball. The NBA and NCAA should adopt the baseball limit at all. Baseball allows a player to be signed right out of high school, but if he doesn't sign a pro contract before he enrolls, then it's three years before the MLB can get him. The advantages of this rule are: (1) it gives the student an option not to go to college if that's really what he wants, (2)the colleges know that they have a player for three years and can better build a team, (3) the athlete knows he must be a diligent student since he will want to stay eligible for three year, thereby significantly raising the change that college will actually be meaningful for him.

That said, my real answer is to eliminate athletic scholarships altogether. But wait, then all of the disadvantaged kids who had trouble getting through high school would not be able to go to college. That would only be true for those kids who are marginal students. For everyone else, there would be adequate financial aid available on the same basis as it is to the rest of the student body. It has worked in the Ivy League and Patriot League (although the Patriot League has recently crossed over to the Darkside) and works in Division III. Now, I know that Ivy League and D-III schools don't have stadia that seat 1000,000 and aren't on TV all the time, but that is what college athletics should be. Instead, we all have gifted the top five major professional leagues, free of charge, a minor league system that would cost billions to replicate. It is a system that has been designed to enrich its administrators and coaches at the expense of the colleges and universities and on the backs of the student-athletes. Real and lasting reform of the NCAA won't take place until system and the role of the big five major leagues is addressed.

The Mets' Sale: Should Mets Fans Be Happy?

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Sun, 29 May 2011 07:36:19 PDT

The Wilpon brothers, who are majority owners of the New York Mets are in final negotiations with billionaire hedge fund manager David Einhorn to sell a 30-33% interest in the team to him for a reported $200 million. The deal supposedly includes a provision allowing Einhorn to purchase an additional 27-30% in three years, so that he would then own 60% at the same valuation. The Wilpons can avoid the latter sale and retain majority ownership of the club by repaying the initial $200 million to Einhorn, in which case Einhorn retains his 30% interest for essentially nothing while receiving a $200 million cash return on his $200 million investment. So, the question presents itself is how should Mets fans react to this sale?

It's no secret that the Wilpons, and their business and team ownership partner Saul Katz, have been distracted lately. It's also no secret that they and the franchise are in desperate need of cash. Both issues stem in part from the fallout of the Bernie Madoof saga, as the trustee for the victims in the Madoff affair are suing them for a $1 billion. As if that were not enough, the club is said to be hemorrhaging cash and is on pace to lose $70 million this season. Anything that can ease both situations, as this sale will do, has to be a positive for the team's performance. The idea that the Wilpons may be gone in three years probably brings new joy to the clubhouse - especially following principal owner Fred Wilpon's interviews in the New Yorker and Sports Illustrated last week.

There is another reason Mets fan should have reason to hope. The track record of hedge fund owners in professional sports is generally a good one. Whether it's the application of lessons learned in the hedge fund business, the ability and willingness to spend the necessary time to lead the organization - since most of them are billionaires and have the luxury of time, or it's the knack for picking the right personnel, the track record holds up across sports. In baseball, there is John Henry, whose Red Sox broke an 86 year drought two years after he bought the team. In basketball, there is James Pallotta, a member of the ownership group of the Boston Celtics. In hockey, you have Philip Falcone, who owns part of the Minnesota Wild.

Which brings up a somewhat unrelated topic, but interesting nonetheless. I'm sure many of you are aware of the Stadium Effect; the negative effect on stock price and financial performance of companies that enter into naming rights agreements for stadiums and arenas. There may be a corollary to that rule emerging and it would indicate that investors in Greenlight Capital, the hedge fund managed by David Einhorn, should be wary. This curse applies to investors in hedge funds whose managers acquire sports franchises. There appears to be a negative correlation between fund performance and franchise ownership. Whether due to distraction or market luck is hard to say, just that the correlation is apparent.

Vancouver is Happy, NBC Not So Much

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Sun, 29 May 2011 07:54:41 PDT

Vancouver Canucks fans celebrated long into the night when the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 17 years. Fans in Canada also got their first Canadian finalist since 2007, although there are many Maple Leafs and Canadiens fans who just can't bring themselves to root for the west coast upstart.

However the Canadian fans sort out their loyalties, one thing is now clear:the suits at Comcast and NBC are strongly rooting for the Boston Bruins to close out the Lightning in their Eastern Conference finals. A Vancouver-Tampa Bay match-up would likely be a ratings disaster, given one Canadian team and one Sunbelt team with no real fan attraction outside Tampa Bay. After all, half the country hasn't been awake for the Canucks' games, not to mention that several of them have been on Versus which the casual fan is still struggling to locate. Add to that the fact that no Canadian numbers go into the ratings and the boys at Comcast could, with a Lightning win in game 7, be looking at the lowest rated Stanley Cup final perhaps ever. So, Flyers' fans, forgive Comcast I'd just this once, they root for the Bruins.

