Wimbledon

For the first time during this year’s Wimbledon fortnight, it will be possible to follow the bouncing yellow ball on grass in 3D.  Sony has announced a deal with the All-England Lawn Tennis Club to air select Wimbledon matches in 3D in hundreds of its movie theaters, including the men's semifinals and finals as well as the women's finals.  The BBC, which holds the U.K. TV rights to the tournament, "has still to decide whether to broadcast in 3D."

Real life three-dimensional ATP President Adam Helfant is also making news.  Earlier this week, Helfant announced that he would step down as head of the ATP at the end of the year, stating that it was the right time for him to move on.  A successor has not yet been announced.

Fashion is always a big part of tennis’ Slams, and this year’s Wimbledon matches are no exception.  The British Fashion Council is capitalizing on the global interest in Wimbledon by enlisting Britain’s top fashion design talent, including Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Giles Deacon, and Burberry, to design exclusive outfits for the world’s top women players for this year's pre-Wimbledon party.  The dresses will auctioned off during Wimbledon, with the proceeds split between WTA charities and the British Fashion Council's Princess of Wales Charitable Trust.

Not to be outdone, tennis player Maria Sharapova last year renewed her contract with Nike in an eight-year deal estimated to be worth as much as $70 million, the most ever for a female athlete, including royalties from clothes she designs for the brand.  Sharapova also designs shoes and handbags for Cole Haan and endorses such luxury brands as Tiffany and Tag Heuer, and Sony Ericsson.  She also has more than 4.3 million Facebook fans.

On the men’s side, the Royal Bank of Scotland has announced a new sponsorship deal with Andy Murray despite the major cutbacks the bank has made since its taxpayer bail-out.  A long-standing backer of the Scottish tennis star and his brother Jamie, RBS’ last deal, struck in 2009, was reportedly worth US$3.25 million annually.

MLB Looks at Carving up the Map

Redistricting proposals in Texas and Wisconsin saw a gaggle of state representatives fleeing across state lines in protest, hiding out en masse and incognito in the wilds of Oklahoma and Michigan.  If Major League Baseball decides to realign its divisions, will we see a flood of pitchers and catchers doing the same?

In yet another possible blow to the tradition of the game, MLB is looking at the possibility of realignment that would create two leagues of 15 teams as opposed to the current structure of 16 teams in the National League and 14 in the American divided into multiple divisions. One option discussed has been eliminating the divisions altogether with 15 AL and 15 NL teams vying for five playoff spots within each league.

The Astros and Marlins are considered leading candidates to move to the American League.

Dallas Mavericks

There is a lot of buzz out of Dallas that the member of the NBA champion Mavericks who will cash in the greatest on the newly won NBA title in terms of sports endorsements is owner Mark Cuban.

Cuban already has a relationship with Samsung, was a contestant on ABC's “Dancing with the Stars” and made a cameo appearance as himself in HBO's Entourage. Now, he is being lauded for his uncharacteristically impeccable behavior during the finals, which included allowing original Dallas owner Donald Carter to accept the championship trophy.

It is believed Cuban will get many offers to serve as a pitchman for business-related products and services.

Olympic Rights Aftermath

Comcast executives are working overtime to assure shareholders that NBC's $4.38B deal to keep U.S. television rights to the Olympics through 2020 will be profitable. The Comcast/NBC bid was nearly $1 billion higher than the next closest proposal, from Fox. But Comcast felt it was strategically important to have a long-term relationship for four games rather than two.

The Games will cost NBC $775 million in 2014, $1.226 billion in 2016, $963 million in 2018 and $1.418 billion in 2020. The business plan is to combine NBC's broadcast and cable networks with Comcast’s sports assets, which include Versus, Golf Channel and 11 Regional Sports Networks.

UFC Expansion

UFC now is eyeing its own cable network to build an even closer relationship with the sport's growing fan base. The conglomerate is in talks to buy control of NBC Universal's struggling G4 gaming network. UFC's contract with Spike TV expires at the end of the year and UFC has been demanding a substantial increase in money to renew it.

