guncurug

The New York Daily News is reporting that Carmelo Anthony has signed off on a deal that will send him to the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets in the latest of the string of off-season deals reshaping the NBA landscape.  The deal is said to involve four teams and will send Derrick Favors to the Nuggets with Andrei Kirilenko from Utah along with draft picks.  Devin Harris would go to Charlotte with Boris Diaw going from Charlotte to Utah.  Got all that?  There may be some other role players or draft picks involved. The Daily News says the deal may be announced as early as Saturday. 

Should this deal come to pass it will certainly be a good back-up shot for the Nets having failed to land LeBron earlier this summer.  Landing Melo will give the Nets not only a go-to scorer to build a team around but a star to market the team as it moves into its new Brooklyn home in 2012.   The only people more unhappy with this deal than Nuggets fans are the management of the Knicks, who now must face marketing the train wreck that masquerades as a NBA team playing in the Garden against a real, bonafide, Redeem Team star just across the bridge in Brooklyn.  Good luck with that.

Madison Square Garden is about to undergo a massive $800 million phased renovation that will not be completed until 2013, but when finished will create an essentially new MSG.  If a recent story by Sports Business Journal is correct, then a significant portion of the financing for the project has been secured in the largest ever sponsor/arena rights deal, as JP Morgan Chase is paying $300 million for a ten year deal to become the marquee sponsor of the new MSG.  It is important to note, that the Garden has not sold the naming rights to the building, which will continue to be named Madison Square Garden, but that JP Morgan Chase will have naming rights inside the building, including the old Felt Forum, will have extensive media rights, and will have media and ticketing rights that extend to all MSG properties, which include Radio City Music Hall, the Chicago Theater and the Beacon Theater. 

Interestingly, the three largest naming rights deals in North America have all involved financial institutions, and, not surprisingly, have been in New York City.  This deal eclipses the $20 million per year that Barclays is paying to put its name on the arena under construction in Brooklyn that will be the new home of the Nets and the $20 million per year that Citibank is paying the Mets for the rights to Citi Field.  Each of those deals, however, run for 20 years.

I've heard plenty of reasons, and no doubt you've thought of few yourself, as to why Russian billionaires have taken to buying professional sports franchises in western sports leagues, i.e. Roman Abramovich's Chelsea and Mikhail Prokhorov's Newark/Brooklyn Nets.  One of the more interesting reasons I've seen is in this post from the Business Insider, in which Henry Blodgett suggests the purchases are basically protection against a hit from the Kremlin in the event the oligarch loses favor with Putin.  It's a plausible reason given what's being happening in Russia lately and, of course, one we'll never be able to know for sure.  I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the next Daniel Silva novel.

I don't usually do two linkfests in one week, but I have a number of stories that are worth reading or just shaking your head at, and wanted to get them out there:

As NBA ownership officially goes internationally, a look at why Bruce Ratner failed so miserably as the owner of the Newark/Brooklyn Nets (WSJ)

Who is going to win, and profit from, the World Cup (FT Alphaville via Abnormal Returns)

The details on Anheuser-Busch's big bet on the NFL, which we reported earlier (SBJ)

New York Magazine's cover story on why LeBron should become a Knick; (my take:he should stay with the Cavs provided they go out and find him a team to play with - also a problem with NY) (NY Mag)

Texas high school basketball player arrested for impersonating a high school player - since he was 22 and had used up his eligibility in Florida - school was Permian of Friday Night Lights fame (Dallas News)

Do soccer players and goalies act rationally in playing penalty kicks? (Cognition and Culture)

How stock traders are like callers to sports talk radio (Chris Perruna via Abnormal Returns)

Wilpon family and Mets look to add soccer, Islanders and arena to Flushing  (NYT) 

Super Saver, the Preakness morning line favorite at 5-2, draws post position 8, right next to main rival Luckin' at Lucky, who is at 3-1 and is in post position 7 (Baltimore Sun)