UPDATE: With the Bruins win, NBC/Comcast can breathe a little easier.

Derby 137 One for the Ages

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:59:32 PDT

The Kentucky Derby is often referred to as the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports and it lived up to its nickname again on Saturday in a race that featured 21-1 shot Animal Kingdom come roaring down the homestretch from out of nowhere to take the garland of roses by almost three lengths. Animal Kingdom defied not just the betting public but history, by being the first horse to ever win the Derby without having run a race over a dirt track. Animal Kingdom's previous races had all been on turf or synthetic tracks. His four career starts marked the fewest since Exterminator in 1918, and his six week layoff coming into the Derby marked the longest layoff since Needles in 1956. That should help him going into the Preakness in two weeks. The Triple Crown is grueling since it is three races in the span of five weeks, something that these young three year olds are not really used to doing yet. Animal Kingdom should be better prepared than most being considerably more rested than average going in.

The well-beaten favorite Dialed In will be challenging Animal Kingdom in the Preakness and has the chance to earn more money than the Derby winner should he take the black-eyed susans. As the winner of the Holy Bull and the Florida Derby, he is eligible for a $5.5 million bonus for capturing all three races being offered by MI Developments (formerly, Magna Entertainment) the owner of Pimlico, home of the Preakness, and Gulfstream, home of the first two races. Dialed In's trainer Nick Zito acknowledged that the bonus was a definite factor in deciding whether to run in the Preakness and how could it not be, if the horse is sound?

What the Kentucky Derby win means for Animal Kingdom's value is too early to tell. With so few races, we can't tell if the Derby is an aberration or a confirmation of his ability. The Derby was not only his first Grade I win, it was his first Grade II or Grade I race. How he does in the Preakness, Belmont and later in the summer at the Travers and the Breeders Cup in the fall, should he manage to stay in training that long, will ultimately determine his value. Of note, the winners of the last two Derbys never won again.

One thing seems certain, the stud fee for his sire, Leroidesanimaux, who stands at Stonewall Farm Stallions in Ocala, Florida, is going up from the current price of $10,000.

One last lament, this was almost a unique Derby for your loyal scribe, save for a still inexplicable last second decision. You see, I bet a trifecta on the Derby which included both Animal Kingdom and Nehro, but for some reason which I still can't recall I switched out Mucho Macho Man for Archarcharch. In other words I dropped the horse which came in third for one which broke his leg and is now retired from racing. It was the story of my betting day. I cashed three exacta tickets which won a collective $5.80. I didn't cash another ticket all day. Needless to say, that trifecta could have really come in handy.

Real Madrid Wins Copa del Rey

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:03:07 PDT

Real Madrid defeated archrival and likely La Liga champion Barcelona 1-0 in the Copa del Rey final, winning the trophy for the first time in 18 years. So, what do champions do? They have a parade of course and show off the trophy to their fans. Here is must see video of the parade. Keep your eyes on the trophy:

NHL lands $1.9 Billion TV Deal with NBC and Versus

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:54:45 PDT

It's TV day here at SportsBiz. The latest TV news is word of the NHL's new TV agreement. The current agreement with NBC and Versus expiring this year paid about $70 million a year from Versus and no rights fee from NBC. The NBC deal was a time share arrangement. When Comcast, the owner of Versus, took over NBC earlier this year, there was no more interested and concerned observer than NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. There may have been no luckier person either.

After bidding from Turner Sports, Fox and ESPN, the NHL decided to stay with Comcast in return for a 10 year, $1.9 billion deal, with most of that coming from Versus. Comcast no doubt was emboldened to outbid ESPN in part because it sees the NHL as the foundation of a new sports channel it is attempting to build at Versus, with the help of NBC Sports, that will rival ESPN. Of course, that's a huge and very expensive uphill battle. The outline of that battle could take place very soon - in six weeks the International Olympic Committee will take bids on the next two to four Olympics, something that NBC has owned since 2000. Adding interest to the bidding will be Comcast's response to the loss of $233 million by NBC on the Vancouver Games. Will they still feel the need to keep the Games at almost any cost, as a platform for Versus (soon to get yet another name, "NBC Sports Channel" perhaps) and to keep it out of the hands of ESPN, or will the Comcast decide to only play if the numbers work and they are assured to make money, in which case the Games will be shown on the ESPN family of networks? Stay tuned - it will be an interesting spring.

