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Bears and United Airlines Reach Naming Deal for former Cadillac Club at Soldier Field
Published 4/11/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Football :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
When the Chicago Bears season kicks-off this year, fans checking in to the club section of Soldier Field will find a newly named premium lounge, the United Club. As part of a renewed, seven-year partnership agreement between United and the Bears, United will have the home ...

Curse? Red Sox T-Shirt in Slab of New Yankee Stadium
Published 4/11/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
Could the Yankees become cursed? A Red Sox fan working on the new Yankee Stadium has reportedly buried a tee-shirt in the concrete slab of the visiting team’s locker room in an unknown location. As reported by the NY Post ...

Bryant Gumbel Leaves NFL Network: "We'd all be better served going in different directions"
Published 4/11/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Football :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
After two-years, Bryant Gumbel has left the NFL Network, leaving the league-run net to hunt for a replacement to team with Cris Collinsworth. "I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to call NFL Network games the past two years, which was a new experience for me," Gumbel said in a statement. "But we've agreed that we'd all be better served going in different directions." NFL Network has already started the search for the replacement for Gumbel. ...

On Baseball Prospectus: Not Quite Catching All the Action
Published 4/12/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
With the weekend upon us, many of you are thinking, “I’ll catch some games on MLB Extra Innings, or on MLB.TV”, well... not really. Today, on Baseball Prospectus, I go over the national and local blackout policy for those stuck with MLB Extra Innings, MLB.TV and blank screens today. As I write in Blackout Blues: Not Quite Catching All the Action: Let's start with MLB's pure money grab: national exclusivity deals. Every Saturday, from 1:10 PM ET or before 7:05 PM ET, all games are blacked out due to an exclusivity agreement with FOX, which typically broadcasts one game ...

When Sports Becomes a Small Matter: A Child and Autism
Published 4/13/2008 by maury at Maury Brown's Biz of Sports
There is no category for this topic here. There is baseball, basketball, hockey, football, and auto racing, but there is nothing for topics of far more importance. This, being my personal blog, has been about commentary on sports. It has never been about my views on matters outside of that. And, it has never been a place where you would find anything personal. Today, that changes as I find myself placed in a new cause. It is one that touches myself, my family, and as I will outline below, a growing and alarming number of families. Over the past year, our youngest son has not been developing at the rate that most children do. At first, we ...

Quotes from Buck Martinez Today on TBS
Published 4/13/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
The following are quotes from Buck Martinez during today's Cubs v. Phillies game on TBS.  Chicago Cubs (6) @ Philadelphia Phillies (5) (10 innings) Announcers Chip Caray and Buck Martinez Martinez on Phillies second baseman Chase Utley: “(Chase Utley) is just a hitting machine, getting better and better with each year…When you are hot like Chase Utley you can see the ball well and you can do just about anything you want to do at the plate.” Martinez on the differences in American and Japanese pitching: “One thing that ...

FOX Cuts Off Yanks/Sox Game and Switch to NASCAR
Published 4/13/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
As Yogi Berra (and Lenny Kravitz) said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” With a rain delay for Saturday’s Yankees v. Red Sox game on FOX, the network tried to squeeze in all of the game, plus keep their contractual obligation with NASCAR to show all of the race in Phoenix. They nearly pulled it off. As reported by The AP: A long rain delay during Saturday's Yankees-Red Sox matchup on Fox created the possibility that the game would overlap with the NASCAR race from Phoenix. Fox gambled that it could squeeze in both events -- and came up two pitches short. The final out was televised on another ...

Minnesota Wild Sold To Craig Leipold
Published 4/14/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Hockey :: The Business of Sports Network
The NHL Board of Governors on Thursday approved the sale of the Minnesota Wild to former Nashville Predators owner, Craig Leipold. The approval caps three months of negotiations with now former owner, Bob Naegele Jr. As reported by the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Leipold said he would own 51 percent of the team and act as its governor, but that he has taken on Minnesota native Phil Falcone as a general partner. Falcone is a former Harvard hockey player from Chisholm and senior marketing director for Harbinger Capital Partners of New York. "I am just totally elated," Leipold said. "It's been a long process." As ...

Dunkin' Donuts Selects FSG for Marketing Campaign
Published 4/14/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
Fenway Sports Group (FSG) today announced that Dunkin' Donuts, the world's largest coffee and baked goods chain, has selected FSG as its sports marketing agency of record.   In this role, FSG will help Dunkin' Donuts shape its sports marketing strategy, develop programs that leverage Dunkin's current broad-ranging portfolio of marketing assets, and maximize the value of its future sports, entertainment and event marketing partnerships. FSG will also work with Dunkin' Donuts' national sponsorships team and field marketing managers to negotiate potential sports properties, agreements, and provide tactical support for its ...