A deal is also in place to distribute some events on Comcast-owned Versus. But having control of its own network would open new revenue streams for UFC and allow it to collect monthly carriage fees from cable and satellite-TV companies. A deal with Comcast could also include specials on NBC.

Bust, Boom, Hope

U.S. Open Meets the Beltway

The U.S. Open tees off at Maryland’s Congressional Country Club on Thursday, and two golf fans in America are looking forward to the event more than anyone. One is embattled New York representative Anthony Weiner, who embraces any happening around Washington that takes attention away from his sexting scandal. The other is Michael Whitehead, the 23 year-old amateur from Sugar Land Texas taking Tiger Woods place after Woods dropped due to knee and Achilles injuries. Whitehead’s great play at Dallas Athletic Club sectional qualifying earned him the Open’s first alternate position.

While taking care of injuries is smart, Woods hasn’t taken care of business on the golf course since 2009. He also bears responsibility for the firing of longtime agent Mark Steinberg by IMG – after Woods was dropped by major sponsors, Steinberg’s salary was higher than the commissions he was bringing in.

Outside of the beltway, Golf Channel executives are particularly pleased about NBC’s $4.3 billion winning bid for the 2014-2020 Olympic Games. Golf returns to the Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and the channel, owned by Comcast/NBC, will likely figure prominently in Olympic golf coverage, and may pick up some additional airtime covering other sports as well.

American Golf Mimicking Tennis?

Is American golf going the way of tennis? As it stands right now not a single one of golf’s Majors played in the U.S. has an American champion. South African Charl Schwartzel won the Masters this year, Martin Kaymer from Germany won the PGA Championship last August, and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell is the defending U.S. Open champ.

While most acknowledge that globalization is good for sports, an American champion at a U.S. tournament would certainly help engage and excite a new generation of golfers and fans alike.

In the 1980’s Americans dominated the sport, but the 90’s saw change as many foreign players burst on the scene winning Majors. Then came Tiger who dominated the sport and its dollars for over a decade, but since his decline we’ve once again witnessed a rise of international competition. The next ten years are vital for the game’s health and popularity in this country. The U.S. has always had an American to cheer for…Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Phil Mickelson to name a few. But, what happens if golf’s next Tiger Woods isn’t an American? What kind of impact will that have on the game’s future in the states?

The rise of international superstars in tennis has mirrored the games declining popularity in the U.S. With more and more champions in golf coming from overseas, we’ll have to see if golf can avoid following suit.

Emergence of Asia and Li Na

Last month, the sports business world was abuzz over South Korean golfer K.J. Choi and his victory at The Players Championship, long considered golf’s fifth major. More recently, the industry has been abuzz over Chinese tennis player Li Na's French Open victory, which has been a launching pad for endorsement possibilities.

Nike introduced the Li Na Collection immediately after Na became the first tennis player from China to win a Grand Slam event. The apparel company has long targeted China for growth and gave away free Li Na posters at over 50 Nike stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Na also has recently signed endorsement deals with watch brand Rolex, ice-cream maker Haagen-Dazs and medical tape developer SpiderTech.

Na broke away from the Chinese government's sports system in late 2008 under an experimental reform policy for tennis players dubbed "Fly Alone." She was given the freedom to choose her own coach and schedule and to keep much more of her earnings: Previously, she turned over 65% to the authorities. Now it's 12%.

Hockey Fever in Winnipeg

As the Stanley Cup Finals draw toward their conclusion, with the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks deadlocked at two wins apiece, the move of the Atlanta Thrashers to another region of Canada is already paying dividends for buyer True North Sports & Entertainment.

In Winnepeg, a "Drive to 13,000" season-ticket campaign lasted less than 72 hours and never reached the general public. The pre-sale was set aside exclusively for AHL Manitoba Moose season-ticket and mini-pack holders and corporate sponsors. Afterward, a ticket waiting list was capped at 8,000 people. Fewer than 1,000 tickets　at the 15,015-seat MTS Centre will be available on a per game basis to the general public as the luxury boxes take an additional 1,000 seats while the NHL requires a few hundred seats be set aside for players and their families as well as league executives.