NBA Playoffs Off to Record TV Ratings

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 06:15:26 PDT

The early games in the first round of the NBA playoffs have had a little something for everyone. You've had underdogs winning on the road, close games all around and the return of the Knicks to the playoffs. The result has been record television ratings for TNT and ESPN/ABC.

The reasons for the increase are varied but there is no doubt that having all five of the largest TV markets in the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Again, thank you to the Knicks, as the Lakers, Bulls, Sixers and Mavericks have been fairly regular participants in the years since then. The ratings bonanza should mean substantial revenue gains for the television partners, but should only mean additional headaches for the NBA. The jump in playoff viewership follows a rise in regular season TV ratings and will only further complicate the already delicate negotiations with the players' union for a new collective bargaining agreement.

The NBA maintains that it is losing some $300 million a year despite rising attendance, merchandise sales and now record TV ratings, and wants a 30% cut in players' salaries. The union wants to see the books, to verify the claimed losses, something David Stern is strongly, and suspiciously if you're a player or someone who hopes there is no lockout, resisting.

So, back to the action on the court. The networks have to be hoping that the banged up Knicks can finally learn how to close out a game now that the series moves to the Garden. With the Lakers and Spurs having tied up their series and Miami and the Bulls firmly in control of theirs, the TV execs are still smiling over the ratings yet to come. Now, I'm not big on NBA predictions, since I don't follow the league that closely. So, if you want any help with your, um, entertainment, check out NBA predictions by BetUS.

King James Comes to Liverpool

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:55:04 PDT

LeBron james is going global by going to Boston. LRMR Marketing, his and Maverick Carter's marketing company is forming a partnership with Fenway Sports Management, a subsidiary of Fenway Sports Group, the holding company formed by John Henry and Tom Werner that owns the Boston Red Sox, the regional cable television channel NESN, 50% of Fenway Roush Racing, a NASCAR racing team and the iconic English Premier League club Liverpool FC.

The Partnership will be the exclusive means through which LeBron conducts his marketing and endorsement activities worldwide. In a statement announcing the partnership, Maverick Carter had this to say about his and LeBron's rationale for entering the agreement:

"Tom and John have created an innovative company that owns some of the greatest clubs and biggest brands in all of sports," said Maverick Carter, CEO of LRMR. "Like LRMR, it is a fast-growing organization with incredible energy and passion for what they're doing. This partnership will allow us to dramatically expand our reach and opportunities, not only in the U.S. but in markets around the world."

In addition to the marketing and endorsement arrangements, LeBron and Carter will acquire a ten percent in Liverpool. Expect to see some interesting global marketing promotions involving James and Liverpool together. Undoubtedly, a major focus of the partnershipi will be China. LeBron has been very active there leading up to and following the Beijing Olympics and I'm confident that Henry and Werner would love to see Liverpool colors all over the country. After all, Liverpool's jerseys are red. It is one area

Tuesday Tidbits, Wednesday Edition

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:15:00 PDT

I know I haven't done this in a while but I will try to be a little better about it going forward. In any event, here is this week's installment, which started on Tuesday but didn't get published until Wednesday:

NCAA tournament thrives with four networks, ratings best since 2005, although championship game was down from last year's big ratings win (NYT)

Analysis of the decisions in the two suits brought by the different(indicted or not) groups of Duke lacrosse players (Sports Law)

Welcome to the international growth of sports talk radio: Israel Sports Radio (Sports Marketing & PR)

Is contraction back on baseball's agenda and are the Tampa Bay Rays the target? (Forbes)

New York area team chapters of Professional Hockey Writers Association refusing to vote on end of season awards in support of Islander blogger-member whose credentials were pulled (Columbus Dispatch)

Real Salt Lake becomes first MLS team to make finals of CONCACAF Champions League; winner of tourney gets spot in Club World Cup (SI.com)

Will Bud Selig reject the Dodgers multi-Billion dollar deal with Fox, which would help settle the divorce proceedings, just to force Frank McCourt to sell the team (LAT)

NCAA: Bring Back the Death Penalty

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:01:08 PDT

Tonight, we have a national championship game that in some sense presents the dilemma facing the NCAA in microcosm. On the one hand, you have UConn, a relative power in the game representing the Big East, a BCS member conference, the best conference in basketball and one that is deep in bed with both ESPN and CBS. It is presided over by a coach who had his hand slapped by the NCAA for "failure to maintain an atmosphere of compliance" earlier this season. The NCAA punished Calhoun for violating one of its core principles - the institution and its leaders are to be held accountable for compliance, i.e. institutional

control - by suspending him for three games NEXT season. We wouldn't want to interfere too much with the TV product that CBS paid billions for now would we?

