First Person: Saving the Tiger Brand

Accenture PLC became the first major sponsor to cut ties with Tiger Woods. Swiss watch maker Tag Heuer has said they will continue to work with him. PR consultant Peter Himler takes a look at what may be ahead for the world's top golfer.

Will Tiger's Sponsors Stay With Him?

Tiger Woods was in the news again Tuesday, as his mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital overnight. Will the continued coverage of golf's greatest player hurt his bottom line?

Cal Ripken's New Fields of Dreams

Hall of Famer Cal Ripken traded his old Baltimore Orioles' uniform for a business suit, as an owner of minor league baseball teams.

A Greener Playing Field

By Eliza Barclay

In sports, April was a big month, with major arenas that are home to professional basketball and ice hockey teams announcing the receipt of LEED certification, a third-party verification of their green building operations and performance.

The American Airlines Arena in Miami and Philips Arena in Atlanta joined the Washington Nationals Ballpark in Washington, DC and Detroit Lions Headquarters and Training Facility as professional sports facilities that have earned the label "green," according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which developed LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) standards. The arenas house baseball, football, basketball, and ice hockey teams.

Seven other university and private sports facilities, including tracks and gymnasiums, have earned LEED certification. And according to USGBC spokesman Marie Coleman, 139 sporting arenas have applied for LEED certification or are in the process of greening.

A Greener Playing Field....

Agency: Michael Vick Re-signs With Nike

Michael Vick is back with Nike more than two years after the company severed ties over the quarterback's involvement in a dogfighting ring.

Tennis Channel faces off with Cablevision for U.S. Open coverage

By Meg James

There's not much love in this tennis matchup.

For nearly two weeks, the Santa Monica-based Tennis Channel has been slamming Cablevision Systems Corp., the dominant cable operator in metropolitan New York, in an ad campaign that accuses it of "dropping the ball" by not carrying the channel. After four years of trying to win a spot in Cablevision's lineup, the channel was frustrated because a deal seemed out of reach on the eve of its first-ever coverage of the U.S. Open in New York, which begins Monday.

Tennis Channel faces off with Cablevision for U.S. Open coverage....

NBC, NFL Extend Deal For Two More Years

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable

NBC and the NFL have extended their NFL rights deal for another two years.

That means that Sunday Night Football, unlike Monday Night Football, will remain on broadcast TV at least through 2013.

NBC, NFL Extend Deal For Two More Years....

Big 12 to distribute $130M payment

By Tim Griffin

Even in the face of a struggling economy, the Big 12 Conference's economics are showing robust growth.

Big 12 officials announced Thursday that the conference will distribute a record $130 million among its member institutions from the 2008-09 fiscal year. The figure, announced on the final day of the Big 12's annual spring meetings in Colorado Springs, is more than 14.5 percent better than last year's previous record disbursement of $113.5 million.

Big 12 to distribute $130M payment....

Yankees Cut Some Premium Ticket Prices

The New York Yankees cut prices on some of the more expensive seats in their brand new stadium.

New Yankee Stadium Echoes the Past

The new Yankee Stadium cost $1.5 billion, making it the most expensive sports facility ever built in the United States. The Yankees play their first game in their new home Thursday.

Your Money: Major League Options

With ticket prices for major league baseball out of reach for many families, you may have overlooked some inexpensive options for getting your fix. AP Personal Finance Editor Trevor Delaney explains.

Mets New Ballpark Has a Nod to the Past

The Mets begin play this year in their brand new, $800 million ballpark, Citi Field. The team's new home has many amenities for both fans and players. The new ballpark replaces the Mets former home, Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964.

Historic Dodgertown Is History

After 61 years of pre-season tune-ups on the East Coast, starting this year the Dodgers are holding Spring Training in Arizona. The move has left the city of Vero Beach, Fla. with an empty stadium and dim economic prospects.

Tribune Co. picks billionaire Ricketts to buy Cubs

By ANDREW SELIGMAN
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- A billionaire family of Chicago Cubs fans - including one who first met his wife in the bleachers at Wrigley Field - is set to purchase the team and ballpark from Tribune Co.

The sale would include Wrigley Field and a 25 percent interest in a regional sports network, said Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for group head Tom Ricketts. Culloton said the deal was worth about $900 million.