Big Apple Hoops Wars

A major NBA turf war is brewing in The Big Apple, with the soon to be Brooklyn Nets making the first legitimate threat to the Knicks' territory in 65 years.

The Nets insist there are enough basketball fans in the city to support two pro teams, but new owner Mikhail Prokhorov has ruffled feathers with his declaration that Knicks fans will be turned into Nets fans. And the Knicks, in addition to letting go of longtime GM Donnie Walsh, have garnered their own share of bad PR by raising ticket prices almost 50 percent for next season, allowing the Nets to promote themselves as the cheaper alternative just five miles away.

As the Nets build an arena for $800 million, the Knicks are putting $800 million into Madison Square Garden. And the most vicious battle may be coming up for the Orlando Magic's likely free agent center Dwight Howard.

Bust, Boom, Hope

"Bust": Top Five Reasons the Armageddon Is Near

Sports Scandal Sheet, Summer 2011 Edition

Paying College Athletes

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel finally buckled under the pressure to resign amid a series of allegations involving his players and their NCAA rules violations.

Several college commissioners have lined up in favor of a new plan that would allow players to receive spending money from their schools. Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky thinks something has to give on the issue of paying student-athletes more than the scholarship money currently awarded. He thinks student-athletes in the revenue-producing sports should get more of the pie.

A payment plan for college athletes would help remove boosters of college programs, involved in improprieties with players for way too long, from the daily aspect of athlete's financial affairs.

What the athletes probably won’t get: a car allowance. Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor is now being investigated by the NCAA regarding the provenance of as many as eight new automobiles he had been known to drive during his three-year OSU tenure, as well as 50 other suspect car purchases linked to OSU players and boosters.

Gaming the Game

In June 2007, the FBI informed the NBA that one of its referees, Tim Donaghy, was the subject of a probe into illegal gambling. Within months, the public knew the broad outlines of a scheme involving Donaghy betting on games he officiated with a co-conspirator, longtime Donaghy acquaintance and professional gambler Jimmy “Baba” Battista.

By November 2008, each man had pleaded guilty to charges relating to the conspiracy, and was in federal prison. The story was over. Or so it seemed to be.

As the 2011 NBA Finals draw to a close, a new book, Gaming the Game exposes numerous previously unknown aspects of the NBA betting scandal, including Battista’s discovery of Donaghy’s bets on games he was officiating, and an examination of what pro gamblers, led by Battista, were doing with this information for years before Battista and Donaghy ever agreed to their own illicit deal.

Battista, unlike his co-conspirators, never spoke with federal authorities, and reveals the intricate details of the scheme, most of which only he knows. The book also shares why federal law enforcement officials never alleged referee Donaghy fixed games, and why they came far short of concluding he didn’t.

Armstrong Strong Arm?

After the head of Switzerland's anti-doping laboratory denied allegations that Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the 2001 Tour de Suisse, Armstrong’s attorneys have demanded an on-air apology from "60 Minutes,” which made the statements during a late May broadcast.

In a letter sent to CBS News Chairman and "60 Minutes" Executive Producer Jeff Fager, attorney Elliot Peters said the May 22 segment about Armstrong was built on a series of falsehoods.

Former teammate Tyler Hamilton alleged in the piece that Armstrong talked about using the banned blood-booster EPO to prepare for his third Tour de France in 2001 and cycling's governing body, the International Cycling Union, helped him hide a positive test at the Swiss event.

The “60 Minutes” revelations are just the latest in a string of doping allegations against Armstrong by former teammates and peers. While Lance continues to insist he’s clean, the waters around him grow murkier.

The Blatter Blotter

Despite the newest wave of scandals that began engulfing FIFA and soccer’s universe last week, Joseph “Sepp” Blatter was re-elected as FIFA President on Wednesday. But Blatter’s attempt to bury soccer’s latest vote-buying and World Cup bidding scandal, the same as he had glossed over other allegations before, almost didn’t go in his favor.

