I just turned on the TV, fully expecting to flip around and settle on some sort of game show featuring either Drew Carey or Jeff Foxworthy. Instead, I found pre-season football on FOX. I love the NFL, but I have a hard time watching football when its 95 degrees outside. Anyway, it got me thinking about the upcoming season, and what the odds were that my Jets would win the Super Bowl.
Here are the up to date odds to win the 2008 Super Bowl according to Intertops.com.
Win Odds Team
5.00 New England Patriots
8.00 Indianapolis Colts
8.00 San Diego Chargers
15.00 Chicago Bears
17.00 Baltimore Ravens
17.00 Cincinnati Bengals
17.00 Dallas Cowboys
17.00 Denver Broncos
17.00 New Orleans Saints
17.00 Philadelphia Eagles
23.00 Seattle Seahawks
26.00 Carolina Panthers
26.00 Pittsburgh Steelers
34.00 Jacksonville Jaguars
41.00 New York Giants
41.00 New York Jets
41.00 San Francisco 49ers
41.00 St Louis Rams
51.00 Arizona Cardinals
51.00 Atlanta Falcons
51.00 Green Bay Packers
51.00 Miami Dolphins
51.00 Tennessee Titans
51.00 Washington Redskins
67.00 Buffalo Bills
67.00 Kansas City Chiefs
67.00 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
81.00 Minnesota Vikings
101.00 Cleveland Browns
101.00 Detroit Lions
126.00 Houston Texans
126.00 Oakland Raiders
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Odds to Win the 2008 Super Bowl
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Fastest Growing Brands in Sports
Forbes has published a study in which they determined the fastest growing brands in sports. They calculated the brand value of the 122 teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB by adding up their revenues from sponsorships, naming rights, local media, tickets and merchandise not attributable to demographics. Since their study focused on growth rather than absolute value, that most of the teams on our list are turnaround situations.
According to Forbes, the fastest growing brands in each sport are as follows:
- MLB: Toronto Blue Jays
- NFL: Philadelphia Eagles
- NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers
- NHL: Buffalo Sabres
from Peter J. Schwartz of Forbes
There's more competition than ever before when it comes to vying for the entertainment dollar, making a powerful brand a top priority for many professional sports teams.
No American sports team has done this as well as the New York Yankees, who are worth $1.2 billion and have set themselves apart by establishing their own cable TV network and forging a $95 million partnership with German apparel maker Adidas. Parent company Yankee Global Enterprises has also reached player development and sponsorship agreements with Chinese and Japanese companies in hopes of broadening its reach.
How Much is Your Favorite Sport Covered in the News?
During the month of May, over 37% of ESPN's SportsCenter was devoted to covering MLB. The NBA playoffs took up 25% of the coverage. The NHL playoffs: less than 5 percent. Even the NFL offseason received more coverage than the NHL at 7%.
Street and Smith's Sports Business Daily has put together a chart detailing how much coverage each sport received from 5 major outlets during the month of May. The five outlets are the USA Today, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, SportsCenter, and FSN's Final Score.
In another interesting comparison, coverage of Boxing exceeded that of MMA events in 4 of the 5 outlets. The only outlet that gave more coverage to MMA was FSN Final Score. Coincidentally, FSN has the television rights to the IFL.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Nike, Reebok, Donruss Sack Vick
Yesterday was a bad financial day for Michael Vick, and it had nothing to do with the falling stock market. Nike, Reebok, and Donruss all took action against Vick, bowing under the pressure from animal rights organizations to stop doing business with Vick after his indictment last week for dogfighting charges.
Nike has suspended Vick's endorsement contract without pay, and Donruss has removed Vick from all future 2007 packs. In the biggest surprise, Reebok, the maker of the official NFL jerseys, will pull Vick’s jersey from shelves. A Reebok spokeswoman told the A.P. that the company had never taken this action before.
from Judy Battista of the New York Times
read more...The groundswell against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is about to reach his wallet.
Yesterday, Nike announced that it had suspended Vick’s endorsement contract without pay and would not sell any more Vick-branded products.
Vick, who has been indicted in federal court on charges of running a dogfighting ring, has had an endorsement deal with Nike since entering the National Football League as the first overall draft pick in 2001. While Vick’s name will all but disappear from the shoe racks, his contract has not been terminated because, a statement released by Nike said, Vick “should be afforded the same due process as any citizen in the United States.”
Monday, July 23, 2007
Why Vick’s Indictment is Good for the NFL
After reading the heinous charges against Michael Vick, my initial reaction was that this story was a nightmare for the NFL. But after considering it some more, I think it will actually be good for the NFL.
How can it be a good thing to have one of your star players accused of operating a brutal dog fighting operation? Because it will increase ratings! After all, who would not want to watch Vick’s first game of the year? There will be so many interesting components. How will the announcers handle it? Will they condemn him, or say that he is innocent until proven guilty? Will they ignore the issue completely? It will be fascinating.
It will also be interesting to see how Vick and his teammates handle the situation. Will Vick crack under the pressure? Will the mob of press be such a distraction to the team that they cannot play well? The telecast will be such a train wreck, and so fascinating on many levels, that you will have to watch. And after all, that is why the networks are paying the NFL billions of dollars – to get people to watch.