On the other hand, we have Butler, a supposed mid-major who has had players represented on the Academic All-American team in each of the last four years. The Bulldogs are members of the Horizon Conference, a league without a regular national TV contract and composed of schools that do not play Division I football. There has not been a hint of scandal in Butler's past. Who do you think NCAA President Mark Emmert is secretly rooting for?

Major college athletics is supposed to be about the experience of a student-athlete, with an emphasis on the first part of that hyphenated word. Again, the final game is instructive. While admittedly only a crude measure, the Academic Progress Rate is a standard established by the NCAA to measure schools and administer penalties for failure to encourage sufficient academic progress among their athletes. An APR of 925 is the minimum needed to avoid penalties, which translates into a roughly fifty percent graduation rate; not a particularly tough standard, but the NCAA never sets the bar too high. What about our finalists: UConn, 930, barely over the edge; Butler, 1000, a perfect score, enough said.

The last couple of weeks have not been good ones for the image protectors at the NCAA. We have seen pay for play scandals at both Auburn and Oregon, the participants in last year's BCS National Championship. We have the Jim Tressel saga at perennial power Ohio State, where the head coach not only failed to notify his superiors about violations but actively engaged in covering them up by alerting quarterback Terrell Pryor's "mentor" about them, presumably so he could help the cover up. Of course, there is Tennessee with its twin scandals in men's basketball and football, that have cost basketball coach Bruce Pearl his job, but not until the Vols exited the tournament, and will result in penalties for both programs that have yet to be determined. So far, the reaction of the NCAA to the play for pay revelations coming out of Auburn and Oregon is mostly silence. Won't it be fun if both BCS National Championship Game participants are placed on probation and, heaven forbid, forced to forfeit games from the 2010 season. Oh, and I almost forgot about that tawdry Fiesta Bowl saga which is outside the NCAA's control.

What is going on in collegiate athletics can be traced to one place: NCAA headquarters. The punishment being meted out by the NCAA when it manages to catch rules violators is so disproportionally light in connection to the potential rewards that there is no incentive to comply. First, the chances of actually getting caught aren't too great because the NCAA has a small enforcement staff, and if you do, a few games suspension for a coach or a player is hardly a penalty to be concerned with when the potential payoff is millions of dollars. The incentive for the institution is just as great. Winning football and basketball programs generate millions of dollars that flow back to the institutions. Granted, the immediate dollars the athletic departments generate go to operate the departments, but winning programs create happy alumni who donate more. They also generate favorable publicity for the school and that generates more interest in the school and more applications for admissions. Set against that backdrop, why should a coach comply with the rules he thinks his conference rivals are not obeying?

It's time the NCAA took one of two steps to clean up college athletics. One, and the less drastic of my two suggestions, is to bring back the death penalty. Although it remains on the books, it has not been administered since it was given to SMU. It would seem that the NCAA is now too afraid of the TV networks to hand out the three most meaningful penalties in its arsenal: exclusion from the post-season, exclusion from TV appearances and the death penalty. If you wondering when might be and appropriate time to hand down a death penalty see Auburn, Tennessee, Oregon and Ohio State. UConn probably deserves to be excluded from TV and the tournament for two to three years and Calhoun, the only coach I know whose recruiting was so dirty it inspired a rules change, should be issued a "show cause" order, i.e. demonstrate to the NCAA why he should be allowed to coach. (The reason that D-I schools now play exhibition games against lower division schools and not AAU teams is Jim Calhoun).

The other solution for this mess is just to do away with scholarships altogether. Do you see these kind of scandals in the Ivy League or the Patriot League (okay, some schools in the Patriot League give out scholarships, but still...). You don't see these problems in D-III either. Would some of the players we see now not be able to attend college? Sure, but tell me, does everyone on Auburn's football team or UConn's basketball team really belong in college in the first place? If the NBA and the NFL want minor leagues, let them pay for them like Major League Baseball does. The NBA already has the NBDL - start using it for the players who don't really belong in college. The system we have now prostitutes higher education and demeans the very institutions that participate in it. It's not in the best interest of the institution and it's not in the best interest of most of the athletes to be placed in a situation where the athlete does not really want to be and is unlikely to be academically successful. If there were no athletic scholarships, then the athletes who do participate are students who we are more likely to feel assured want to be students and not stopping at a way station on the way to a pro tryout in order to fulfill some mandatory wait time.