When the FIFA annual congress convened in Zurich, both the English and Scottish Football Associations tried to delay the presidential election because of vote-buying allegations made by Chuck Blazer, U.S. executive committee member. Germany’s football federation also called for an investigation into how Qatar, clearly a dark-horse candidate, won the bidding for the 2022 World Cup. Serious questions about that process were raised in an email produced by FIFA vice president Jack Warner, also President of the North, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation.

As many people in sports and politics have quipped as of late, this is just the end of the beginning for Blatter and FIFA.

Olympic TV Rights

While the Olympic rings are currently scandal-free (even though a Salt Lake City figure skating payoff and USOC issues have not vanished in the rear view mirror) speculation continues that ESPN and Disney will be making aggressive bids on the 2014 and 2016 Olympics and Fox and Turner/CBS may also join the fray. As one option of sweetening the deal, ESPN is considering supplementing its TV rights offer with a marketing deal from parent company Disney.

By wedding Mickey Mouse with Olympic rings, ESPN will make a case that the plan will introduce the Olympic brand to a younger demographic. The International Olympic Committee is trying to stay relevant with the younger generation at a time when kids are distracted by video games and computers. In the meantime, Comcast is trying to buy controlling interest in Universal Orlando.

Bust, Boom, Hope

By Rick Horrow and Karla Swatek


With NBA Finals In Front of Him, LeBron Bounces Back

Three games away from his first NBA Championship, the Miami Heat's LeBron James glows as his brand is finally on its way back following his highly publicized signing with the team last summer. James' No. 6 jersey ended up as the league's best-seller this year, and his Nike basketball shoe was the top-seller on the market. Enhancing James’ profile, the largest audiences in the history of NBA cable broadcasts are watching Heat playoff games; total NBA Playoff viewership is up 30% over last year.

And the Winner of the Heat-Mavericks Series is…American Airlines

James weathered the storm of his move from Cleveland to Miami by maintaining a low profile during the season. Now, he is shining bright on the sport's grandest stage, as he faces Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

The outlook for NBA labor peace isn’t as rosy: last week, the NBPA filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the league with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging among other charges that the NBA was dealing directly with players and bypassing the union, as well as failing to provide relevant financial information requested by the NBPA to understand its financial demands. The charges were filed in the NLRB's New York office ahead of the June 30 NBA CBA expiration date.

The league is denying the charges by the union.

On Wednesday, the NBA and the NBPA took their talents to the bargaining table in Miami (to paraphrase NBA Commissioner David Stern), with two more bargaining sessions expected when the Finals move to Dallas for Game Three. "The question is whether the owners and the players will be bold enough to what has to be done here to keep this sport on the track that it is on now, which is straight up," Stern said during a press conference prior to the Finals Game One.

But first, the hardwood games before the boardroom games.

Whether Miami or Dallas eventually prevails on the hardwood, American Airlines is the clear winner in the court of impressions.

In a sports marketing exacta, American owns the naming rights to both the American Airlines Center in Dallas and American Airlines Arena in Miami.

Throughout the NBA regular season, American generates significant local and national brand awareness with arena sponsorships in two of its major hubs. But now that the NBA Finals are underway, American’s exposure quotient will reach exponential figures.

Front Row Marketing speculates that every game in Dallas and Miami would be worth over $10 million in advertising exposure to American, based on signage placement in each arena. As good as that brand awareness is, American is merely using the TV exposure as a takeoff point.

This week, the airline launched a series of Finals-pegged promotions, including the "All American Airlines Shoot Out," a social media game playable on Facebook and Internet-ready mobile devices in which users participate by shooting baskets for either Dallas or Miami, as well as in-game promotions involving free airline tickets. The airline’s biggest NBA Finals-related promotion is AAdvantage "Around the World," which celebrates the 30^th anniversary of the AAdvantage frequent flyer program. One lucky fan will have the opportunity to win AAdvantage miles by making a variety of shots. The fan will start with a layup (worth 12,500 miles), then shoot a free throw (worth 30,000 miles), a three-pointer (worth 50,000 miles), and a half-court shot (worth 100,000 miles).