"My family and I are Cubs fans," Ricketts said in a statement Thursday night. "We share the goal of Cubs fans everywhere to win a World Series and build the consistent championship tradition that the fans deserve."

The family, whose bid was picked from among three finalists, also said in the statement that it's looking forward to working with the Tribune and Major League Baseball to close the transaction promptly. Tribune Co. spokesman Gary Weitman declined comment.

The selection of Tom Ricketts, a member of the founding family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., and chief executive of InCapital LLC, was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times' Web site.

Tribune Co. picks billionaire Ricketts to buy Cubs....

Ross becomes Miami Dolphins' majority owner

By STEVEN WINE

MIAMI (AP) — New York real estate billionaire Stephen Ross became majority owner of the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday, completing his purchase of 95 percent of the franchise for $1 billion, with Wayne Huizenga retaining a 5 percent interest.

The two businessmen reached an agreement to complete a deal forged last February. At that time Ross bought 50 percent of the franchise, Dolphin Stadium and surrounding land from Huizenga for $550 million, with an agreement that Ross would later become managing general partner.

Ross closed on the purchase of an additional 45 percent Tuesday. That part of the agreement received pre-approval from the NFL in October.

Huizenga, 71, became sole owner of the Dolphins in 1994. A year ago he said it was time for another person to assume control.

Ross becomes Miami Dolphins' majority owner....

Niners could be stuck at the 'Stick

Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross

Stalled negotiations and economic uncertainty now have the San Francisco 49ers eyeing a vote in November rather than June on their proposed $900 million stadium in Santa Clara - a delay that could leave the team stuck at Candlestick Park well into the next decade.

At the very least, team officials acknowledge that the extra five months before a vote means the Niners' hoped-for home near the Great America amusement park probably won't be built by their self-imposed deadline of 2012.

"It looks like the target date will slip," team spokeswoman Lisa Lang said Tuesday.

That would force the 49ers to re-up at Candlestick, where their lease with the city expires after the 2012 season. The Niners have three options to renew after that, but each commits the team to an additional five years.

Candlestick isn't getting any younger. If they're stuck there through 2017, the Niners are going to want some fix-ups.

Already, the team is working up designs for a new club area with premium seating that could be introduced the season after next.

But there may be more to it than that. Lang confirmed that the Niners are looking at the possibility of a major remodel of the 'Stick - an option they had previously rejected as far too costly.

"We are running the numbers again because things have changed," Lang said. It seems that with the economic downturn, rehabbing the stadium might not be as expensive as once thought.

In December, new team President Jed York met with Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Sophie Maxwell and hinted that - depending on the outcome of their efforts in Santa Clara - he might come back to the city in three to six months to talk about a Candlestick rehab.

Dufty said he was under the impression they weren't talking about the kind of massive makeover that Chicago's Soldier Field got, "but something that might be north of $100 million."

Niners could be stuck at the 'Stick....

Will new Nets arena be scaled back?

Value engineering and a more traditional design are the order of the day as Bruce Ratner scales back the ambitious Atlantic Yards project, which includes a new arena for the New Jersey Nets.

Reports out of Brooklyn have the $4.1 billion scaled back to the point where engineers are evaluating the design from iconoclast architect Frank Gehry to see if it can be built on a smaller budget. And the first step in the process is reviewing the arena design -- currently estimated to cost close a billion dollars.

Will new Nets arena be scaled back?....

HARTFORD: City Officials Meet With NHL Chief

Mayor Eddie A. Perez and business leaders met Wednesday with National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman in Manhattan to discuss nascent plans for a new arena in the city, Perez said in a press release.

Also at the meeting were Andy Bessette, chief administrative officer of the Travelers Property Casualty Corp., and R. Nelson "Oz" Griebel, head of the MetroHartford Alliance.

City and state officials have long agreed that major league hockey would need a new arena to replace the city-owned XL Center to entice it to Hartford. In the press release, Perez said that the meeting was a good chance for him to tell Bettman that Hartford still wants an NHL team. But he noted that "difficult financial times" mean that it would take "a considerable amount of work" to make an arena a reality.

HARTFORD: City Officials Meet With NHL Chief....

