It really must be a cold day down under, and I don't mean Australia or South Africa. Sepp Blatter the major domo of FIFA has finally had enough of a World Cup plagued by inexcusably poor officiating and blatantly missed goals being disallowed. Blunder masters Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda of the missing English goal against Germany and Italian Roberto Rosetti of the missed...
Chris Henry, the Bengals running back who died during a domestic dispute last year, has been identified as the first player to have trauma-induced brain damage while still active in the NFLC ARTICLEURL Henry was only 26 and is the youngest player to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the progressive brain disease that I wrote about yesterday, which experts have now tied...
We've discussed the long-term effects of repetitive concussions on brain health here before and the concerns of the NFL retired players about the relatively cavalier treatment that the NFL had been giving to the issue. Fortunately, the message seems to finally be getting through to the NFL. The new co-chairmen of the NFL's independent brain injury panel have totally removed the panel from...
It's all peace and love in South Africa now as FIFA and Bavaria have kissed and made up. FIFA and the South African police have agreed to drop all charges against the Dutch brewery and the two miniskirted glad girls accused of guerilla marketing campaign. The girls are "happy to go home and the situation is resolved."For its part, Bavaria has agreed to...
Citi is out as presenting sponsor of the Rose Bowl after seven years. Citi becomes the second BCS bowl game sponsor to give up its sponsorship following ESPN's takeover of the selling of all marketing and advertising inventory around the game as a part of its newfour year $495 million deal to carry all of the BCS games made earlier this year. Citi...
The Golden State Warriors, in a nod to a more successful past, have adopted a new logo and new uniforms to come based on the new logo, and a return to the royal blue and gold color scheme of the '70s and not coincidentally, the nearby University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears. For me, I think it's a welcome change from the current...
Churchill Downs Inc. (CHDN) conducted its annual meeting yesterday and the most interesting bit of news to come out of the meeting was not the resignation of Susan Packard as a director. Nor was it anything that was actually discussed during the meeting itself. No, the real news of the meeting came in an interview that CEO Bob Evans gave to the Louisville...
I'm sure most of you are familiar by now with the orange miniskirt wearing blonde beauties that FIFA had unceremoniously removed from the World Cup match between the Netherlands and Denmark. Sure, the girls were an ambush marketing scheme by Bavaria, a Dutch brewer, but they were blondes in bright orange miniskirts so what's the harm, right? Anheuser Busch InBev's Budweiser is the...
As if the Worldwide Leader wasn't ubiquitous enough already, comes word that Bristol has cut a deal with Microsoft to stream ESPN3 (formerly known as ESPN360 if you're scoring at home) through Xbox 360 consoles free to subscribers of Xbox Live. The deal is exclusive so if the only device in your house is a Wii or Playstation, better hope your cable company...
The Great Conference Realignment appears to be a small shift by three schools at least for now. With Nebraska going to the Big Ten, Colorado to the Pac-10 and Boise to the Mountain West being the only moves for the time being, armageddon in college sports has been avoided and everyone can thank TExas for that. As had been widely predicted all along,...
ESPN should be happy with the ratings it is receiving so far for its vast World Cup investment, whose production costs have been estimated at greater than $300 million. Early returns show ratings are at least double what they were for Germany2006. According to Bloomberg, reporting on an emailed statement from ESPN/ABC, the first five games averaged 4.94 million viewers, more than double...
After a seemingly interminable investigation, the NCAA handed down its ruling on USC yesterday and found the Trojans guilty of major violations, including the real "biggie" in the mind of the NCAA - the dreaded lack of institutional control. The Trojans were hit in three sports, but most of the focus has been on football, where the most visible violations occurred.As punishment, the...
This morning's papers were full of the stories that broke yesterday announcing Nebraska's imminent move to the Big Ten, a move which no doubt filled the DeLoss Dodds and the other folks in Austin Texas with a mixture of glee and sadness. Glee that at long last they were rid of the Huskers continual whining about the bad deal they were getting from...
With the start of the World Cup just days away, take a look at the surprisingly extensive yet readable guide to the economics of the World Cup that Goldman Sachs has put together. It is not, as the title might lead you to believe, a report on the dollars and cents (or rands) being generated at the World Cup or being paid in...
The long awaited debut of the Nationals number one draft choice, phenom Steven Strasburg took place tonight in Nationals Park. Unfortunately, due to some difficulties I was experiencing as a result of DirecTV pushing out its 3D technology to my set-top box last night, I was finally able to turn into the broadcast just in time to catch the post-game wrap-up. Apparently, I...
Apparently Don Garber hasn't learned any lessons from Gary Bettman and his disastrous hitherto disastrous television deal with Versus. Granted, the deal has looked substantially better since the playoffs began, but that hardly makes up for a regular season in which the league was essentially MIA on television. So how is this relevant to MLS?According to a report in Broadcasting and Cable, MLS...
On Sunday, the Big Ten Presidents met for four hours and discussed expansion for at least half that time. What was decided, if anything, has not yet been announced, although it appears that no vote has been taken. What is clear is that the deadline the Big XII gave Nebraska and Missouri has accelerated the Big Ten timeline.ARTICLEURL Last week, during the Big...
The University of Louisville basketball program has been well known for years as a terrific revenue generator. In fact, for the last several years it has been the highest grossing and highest netting program in the country, however, it outdid itself last year. The Cardinals had revenue attributed to basketball of $25,494,904, with expenses of $8,625,245 for a profit of $16,869,659....