Earlier this month, as the French Open and the summer peak of the professional tennis season loomed, the U.S. marked a sobering milestone.

For the first time in almost 40 years, since tennis’ computerized ranking system was invented, no American man or woman was ranked in the top 10 of their respective tours.

As the French Open gets underway this week, Mardy Fish, ranked #10 on the ATP, is the highest-ranked American in the Roland Garros field. Despite the dearth of Americans on the red dirt of Philippe Chartrier, Roland Garros’ 1928-vintage center court, American fans will be watching…and watching. The French Open is being shown in the U.S. on ESPN2, Tennis Channel, and on weekends, NBC, in coverage that starts each morning at about 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and stretches across the broadcast partners past 6:00 p.m. On TV, a popular American player will remain front and center regardless of what’s actually happening on court: former WTA pro and veteran broadcaster Mary Carillo has joined Tennis Channel, hosting the cable network’s live French Open tournament desk, conducting interviews, and handling play-by-play duties during select matches.

Fan favorite Carillo will continue her role later this year at the U.S. Open. The other big French Open drama this year, besides the hide-and-seek-Americans storyline, involves Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, the Serbian superstar long known as the third wheel to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, at 41-0 is fast closing in on John McEnroe’s 42-0 season-opening streak, a record that has stood since 1984, and is six wins shy of the all-time Open-era record for winning streaks in men's tennis.

The Australian Open winner has beaten “King of Clay” Nadal in clay court finals the last events the pair have played, and if he beats him at Roland Garros, the sky’s the limit for new global endorsement deals. Djokovic’s current endorsement commitments, with the likes of Head and Sergio Tacchini, are thought to net him close to $11 million annually. So far in 2011, on the court, Djokovic has earned about $5.5 million in prize money, blowing away Nadal ($2.7 million) and Federer ($1.4 million).

Tennis purses continue to grow year after year, especially in the sport’s four Majors. The men’s and women’s singles champions at the French Open will each receive $1.7 million, up from $1.4 million last year, with total prize money increasing to $25 million from $20.7 million in 2010. The purse for Wimbledon next month will be $23.9 million, up 6.5% from last year, with the men’s and women’s singles champions each pocketing $1.8 million, up 10%.While it’s not a factor at the French Open, the UK’s policy of taxing endorsement income might cause several of the world’s top tennis players to avoid playing tournaments in Britain, including next month’s Queen’s Cup, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, and possibly, the 2012 Olympic Games. UK rules require that men and women competing or even just practicing in the country are taxed a proportion of their income from sponsorships and endorsements even if those deals have nothing to do with Britain. Serving Up Tennis Participation Numbers Across the world, tennis, and the men’s ATP World Tour in particular, has been gaining popularity, In 2009, the ATP drew a record 4.4 million fans, a 7% increase over 2008, and maintained its high numbers in 2010 with 4.34 million tournament attendees.

While few Americans are atop global tennis rankings these days, signs of encouragement for the sport abound domestically. In March, the Tennis Industry Association, the sport’s nonprofit trade group, announced a 46% growth in U.S. tennis participation since 2000, making tennis the fastest-growing traditional participation sport in this country over the past decade. (Racquetball came in second, at 3%.) In total, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) estimates that 30 million people played tennis at least once in 2010.

Junior tennis participation numbers are up significantly, and there is an across-the-board commitment among America’s top coaches and sanctioning bodies to bringing more top American prospects together to train, especially on clay, long thought to be one of the foundations of Europe’s tennis success. Former pro Patrick McEnroe, who heads up the USTA’s player development program, and USTA director of coaching Jose Higueras, among other leaders in the sport, are advocating the development of an American tennis federation that oversees junior training nationwide, rather than leaving player development to private academies such as the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.