The only way the Vick situation will be bad for the NFL is if PETA and other organizations can affect the NFL’s sponsors. If they can cause sponsors to drop out of the sport, that will hit the NFL where it really hurts – the bottom line. What good are ratings, if you can’t sell the ad space?
But that won’t happen. First of all, sponsors will not leave the NFL in mass. The ratings are too high, and the NFL’s product reaches all the right demographics. And even if some sponsors do leave, so what? There will be a line of new ones to take their place.
And if you’re thinking that this whole situation will be avoided when the NFL suspends Vick, think again. They have absolutely no incentive to suspend him. For starters, the product on the field is better when Vick is playing than when he is not. Vick has to be better than any replacement, or he wouldn’t have been starting to begin with. The other reason, again, is ratings. More people will tune in to see Vick play than to see his replacement play. And the NFL can easily defend a decision to not suspend Vick. Despite the mountain of evidence against him, the NFL can always hide behind the fact that he is “innocent until proven guilty.”
So get ready for September 9. Atlanta vs. Minnesota will be must-see TV.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Nike Delays Vick's Shoe Release
After initially planning to release Michael Vick's new shoe as scheduled, Nike has now announced they will delay the debut of Air Zoom Vick V after all. Although Vick has only been indicted and not convicted, and in this country you are innocent until proven guilty, this was the right move. Nike also had endorsement deals with Kobe Bryant (accused of sexual assault) and Justin Gatlin (accused of using an anabolic agent ) and does not need the bad publicity of yet another scandal.
from Nicholas Casey of The Wall Street Journal
Nike Inc. suspended the release of a shoe endorsed by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, the second time in about a year that the athletic-footwear giant has taken the unusual step of cracking down on one of its star endorsers after alleged misbehavior.
Mr. Vick, who has been under contract with Nike since 2001, was this week indicted on federal charges for his alleged involvement in a dogfighting ring and is scheduled for arraignment next week in Richmond, Va. The Beaverton, Ore., company won't release Mr. Vick's fifth signature shoe, the Air Zoom Vick V, which was set to be released on Aug. 23, a Nike spokesman said. Mr. Vick's four previous shoe models will remain in stores."Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent," the company said in a statement yesterday. Nike added that it believes Mr. Vick should be "afforded the same due process as any citizen" and hadn't yet terminated its relationship with the athlete at this time. Mr. Vick's agent, Joel Segal, didn't return a call for comment.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Nike to Release Michael Vick's New Shoe as Planned
Despite Michael Vick's recent indictment by a grand jury on charges of operating a dogfighting operation, Nike plans on going ahead and releasing his new shoe as scheduled. The Vick V shoe, which retails for $100, will go out on shelves on August 23.
When Darren Rovell of CNBC spoke to Nike chief marketing officer Jeff Hennion, he was told,
"What’s going on with Michael Vick doesn’t change our merchandising marketing plan. The shoe is obviously a small component of the overall marketing initiative with Nike."
When I first heard that Nike will be releasing Vick's shoes as scheduled, I admit I was surprised. After all, the indictment against Vick alleges that he was actually involved in the execution of dogs that did not perform well. But then I realized that, sadly, Vick's indictment will probably result in an increase in shoe sales. Sigh.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Falcons' Vick Indicted by Grand Jury in Dogfighting Probe
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three others were indicted on charges of operating a dogfighting operation on property owned by Vick in southeastern Virginia. If convicted, Vick could face up to six years in prison and $350,000 in fines. Purses for the fights ranged from hundreds of dollars to thousands. According to the indictment, Vick was highly involved in the operation, attended the fights, and paid off bets when his dogs lost. The indictment also alleges Vick was involved in the executions of dogs that did not perform well.
NFL star Michael Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation so grisly the losers either died in the pit or sometimes were electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot.If convicted, many are calling for the same punishment for Vick.
Friday, July 13, 2007
NFL Network Cuts Comcast Deal
In big blow to the NFL Network, their new deal with Comcast will see the fledgling network carried on a little-subscribed-to digital tier. After the NFL granted their own network a package of 8 regular season games, they had hoped to be added to basic cable. It could be worse though. They could be on Versus.
from Braodcasting & Cable
The three-year-old NFL Network has quietly cut a deal for this season with Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable operator, to carry its controversial package of eight live football games on terms far weaker than the league is seeking.
Meanwhile, the NFL Network will go dark on Time Warner Cable systems recently acquired from Adelphia Communications in a bankruptcy sale.The Adelphia dispute is part of a larger duel in which the No. 2 cable operator is resisting paying the NFL network's high license fee and carriage demands. Time Warner has said the NFL is looking for a 250% increase in those fees.