Even if the NCAA is not up to either of these ideas it must take a good hard luck at itself. It is at crossroads and the very nature of college sports is at risk. The business model has been very successful but the public may not want to buy in much longer if game stories continue to be crowded out by scandal stories. As for tonight, well, Go Bulldogs.

Kentucky Gets Good Return on Highest Recruiting Budget

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:52:07 PDT

Well, at least you can say Calipari gets a decent return on his money. Kentucky coach John Calipari has brought a team from a third school to the Final Four, joining former Kentucky and current Louisville coach Rick Pitino as the only men to coach three different schools to the Final Four. Pitino's Final Fours are still recognized by the NCAA, however, which, of course, Calipari's first two, Massachusetts and Memphis, are not.

What did I mean by a decent return on his money? It turns out that the UK recruiting budget is the highest in the country, at least among public schools in the Big Six BCS conferences. His budget edged Kansas $434,095 to $419,228, but the gulf between UK and fellow Final Four member UConn is wide. Jim Calhoun struggles by on a mere $175,740, the 18th largest in the country and the 3rd largest in the Big East. As a private school, Butler doesn't have to release information. VCU, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, wasn't included in the study but it's safe to assume that its budget is significantly smaller than either UK or UConn.

New March Madness Scores Big Hit

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:59:36 PDT

The NCAA basketball tournament has been a cultural and financial success for years, funding up to 96% of the NCAA's budget for the last few years and generating huge television ratings. However, there has always been several elements of controversy that have followed the tournament. The selection of teams has left some schools feeling cheated as they were not invited and left the two schools playing the first game in Dayton feeling a bit like stepchildren having to play a qualifying game.

Last year, the NCAA opted out of the last three seasons of its landmark 11-year, $6 billion deal with CBS and wound up with a new 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with CBS and Turner. The new deal resulted in games being broadcast on four networks: CBS and three Turner cable networks, TBS, TBT and TruTV. To provide additional product for the new agreement, the NCAA expanded the tournament to 68, with four first round games in Dayton, ahead of the round of 64. Two of those games involve the last four at-large bids with the other two involving the lowest seeded teams in the field, helping to somewhat remove the stigma of the First Four, as the games are now called.

There was some initial concern over the reception of the cablecasts but such concern proved to be unfounded. Fans of the tournament are thrilled that all games are available on TV for the first time and ratings for the first weekend across all networks are up between 14% over last year.

With so many upsets and double-digit seeds making it into the Sweet Sixteen, expect television ratings to continue to exceed expectations. I don't know about your bracket, but mine got blown up fairly early on. I should have gone to NCAA Basketball Predictions at BetUS and maybe I would still be alive in at least one of the pools I entered. Of course, I don't think even experts would have helped in the case of the Southwest Region's three double-digit seeds (Richmond, Florida State and VCU) making it past the weekend. In any event, good luck with your picks this weekend. For what it's worth, I like Butler and VCU's chances in their next games and I look for Marquette to give UNC all it can handle with potentially an upset there too.

March Money Madness

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 08:18:16 PDT

There are as many ways to fill out March Madness brackets as there are people filling them out. In fact, according to the Houston Chronicle, there are 147.5 quintillion ways to fill one out. And that's just the office pool variety.

The NCAA bracket lends itself to all sorts of quick analysis or examples of different ways of looking at college athletics or colleges in general. There are the academic performance brackets (Butler if you're scoring at home) and graduation rates (seven schools with 100% - the highest seed being Notre Dame and Arizona at the bottom with 20%), but the most novel one I found this year revolves around money. It's not the money that each program makes, although that is an interesting one as well (see, Forbes study of 2009 basketball revenue - Duke, Louisville and North Carolina on top), it's one that is based on the median salary of each school's graduates.

In this bracket, not surprisingly Princeton beat Kentucky. Actually, the bracket only begins with the Sweet Sixteen but since Princeton is in it, we can assume that win. It's a fun look and a Final Four of Princeton, Duke, UCLA and Georgetown is not all that surprising, Neither is Princeton's ultimate victory. Here's the bracket:

Iran Sees Jews Under London Olympics Logo

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:05:37 PST

The logo for the London 2012 Olympics has been criticized repeatedly since its release in June, 2007, but always because of its design. It has been called everything from "bloody crap" to worse and most reaction seemed to lean charitably towards saying that it was a reminder of the 80s, not that this was necessarily a good thing mind you.

However, for all the vitriol expended toward the design, it took the lunatics running the asylum that is the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to find Jews running around under the logo. The secretary-general of the Iranian Olympic Committee sent a letter to the IOC threatening to boycott the London Games as the logo resembles the word "Zion", condemns the logo as racist and calls on all Muslims to join the protest.