Another key factor in developing more top-level clay court players in the U.S.? Building more facilities. While there are 400,000 hard courts in the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal, there are only 30,000 clay courts. In 2009, the U.S. had only one junior clay court tournament. Now, there are five. New WTA Ad Campaign and its Stars WTA Tour Chairwoman and CEO Stacey Allaster recently unveiled a new worldwide WTA ad campaign, featuring 38 current and up-and-coming female tennis stars. Under the tagline “Strong is Beautiful,” the new WTA ad campaign includes TV, print, and digital ads, and social media, and will appear in 80 global markets on 11 platforms over the next two years.

Allaster notes that the campaign is primarily aimed to convert casual tennis fans, who perhaps watch only Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, into “diehards who follow the entire women’s tennis tour.” The WTA will make the campaign available to tournament organizers in 33 countries, which underscores the tour’s ever-growing global reach: out of the 57 tournaments in which it participates in 2011, only 11 of the events are held in the U.S. This year, for example, the WTA season-ending championships will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, with total prize money close to US $5 million.

That tournament follows on the heels of another top-tier event in Beijing – as Chinese tennis player Na Li points out in one spot, "China is a country of 1.3 billion people. Yet we’ve never had a #1 player or Grand Slam champion. No pressure.” Caroline Wozniacki, one of the WTA stars featured in the ad campaign, entered the French Open Sunday as the No. 1 seed, and, as USA Today notes Wozniacki's "sunny disposition, pleasing looks and youth haven't gone unnoticed by sponsors."

Wozniacki currently has endorsement deals with roughly a dozen companies, including previous sponsors Sony Ericsson, adidas, and Rolex, and new 2011 backers Yonex, Turkish Airlines, Compeed, and Oriflame. The deals, combined with appearance fees earn her about $10-12 million annually, with Oriflame coming in at the top end – she’ll appear in Oriflame advertising and catalogues, endorsing the brand's cosmetics, nutritional wellness range, and jewelry. Long time endorsement darling Maria Sharapova knows a little something about jewelry as well – during her French Open matches, Sharapova is sporting $3,200 diamond earrings from Tiffany & Co., one of the many sponsors that put the hard-hitting Russian native at the top of the WTA off-court earning charts.

The Future of Roland Garros:

In the Red, for Now In February, after a long debate over whether to move the French Open from Paris’ city center to outlying sites such as Disneyland Paris or Versailles, the French Tennis Federation decided to keep the tournament at Roland Garros, where the clay-court major had been held since 1928. Upgrades to the facility – the smallest of tennis’ four Majors – will cost US $370 million, about half of what it would cost to move the tournament.

The five-year project will cover almost 35 acres and include 35 outside courts, a new 5,000-seat stadium a new press center, and a retractable roof for Philippe Chartrier. While botanical garden neighbors and players like Amelie Mauresmo strongly oppose the expansion – as do more than 35,000 people who have signed an online petition against the renovations, Roland Garros is to tennis what Fenway Park is to baseball. No matter how cramped and creaky, the site personifies the global sports identity of the City of Light. Moving it out of Paris would be as unthinkable as shipping the Red Sox to Salem. Or, as FFT General Director Gilbert Ysern succinctly puts it, “We have decided to remain different, and preserve our personality.”

Malcolm Glazer and Stan Kroenke are both on the world’s top billionaires list – with Kroenke coming in ahead of Glazer at #342 and an estimated net worth of US $2.9 billion. Both hold controlling stakes in NFL and EPL franchises, and both are notoriously media shy. But that, according to industry observers, is where the similarities end.

Kroenke’s portfolio of sports franchises and related businesses is deep. Besides the NFL St. Louis Rams, he owns the NBA Denver Nuggets, MLS Colorado Rapids, NHL Colorado Avalanche, the National Lacrosse League Colorado Mammoth, the Pepsi Center, and the Altitude regional sports network. His latest acquisition is EPL club Arsenal, which he clear kicked from Russian investor Alisher Usmanov earlier this week in a globally-monitored takeover.

Under EPL rules, by boosting his stake in the club to about 63%, Kroenke triggered a mandatory buyout of all other shares. Kroenke’s takeover puts Arsenal’s value at about US $1.2 billion. At least he’ll have a new toy to play with if the NFL lockout continues.