Draft Breaks Record With 33 Trades

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Magic's Turkoglu Wins NBA's Most Improved Player Award
Published 4/29/2008 by Nick Kappel at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu was voted the NBA’s most improved player on Monday, receiving 61 first-place votes and 380 points. Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay finished second with 167 points, and Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge received 128 points and placed third in the voting. As reported by ESPN: “Without him, I don’t know where we would be,” Magic general manager Otis Smith said. “I am happy to have him on our team and I’m happy that he is winning this award eight years late, but I am happy that he is at least winning this award. This is a sign of things to come for Turk.”  The 2007-08 season saw Turkoglu ...

Pat Riley Resigns as Heat Coach After 15-67 Season
Published 4/29/2008 by Nick Kappel at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
Pat Riley resigned as Miami’s head coach on Monday, almost two weeks after the Heat finished a 15-67 season; the worst of Riley’s career. The Hall of Famer will remain with the Heat as team president. Assistant coach Erik Spoelstra will succeed Riley, and will become the NBA’s youngest current head coach, at 37 years of age. As reported by ESPN: “I made a point 25 years ago when I started coaching, made a point to myself and a promise to myself and more than anything else to the game that if I could never give everything I have to the game that I need to give, then I know it’s time for me to step aside,” Riley said. ...

The New Mandatory: Integrating Sponsors Into the Game
Published 4/29/2008 by Kurt Hunzeker at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
Oh thank heaven for 7-Eleven! In October 2006, when the c-store retailer announced a new, 3-year sponsorship with the Chicago White Sox, sports sponsors began singing 7-Eleven’s familiar slogan…and for good reason.   By integrating its name into the very fabric of the game of baseball (by changing the White Sox’s night game start times to 7:11pm), 7-Eleven changed the equation on how sponsors can activate their sports marketing efforts. Forever.  Pretty bold statement, you say?  Consider what happened just last night…. ESPN SportsCenter, the necessary ...

Nearly All Suites Sold for New Twins Stadium
Published 4/29/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
In one sign that the Twins are about to enjoy considerably more revenues, the Twins have reported that nearly all of the suites in their new stadium are sold out, nearly two years before it opens. As reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune: 47 of the 55 suites at the ballpark are leased — including the 14 most expensive ones — and the team expects them all to be snapped up by 2010. They will bring about $8 million a year, or a potential $240 million during the team’s 30-year stadium lease. To add to this, the Twins will add other revenue streams that they currently have been unable to ...

NBA on TNT Continues Double-Digit Ratings Increase
Published 4/30/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
For its first eights days of coverage for the 2008 NBA Playoffs, TNT reported today that they continue to see significant ratings increases. With TNT holding the exclusive rights of the Western Conference Finals, theu have out delivered each night of last season’s coverage to date (through April 28, 17 games) on the network in ratings, households and all key demos for its first round NBA Playoff telecasts. TNT is averaging a 2.1 US rating, up 20% over last season, and is up double digits in homes (+22%) and over thirty-percent in all key demos including, A18-34 (+32%), A18-49 (+30%), A25-54 (+30%), M18-34 (+36%), M18-49 (+33%) and M25-54 (+32%). ...

Investigative Unit of MLB Looking at ID Theft
Published 4/30/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
The new investigative unit of MLB is not only looking at drug use by players, but individuals that may be conducting ID theft on the players in the game. The new investigative unit established in January and headed by Dan Mullin, has already provided enough information to suspend top Braves prospect Jordan Schafer, who was suspended 50 games for a non-analytical positive for hGH (read more about Schafer’s suspension). But, one area that has been of concern has been about those that are not players stealing their identities. Thus, the investigative unit is also working to protect the players. As reported by Ronald Blum of ...

Sticker Shock: NY All-Star Gm Tix to run $150-$725
Published 4/30/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
Be prepared to shell out extra money if you want to see this year’s All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. With tickets going on sale yesterday, and this being the final year in the House That Ruth Built, prices for the best seats in the house will be running at 154 percent more than the best seats at last year’s ASG that was held in San Francisco. As reported by the NY Post: The hot topic is tickets for the All-Star game, the workout and Home Run Derby and the Futures game. Baseball's chief operating officer, Bob DuPuy, said 70 percent of tickets will be made available to either Yankees season ticket holders or the ...

Hornets’ Byron Scott Wins Coach of Year
Published 5/1/2008 by Nick Kappel at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
New Orleans Hornets’ coach Byron Scott was voted the NBA’s coach of the year on Tuesday, earning 70 first-place votes. Boston’s Doc Rivers finished in second with 23 votes, and Houston’s Rick Adelman received 17 votes, good enough for third place. As reported by ESPN: “This is a very humbling experience for me because this is something you never think about,” said Scott, joking that the statuette of Auerbach “kind of looks like me. “All I think about is getting great guys and trying to make them better and trying to win basketball games, so this is very special,” Scott said. “I’ve got an unbelievable group of guys that ...

Bobcats Hire Larry Brown as Head Coach
Published 5/1/2008 by Nick Kappel at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
It was clear that Larry Brown would be back coaching again, we just didn’t know when or where. Those questions were answered on Tuesday, when the Charlotte Bobcats hired him to become the team’s third head coach since they joined the NBA during the 2004-05 season. The announcement comes just three days after Charlotte fired coach Sam Vincent. As reported by ESPN:  “How are you going to say no to Michael (Jordan)?” Brown said. “I’ve known him for a long time. The things he stands for have made our game better. There’s no way I could say no to him. It was a pretty easy decision once my wife said yes.” ...

Mavericks Fire Avery Johnson After Another Playoff Flop
Published 5/1/2008 by Nick Kappel at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
The Dallas Mavericks fired head coach Avery Johnson on Wednesday, one day after the team lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season. As reported by ESPN:  “It is never easy to relieve a coach of his duties, especially one of Avery’s caliber,” Owner Mark Cuban said in a statement. “He is a talented coach and I want to thank him for his efforts over the last fours years and what he has done for this franchise.” Johnson’s regular season record with the Mavs was an impressive 194-70. However, his 23-24 playoff record was what did him in. Dallas’ 3-12 playoff record since holding ...

Melo’s Blood -Alcohol Content Was Over the Legal Limit
Published 5/2/2008 by Nick Kappel at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
According to Carmelo Anthony’s lawyer, the Denver Nuggets forward had a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit when he was arrested on April 14. As reported by ESPN: “We received noticed that Carmelo’s blood test came back over the legal limit,” attorney Dan Recht said, according to the report. “This is old news in that Carmelo has admitted from the beginning that he had been drinking and driving and he should not have been. Anthony, the third pick in the 2003 NBA draft, was pulled over on April 14 when an officer noticed him weaving and not dimming his lights. When he failed to pass several sobriety ...