"There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran which abides by commitment to the values and principles," the letter said. That is rather rich coming from a country that for three decades refused to compete against any athletes from Israel.

If you look at the logo from the left bottom and sort of counter-clockwise, you might make out "Izzo" which could make some Big Ten fans unhappy, but getting to "Zion" is a real stretch.

The IOC, predictably, dismissed the complaint: "Our response is as follows: The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else."

Real Madrid: World's Highest Grossing Professional Sports Franchise

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:44:15 PST

Most Americans, if asked, would tell you that either the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys were the most profitable teams in professional sports and either of those would be a good guess for an American centric audience. However, those guesses don't take into account the worldwide phenomenon that is global soccer. No sport captures the imagination of sports fans around the world in quite the same way as soccer.

For years, the revenues of the largest soccer teams in Europe have been growing exponentially due to ever increasing television revenue. Since not all European leagues distribute television money equally, or even negotiate league wide television deals, the disparity between clubs in the same league can vary even more widely than it does in Major League Baseball. The two teams sitting atop the Football Money League, compiled annually by Deloitte demonstrate just how much the powerful club at the top of perch make in comparison to the rest of the league. Real Madrid, the richest, highest grossing professional sports club in the world, generated 438 million euros (roughly $603 million at today's exchange rates) in 2009/10 about 40 million Euros more than second place FC Barcelona and a staggering 100 million Euros more than third place Manchester United.

Real Madrid had a relatively even split in revenue sourcing among the three main drivers: broadcast, commercial (sponsorship and merchandise) and gameday. For a sense of scope, Real Madrid received 158.7 million Euros in broadcast revenue pursuant to a contract it holds individually since La Liga allows its clubs to negotiate individually rather than through a centralized league contract as in the English Premier League, or all major North American leagues. That contract gives Los Blancos more broadcast revenue than half of the Money League clubs combined. Real Madrid receives over 150 million euros in commercial revenue, one of only two Money League clubs to do so. It has a 20 million euro contract with Bwin for jersey sponsorship that runs through 2012/13. However, that contract has recently been challenged in court as being contrary to Spanish competition laws.

In contrast, the highest grossing MLB club, the New York Yankees, made $441 million in revenue last year, $319 million of which came from gate receipts (gameday in paragraph above). That is less than Manchester United, the third place club on the Money League list.

The value of broadcasting contracts is significantly higher in the NFL than in MLB. In fact, the total value of the NFL's various broadcast contracts was in excess of $3.4 billion in 2009, and it grows annually, assuming no lockout this year. The Dallas Cowboys, the NFL's most valuable franchise grossed $420 million in 2009, of which only $112 million came from gate receipts. Could explain the recent interest of NFL owners in purchasing European soccer clubs.

NCAA, UConn, Calhoun and Justice: Where's the Beef

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:50:51 PST

Today was decision day in Storrs as the NCAA Committee on Infractions handed down its alleged punishment of the UConn men's basketball program and head coach Jim Calhoun for violations of NCAA rules in the recruitment of Nate Miles and for failing to create an atmosphere of compliance. The headline sanctions include the suspension of Calhoun for the first three Big East next season and placing the team on three year's probation. Other penalties include reduction of scholarships from 13 to 12 for three years, limitations on official campus recruiting visits and limiting the number of coaches allowed to recruit off-campus.

UConn and Calhoun should consider themselves lucky. Failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance is one step removed from lack of institutional control, which is the NCAA's least favorite violation. nevertheless, the sanctions will not have any material effect on the way in which UConn conducts its program. Probation is a joke these days since the NCAA has not done anything serious to repeat offenders since it dropped the death penalty on SMU back in the 1980s.

Suspending Calhoun for three Big East games is equally meaningless. First, no one knows what those games will be since the Big East schedule isn't made until the summer. You can be sure that suspension will be taken into account when the UConn portion of the schedule is made up . The Huskies are not barred from the postseason, nor are they barred from any television appearances, not even non-conference games. Without hitting a program where it counts - television and the NCAA tournament - the Committee on Infractions is doing little more than slapping the school on the wrist and telling it to go play nice and not to do it again.

If the NCAA is serious about enforcing its rules, it needs to hold head coaches accountable for everything that happens in a program. No more hiding under the ridiculous notion that he just didn't know what was transpiring right under his nose. A three game suspension is not enough to get the attention of the average coach. Some argue that Calhoun takes the suspension hard because of a perceived stain on his legacy and reputation and he, indeed, has implied that he may at least appeal the decision if not sue the NCAA.

