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Infographic | The world's most valuable sports media rights properties. NHL focused on World Cup over Olympics, says Bettman. National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman has said the return of the World Cup of Hockey, rather than participation at the 2018 winter Olympics, is the organisation’s main focus as it reportedly seeks to draw up a 12-year plan for the international game. The last edition of the World Cup of Hockey national team tournament was held in 2004 and staged in seven cities in North America and Europe, with the final in Toronto. The World Cup is rumoured for a 2016 return and would prove lucrative for the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) as revenues would be split 50-50 between the organisations. Crucially it would also not require a three-week league shutdown in the middle of a season, as the Olympic Games do.

“We really haven't thought about (the Olympics),” Bettman said at the Primetime Sports Management Conference. “We are focused with the Players' Association on a World Cup. “I haven't made up my own mind. We haven't made a decision. The Places in America Where College Football Means the Most. By Neil Irwin and Kevin Quealy It is hard to explain to someone who grew up in a big city in the Northeast just how big a deal college football is in the Southeast. College sports, and particularly football, occupy a role at the center of daily life in the South — like in South Carolina, where one of us grew up — that is hard to imagine for many people who grew up in New York or Boston.

Last month we published The Upshot’s map of college football fandom, showing where people root for what college teams. That map offers great detail about what teams college football fans root for in a given location, but nothing about how concentrated college football fans are in that place. Here, we are looking at another question: not which teams fans root for, but the proportion of the population in various places who are fans of any college football team. Alabama has the highest concentration of college football fans. It is difficult to separate correlation from causation from coincidence, however. NHL u-turn as Daly talks up Las Vegas franchise.

National Hockey League (NHL) deputy commissioner Bill Daly has suggested the North American ice hockey competition is prepared to break new ground by placing an expansion franchise in Las Vegas. In a wide-ranging interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper, Daly (pictured) discussed a recent visit to Las Vegas, where he visited the site on which MGM Resorts is building a 20,000-seat arena and canvassed opinion from locals working in the city’s bustling service industry.

The revelations mark a departure from the league’s previous denials that it was planning for an expansion franchise. In August, Daly himself said Las Vegas was “not in our plans”. Daly stated that the NHL would wish to avoid further misalignment between its 14 team Western Conference and 16 franchise Eastern Conference in any expansion, putting Las Vegas in an advantageous position geographically.

“I got a variety of different responses,” he said. » Recours collectif de 180 millions: du gros n’importe quoi|Le blogue de hockey junior. J’ai l’impression que chaque fois qu’un groupe relance le débat des mauvaises conditions des joueurs de hockey junior, il s’y prend de la pire des façons. Bref, un échec assuré. Intenter un recours collectif astronomique de 180 millions de dollars contre le Ligue canadienne de hockey, ça fait bien sûr jaser.

Tous les médias reprennent la nouvelle, même ceux qui en temps normal, ne s’intéressent jamais au hockey junior. Sauf que le montant est tellement énorme qu’il en devient ridicule. Aucune crédibilité. C’est dommage, parce que tout n’est pas parfait dans le hockey junior canadien, loin de là. Des problèmes importants méritent d’être corrigés, mais comme ils ne coûtent pas 180 millions, c’est moins spectaculaire comme sujet. Deux exemples : Réduire le «salaire» des 20 ans de 550 $ par semaine à 150 $ à partir de cette saison, c’était une décision indécente. Oui, en regardant seulement le montant de 50 $ par semaine, c’est de l’exploitation. Ils n’ont qu’à disparaître, pensez-vous? Club 1909. World Series 2014: Baseball Is No Longer the Center of Attention in a New Landscape. Photo It may be America’s national pastime, but it has never felt less national.

On Tuesday night, the first game of the 2014 World Series drew just 12.2 million viewers to Fox, making it the lowest-rated Game 1 on record. Game 2 on Wednesday night fared somewhat better, with 12.9 million people tuning in. For most of the last century, the start of baseball’s World Series — with its red, white and blue bunting and occasional ceremonial first pitch from the president — was always a major event. The opening game of the Fall Classic has provided some of the country’s most enduring sports memories, including Willie Mays’s over-the-shoulder basket catch (1954), Sandy Koufax’s 15-strikeout performance (1963) and Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run (1988).