NCAA, colleges looking for ways to pinch pennies

By JOSEPH WHITE

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — When members of the NCAA selection committee are setting up those brackets for the men's basketball tournament, they'll be able to plug in a school's name and first-round site into a software program and get a quick idea as to how much it will cost for the school to make the trip.

If a school in the NCAA baseball tournament find itself 375 miles away from its regional site, it can take the bus instead of fly.

And, for those athletes who fly to an NCAA championship event, forget about taking as many bags as you want. The limit is now two.

The San Jose State football coach says he'll avoid hotels when possible on recruiting trips. The athletics director at George Washington is wondering whether it's time to turn out the gym lights earlier each night to save on electricity and heating bills.

Like the rest of the country, college sports is in economic meltdown mode, and not even a grand locale for the NCAA's annual convention — along the Potomac River just south of Washington, D.C. — can mask the belt-tightening that is under way.

"It's going to affect travel," George Washington AD Jack Kvancz said. "It's going to affect lodging. It's going to affect all those things that you would obviously think it's going to effect. You're going to see schedules affected."

NCAA, colleges looking for ways to pinch pennies....

No credible terror threats seen for Super Bowl

By EILEEN SULLIVAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have found no credible threat of terrorist attacks at the Super Bowl scheduled Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla., but they are still raising security concerns.

A joint FBI and Homeland Security intelligence assessment cautions that Raymond James Stadium, the Super Bowl site, does not have the typical security features of permanently secure buildings and arenas.

The report, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, says possible attackers could be deterred by the posting of hundreds of visible security officials, barriers and other measures.

Officials are also concerned that terrorists or criminal could impersonate government or military officials because some Florida law enforcement badges and uniforms were stolen in 2008.

No credible terror threats seen for Super Bowl....

United League united no more

In an email sent Monday United Sports Equities CEO Brad Wendt announced the seven teams in independent United League Baseball -- the Alexandria Aces, Amarillo Dillas, Brownsville Charros, Edinburg Coyotes, Laredo Broncos, San Angelo Colts, and Harlingen WhiteWings -- as well as the league itself are on the market and available for purchase. The announcement came after the league declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Broward County (Fla.) court on Dec. 29, 2008.
The sale means many things. But most assuredly we're seeing the end of United League Baseball as we know it, with the most likely outcome four teams being absorbed into the Golden Baseball League or the American Association, perhaps as early as the 2009 season. But nothing is assured, and it would not surprise any insiders if the bankruptcy proceedings took longer than expected, forcing the buyer to wait for a 2010 opener.

(A note on the bankruptcy: Chapter 11 is a less-severe version, allowing a corporation to reorganize and shed assets. Litigation against a company filing for bankruptcy is suspended, with the federal bankruptcy court assuming control of the legal situation. So by filing in bankruptcy court, United League Baseball basically cut off the three existing lawsuits against it, as well as superceding the temporary restraining order.)

That the league is facing many issues is a matter of public record: league founders John Bryant and Byron Pierce as well as former San Angelo Colts owner Harlan Bruha have three lawsuits filed against the league. Bryant says his ownership of North Texas franchises and a small stake in the league are imperiled by the potential sale of the league, Pierce says he's still owed monies from the original purchase of the league, and Bruha wants to regain control of the Colts and Foster Field because of alleged nonpayment by the league. Pierce and Bryant won a temporary injunction in the fall, preventing any changes to the league; a bankruptcy filing by the United Baseball League supercedes that injunction, freeing the way for United Sports Equities to sell the assets of the league.

But the story goes far deeper than just a bankruptcy filing.

United League united no more....

Ballpark's Final Tag: $693 million

BY Tim Lemke

Nationals Park already has a season under its belt, but the final touches on the stadium's construction are just wrapping up. And we finally have a total price tag for the project: $693 million.

Remember when it was $535 million? Or $611 million. Or $631 million. Yeah, well that seems like ages ago.

The sports commission is in the process of executing a "close-out' agreement with the stadium construction team, Clark-Hunt-Smoot. Basically, the completion of that agreement means the work is done.

Ballpark's Final Tag: $693 million....

'Monsters' Tackles 3-D Super Bowl Promo

Talk about a monster of a promotion. Some 150 million 3-D glasses will be given away for Super Bowl viewers to watch a three-minute 3-D sneak preview of the big-screen animated feature 'Monsters vs. Aliens.'