“I am very disappointed with the NCAA’s decision in this case,’’ Calhoun said in a statement. “My lawyer and I are evaluating my options and will make a decision which way to proceed.’’

Nevertheless, the average coach is not Jim Calhoun and for the sanctions to truly be effective the NCAA should hit coaches where their attention is most likely to be drawn - their wallets. Suspend coaches not for a few games during the season, conference games or not. Suspend them for NCAA tournament games, or other post-season games if the team doesn't make the field of 68. In the event a school under sanction fails to make the post-season, then the suspension can either carry over to the following year's post-season tournament or could be enforced in the following year's conference tournament with any remaining games to be enforced during the post-season. That may play havoc with Vegas' college basketball predictions, but that is just an added bonus as far as the NCAA is concerned.

Coaches make their reputation and their big bucks by what they do come tournament time. If they have to sit out the tournament, they may begin to realize that there is a real price to pay for violating recruiting regulations. Right now, the only problem with NCAA violations is that the player that usually causes schools to get caught rarely proves worthwhile. Nate Miles was expelled from UConn in October, 2008 without ever playing for the Huskies.

NBA and Marvel Team Up with Clothing LIne

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:55:40 PST

Marvel comics inspired NBA team covers appeared on ESPN The Magazine's NBA preview edition in the first of the NBA-Marvel partnering efforts. I'm guessing those covers were a success because the NBA and Marvel have just announced that they are launching a new line of clothing pairing famous Marvel superheroes with famous NBA teams. Imagine the Hulk and the Celtics (think green) and Spiderman and the Knicks (the webslinger prowls Gotham). Since the pairing is only famous superheroes and famous teams, I imagine that means we won't be seeing the Memphis Grizzlies paired with a superhero anytime soon.

Without seeing the clothing line, it's a bit premature to speculate on the success of the venture. However, Marvel characters are very popular now, fueled by the success of the recent run of Marvel movies: Spiderman (and sequels) , X-Men (and sequels), Wolverine and Iron Man I and II, with more: Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, on the way. The saturation marketing movies seem to get coupled with the ever present NBA ought to guarantee success. The clothing line just has to not be too ugly to succeed.

One other point about this partnership that we should not overlook is the deep and extensive partnership that the NBA has with Marvel's parent corporation, Disney. You may recall that Disney is also the owner of ESPN and ABC, two of the NBA's longstanding broadcast partners, so this is just another exercise of corporate synergy at work.

Ohio Valley Conference Exchanging Info with North Alabama

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:42:13 PST

Conference realignment is far from over just because the Big Ten announced that it was satisfied stopping at 12 members. In fact, the so-called low major Division I conferences may be the next group to undergo reshuffling, as the moratorium on moving up to Division I is drawing to an end and a number of Division II programs are examining the possibility of moving up, including the University of North Alabama.

UNA is currently in the midst of a study examining the feasibility of such a move. As part of that examination, preliminary discussions have been held, and information exchanged, with the Ohio Valley Conference about a possible affiliation should UNA make the jump. It's an affiliation that would make sense for both parties - it's geographically logical for UNA, with compatible programs and nearby Jacksonville State already a member. In addition, the OVC is a traditionally powerful FCS football conference which would be a good home for UNA football. On the OVC side, with the recent addition of Southern Illinois - Edwardsville (bet you didn't know it was a D-I school), the conference sits at 11 members, so adding UNA or another member would seem to make sense, for scheduling purposes if no other reason. FCS conferences generally don't have championship games because of the national championship playoff schedule.

It Was a Dog's Night for Super Bowl Ads: Doritos and Bud Light Score Big

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:36:43 PST

The Packers may have won the game on the field, but the game on the screen - the battle for the hearts and minds of the TV ad viewers ended in a tie. The consumer created Doritos ad featuring a guy who pays big for teasing a hungry pug with Dorito chips finished in a tie atop the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter.

Tied with the Doritos ad was an Anheuser-Busch commercial for Bud Light featuring a dog sitter who puts the dogs to work at his party.

This was the second time in three years that a consumer created Doritos ad has topped the list which has to be worrisome to the big ad agencies., with their million dollar budgets and huge salaries. Doritos also finished second last year. The complete Ad Meter list of results can be found here. You can see all of the ads you may have missed here.

The pug ad was created by a Burbank freelance website designer for all of $500, using a friend's dog and another friend who is a dog trainer. He won $25,000 for making the finalist cut and having the ad run during the game and won an additional $1 million dollars for having the highest rated commercial.

Volkswagen came in third with an ad featuring a kid, dressed as Darth Vader, surprising himself by "starting" a car using the Force. In reality, it was started by his father with a keychain remote from the kitchen window. The ad was the highest finish ever for a car commercial, tying a third place finish by Nissan in 1997.