Best Screenplay Oscar Goes To: Four Men and a Jersey
Published 4/14/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
There are no Oscars for Major League Baseball. Nothing like the studio wars in the ‘30s and ‘40s when the likes of MGM and Warner Brothers vied for the theater going public. But, baseball has a rivalry like no other that could come out of Hollywood central casting in the Red Sox and Yankees. Few, if any, haven’t heard the news that a construction worker placed a David Ortiz Red Sox jersey in a cement slab at new Yankee Stadium in an attempt to “curse” the Yankees. This act would have been a Rembrandt if not for the fact that the construction worker tipped off some fellow workers, who then ratted him out. If he had taken a ...

Blackout Restriction Lifted For Johnson's DBack Return
Published 4/14/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
MLB.com will exclusively stream a free special presentation of MLB.TV when Randy Johnson makes his season debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at 10:15 p.m. (EDT). The game will be available without local blackout restrictions in the Phoenix broadcast territory. "We are grateful for the leadership of Jeff Moorad and Derrick Hall in providing Diamondbacks fans this exclusive opportunity to see tonight's game," said Dinn Mann, executive vice president, Content, MLB.com. "By agreeing to lift the local blackout, FOX Sports Net Arizona demonstrated a tremendous spirit of partnership with the ballclub and the industry, giving Arizona fans a ...

DirecTV Offering All Mariners Games on FSNW
Published 4/15/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
Those wishing to watch the Mariners on DirecTV, Liberty Media’s buyout of News Corp’s 41 percent stake in DirecTV means they now own FSN Northwest. According to Multichannel News, In announcing the additional games package, DirecTV said it now has a leg up on cable operator GCI, which has not yet struck a new deal, in bringing all of the Mariners actions to baseball fans in Alaska. The deal means an extra 45 games will be shown on the satcaster. Financial terms were not disclosed. What do you think? Don't forget to leave your comments ...

Randy Moss Chooses Pony International for Shoe Line
Published 4/15/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Football :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
Today, Pony International announced the company has agreed to an exclusive partnership to design the Randy Moss signature athletic footwear and clothing line. The first wave of Pony's Moss branded gear will arrive in stores August 1, 2008. "I get approached to endorse a ton of stuff each year that really doesn't mesh with who I am or what is important in my life, this agreement with Pony lets me help to give back and help the next wave of young players coming up," said Moss. "I really appreciated the way Pony presented their concepts for my signature brand and wanted to make a great performance line of clothes and shoes for the serious competitor to the ...

The BSN’s Sports Challenge for Autism Awareness
Published 4/15/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network
As the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, I want to issue a challenge to those in the sports media: spread autism awareness. Over the last 48 hours, I have seen mainstream and alternative media rise to this occasion since I made it known publicly that one of our sons has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (see details here at When Sports Becomes a Small Matter: A Child and Autism). Those outlets and individuals include: Tim Lemke of the Washington Times (Helping Autism Research) Carolyn Hastings with the ...

The Business of Sports Network's Sports Challenge for Autism Awarenes
Published 4/15/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Football :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
As the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, I want to issue a challenge to those in the sports media to a challenge: spread autism awareness. Over the last 48 hours, I have seen mainstream and alterative media rise to this occasion since I made it known publicly that one of our sons has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (see details here at When Sports Becomes a Small Matter: A Child and Autism). Those outlets and individuals include: Tim Lemke of the Washington Times (Helping Autism Research) Carolyn ...

The Business of Sports Network's Sports Challenge for Autism Awareness
Published 4/15/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Hockey :: The Business of Sports Network
As the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, I want to issue a challenge to those in the sports media to a challenge: spread autism awareness. Over the last 48 hours, I have seen mainstream and alternative media rise to this occasion since I made it known publicly that one of our sons has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (see details here at When Sports Becomes a Small Matter: A Child and Autism). Those outlets and individuals include: Tim Lemke of the Washington Times (Helping Autism Research) Carolyn ...

The Business of Sports Network's Sports Challenge for Autism Awarenes
Published 4/15/2008 by Maury Brown at The Biz of Basketball :: Part of the Business of Sports Network
As the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, I want to issue a challenge to those in the sports media to a challenge: spread autism awareness. Over the last 48 hours, I have seen mainstream and alterative media rise to this occasion since I made it known publicly that one of our sons has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (see details here at When Sports Becomes a Small Matter: A Child and Autism). Those outlets and individuals include: Tim Lemke of the Washington Times (Helping Autism Research) Carolyn ...