When the NFL Network’s new eight-game, Thursday-Saturday package kicks off on Thanksgiving, Comcast will air the games on a digital tier available to fewer than one third of its subscribers. The league has been seeking carriage on basic cable, which would be available to nearly all of the operator's 23.3 million subscribers.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Alex Rodriguez: The $30 Million Man
The New York Yankees are reportedly breaking their own team rule, and negotiating an in-season contract extension with Alex Rodriguez. As amazing as it may sound, Rodriguez may opt out of his current contract even though he has approximately three years and $81 million left on the 10-year, $252-million deal he signed with Texas before the 2001 season.
Wallace Matthews of Newsday argues that not only do the Yankees have little chance of renewing A-Rod's contract, they risk upsetting their longtime stars Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, with whom the Yankees will not discuss new contracts until the season is over.
read article ...
Joel Sherman of The New York Post claims that even if Rodriguez does not opt out of his contract after the season, stipulations exist in his current deal that guarantee Rodriguez's salary will climb to $32 million the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
NFLPA Leader Gene Upshaw’s Compensation at Least $6.7M
from Daniel Kaplan at Sports Business Journal
NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw earned at least $6.7 million in compensation in the year ended Feb. 28, 2007, according to the union’s annual report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. That amount was more than double the prior year’s pay for Upshaw, who ranks consistently as sports’ highest-paid union chief.
NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw The increased compensation came as the union negotiated a player-friendly labor deal with team owners. At the same time, however, the union and the executive director personally have been undertremendous public fire from retired players on issues ranging from pensions and disability benefits to licensing income.
The timing of this story could not be worse for Gene Upshaw and the NFLPA, which is the target of a class-action lawsuit for failing to pay benefits to retired players. According to Forbes, only 317 out of more than 10,000 eligible players are getting disability payments out of their own fund. (Read my two previous posts on this lawsuit.)
But the NFLPA apparently has the funds to pay their employees. According to the Sports Business Journal, Upshaw is the highest-paid union chief in sports. Billy Hunter, the National Basketball Players Association executive director, earned $2.1 million in the 12 months ended June 30, 2006. MLBPA boss Donald Fehr takes in $1 million salary.
Furthermore, in a recent amendment to their lawsuit, the retired NFL players allege that, “Players Inc. has ... diverted millions of dollars from Players Inc. to the NFLPA in order to support the overhead, substantial salaries and perquisites of NFLPA management and employees.”
Richard Berthelsen, the NFLPA’s general counsel, had this to say about Upshaw's salary, “If anything, he is underpaid."
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Once the Dirtiest Player in the NFL, Conrad Dobler is Now Fighting for the Guys He Tried to Dismember
from Michael Weinreb of espn.com
"I always tried to play it fair," he says
He knows perfectly well how any mention of fairness or honor might sound, coming from someone who made his reputation as the maestro of a nasty little karate kick technique called the leg whip, coming from a man best known for using his helmet, his feet, his knees, his fingers, a plaster cast, and — perhaps most famously — his teeth as lethal weapons. This is, after all, the same Conrad Dobler whom Sports Illustrated anointed on its cover in 1977 as "Pro Football's Dirtiest Player," the same Conrad Dobler who titled his own autobiography "They Call Me Dirty." This is the Conrad Dobler who gouged eyes and twisted facemasks and worked hard to irritate everyone from Pete Rozelle to John Madden to a mild-mannered Mormon defensive lineman named Merlin Olsen
read more...
Last week I commented on a story that told of retired NFL players seeking Congress' help in repairing their pension and disability system. Officials claim that only 317 of more than 10,000 eligible players are getting payments out of the NFLPA disability fund. Today, this story was plastered on the front page of ESPN.com. Conrad Dobler, who once actually made an opponent cry on the football field, is part of a class-action suit filed to help retired players to get their fair share of the profits from the league they helped build.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Take me out to the ball game: Is there a real "home field advantage?"
by Cecil Adams of The Straight Dope
Dear Cecil:
Everyone's always talking about how great home-field advantage is in sports, but how important is it really? The mindless stats everyone repeats about how NFL teams with home-field advantage do better in the playoffs drive me crazy — the teams earned home-field advantage because they're better already! Also, are the home-field advantages different in different sports? — Doc, via e-mail
read more ...
Sabremetricians have made some very interesting discoveries about sports over the last 20 years or so. This is not one of them. Anyone that has played sports competively aleady knows that home field advantage is real. Sabremetricians have just proved this is correct.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Congress: NFL Should Improve Benefits
from Jesse J. Holland of the Associated Press
Aging NFL retirees told Congress Tuesday that playing professional football left them with broken bodies, brain damage and empty bank accounts. Lawmakers said they may get involved if a better pension and disability system isn't created.
Former NFL players told a sympathetic House Judiciary subcommittee tales of multiple surgeries, dementia and homelessness, all while trying to fight through the red tape of the National Football League and the NFL Players Association's disability system.
The league and the players association said pensions are improving and there's no need for Congress to step in.
read more ...
The NFL Players Association should be embarrased. Football players suffer more injuries, and have shorter life expectancies than those in any other major sport. Yet the NFLPA is not taking care of players once they retire. Its bad enough that the NFL doesn't have guaranteed contracts, but when hall of fame players are literally dying homeless, something has to be done. The stars of the NFL have to take accountability and get this fixed.