For a contrarian view to that of the "people meter", check out this column from Ad Age, which gave the Doritos ad only two stars (out of four) and the Bud Light ad one and half. Be sure to check the comments; they're very entertaining.

Top 10 Super Bowl Ads for Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 08:12:30 PST

To help get you ready for tonight, here are the top 10 ads, as determined by Mae Anderson, business reporter for the AP:

BEST BUY: Odd couple Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne will star in the electronics seller's Super Bowl debut in the third quarter that promotes a new program where Best Buy will buy back electronics when customers decide to upgrade. The ad's still under wraps, but pairing the teen idol and the prince of darkness certainly fires the imagination.

AUDI: One of at least nine automakers advertising during the Super Bowl, Audi's ad during the first break after kickoff is targeted at younger buyers. It shows people escaping from a posh prison to illustrate the difference between "old luxury" and Audi.

CAREERBUILDER.COM: The mocking office chimps that show why viewers might want to look for a new job return in a third-quarter ad.

GODADDY.COM: Promotes the .co alternative to the .com Web domain in an ad that shows celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels and racecar driver Danica Patrick seemingly naked and directs viewers to its Web site to see the ending.

PEPSI: PepsiCo teamed with Eminem on a first quarter stop-motion animated spot that uses a puppet with Eminem's likeness to promote Lipton Brisk. Also has three ads each for its Pepsi MAX and Doritos, all created by fans.

SNICKERS: Comedians Roseanne Barr and Richard Lewis star in a second-quarter ad. It's an encore to last year's hit commercial that saw Betty White take a vicious tackle on a football field.

E-TRADE: The online investing site brings back the popular talking babies it introduced in 2008 in a third-quarter ad.

ANHEUSER-BUSCH: The brewer will promote an imported brand, Stella Artois, for the first time on the Super Bowl. That ad stars actor Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody as a 1960s jazz club singer. (If you're looking forward to Bud Light's legendary humor, it has three commercials coming, too, which it has teased on Facebook.)

SKECHERS: Kim Kardashian "will break someone's heart," the shoe maker says, in an ad for toning shoes near the two-minute warning.

VOLKSWAGEN: The automaker's trademark whimsy permeates an ad in which a Darth Vader-costumed boy tries using The Force on household objects and his father's Passat.

Football Signing Day: When High School Seniors Sign Away Their Futures in Return for Nothing

noreply@blogger.com (SportsBiz) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:39:16 PST

The first Wednesday of February is the first day of the annual signing period for NCAA Division I football players during which prospective student athletes sign copies of the National Letter of Intent indicating their commitment to attend the school of their choice and fax the letter into the football coach of the chosen school. It's an annual rite in which we all get to witness hundreds of grown crowded around fax machines in various states of panic for periods of several hours, awaiting faxes from all those kids who verbally committed to their program. Some schools, notably Alabama, have live webcams fixed on those same fax machines to satisfy maniacal fans who want to see the faxes spit out even though they can't read the names.

But, is the National Letter of Intent in the best interest of the student athlete? Should he or she sign one? For most the answer may be yes, even though as with almost all matters concerning collegiate athletics, the NLI is a one-sided document totaling favoring the college or university. The NLI commits the student to attend the chosen university, while committing the university to nothing more than a give the student a one year grant in aid in accordance with NCAA guidelines.

The NLI does not guarantee the student playing time or even a spot on the time. As we shall see, the NLI does limit the student's freedom of movement even if his reason for attending the school in the first place has changed. It is also, not unusual for coaches to over-recruit and then pressure students to "grayshirt" or delay their admittance in order to defer counting theirs scholarship against the ensuing class scholarship limits. (An aside, this practice was roundly condemned yesterday in a sanctimonious op-ed piece on SI.com, by the President of the University of Florida, who apparently didn't know, or perhaps just chose to ignore, that it was a practice routinely engaged in by former coach Urban Meyer).

So, why is signing in the best interest of most athletes? If you're not an superstar who would be guaranteed a spot on the team just by showing up, then signing a NLI, while it may not guarantee your spot on the team, will substantially increase the likelihood that it will not be given away before you get to campus. If you are a superstar, five star prospect, then you are probably just as well served by not signing a NLI and just telling the coach that you will be coming to his school. That way, you won't be locked in should something happen before you get there, such as the coach leaving for another job or retiring. If you have signed a NLI and that should happen, then your ability to move to a different school rests on a release by the school with which you signed or, absent such a release, an appeal granted by the Collegiate Commissioners Association which administers the NLI.