But this week, more people watched “NCIS: New Orleans” and “The Big Bang Theory,” and — for that matter — “The Walking Dead,” the cable show about zombies. The low ratings highlight a number of trends in the sports and media industries. Stephen A. N.F.L. Stands by Its Push to Connect to Fans Digitally. Photo The media machine rolls on, Mark Cuban be damned. Earlier this year, Mr. Cuban, the maverick owner of the Dallas Mavericks, said that the N.F.L. was saturating the airwaves and the Internet and was in danger of crumbling in a decade.

The league has shrugged off his criticism. Naysayers have made similar points in years past and been proved wrong. Despite grim news about domestic abuse, concussions and other issues that have embarrassed the league, television ratings for N.F.L. games have risen, not dipped, this season. Besides, there is money to be made. This month, the N.F.L. renewed its rights deal with DirecTV, which will pay an average of $1.5 billion a year from 2015 to 2022 to continue carrying the NFL Sunday Ticket package of out-of-market games, a 50 percent jump compared with the current deal, which expires this season. Forever thirsty, the N.F.L. has also pushed further into the next frontier, mobile video. Whether the service will make money is a separate question. Disney & Time Warner vont verser 24 milliards à la NBA. Plusieurs médias ont relayé l’annonce ce matin, la NBA va signer un contrat historique avec Time Warner, qui détient TNT, et Disney, l’actionnaire majoritaire d’ESPN et ABC, doublant le montant acté sur les précédents contrat.

Ce nouveau cycle de droits TV permettra à Disney et Time Warner de diffuser la NBA jusqu’à la saison 2024-25 selon des sources proches du dossier. Dans le cadre du contrat actuel, Disney avait signé un chèque de 485 millions de dollars et Time Warner dépensait 445 millions de dollars pour ces droits TV qui expirent à la fin de la saison 2015-2016. Même si le montannt officiel n’est pas annoncé – il devrait l’être ce soit à 16h, heure française sur NBA TV -, ce nouvel accord, de 9 saisons (2016-17 à 2024-25), devrait atteindre la somme de 24 milliards de dollars soit un peu plus de 2 milliards d’euros par saison !

Ce nouveau contrat devrait aussi permettre à ESPN de lancer un service vidéo en ligne, qui diffusera plusieurs matchs de la saison régulière en live. Sniffing for Dollars at Home of the Vikings. MINNEAPOLIS — The Wilfs, a family of real estate barons from New Jersey, offer an excellent example of that rarefied subspecies known as the 21st-century owner. They have poured money into the , the team they bought in 2005. But that team has so many troubles. Its star running back, Adrian Peterson, is trailed by searing allegations of child abuse. The Wilfs suspended Peterson with pay only after Gov. Mark Dayton ripped them and commercial sponsors threatened to bolt. Soon afterward, the Vikings welcomed back a Christ-loving special teams coach from a two-game suspension for making homophobic comments to a pro-gay-marriage punter.

The Wilfs’ business ethics were excoriated by a New Jersey judge last year, who found that the family had fleeced its longtime business partners in a real estate deal. Fortunately, Zygmunt Wilf, or Zygi, the family’s chieftain, is a reliable member of the N.F.L. family. Photo Unfortunately, this park will not be as public as advertised. Well now. In N.F.L. and Other Sports, Players Have a Muted Reaction to Teammates' Wrongdoing.

Photo As doping grew pervasive in cycling in recent decades, riders banded together and protected one another, even as laws were broken. The omerta permeated baseball, too, when players rarely grumbled publicly about their peers’ use of performance-enhancing drugs. The latest case study of group dynamics in professional sports is now playing out in locker rooms in the aftermath of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson episodes. A lurid video surfaced of Rice knocking out his fiancée with a punch to the head, and photos spread online of injuries that Peterson, like Rice a star running back, inflicted on his 4-year-old son. The cases stirred a national uproar among the news media, fans, parents, wives — seemingly everyone except other N.F.L. players.

In a subculture commonly described as a family or brotherhood, public support is often the default, and prevailing, reaction in locker rooms. “Why don’t we see more collective action among athletes?” For High School Football Coaches and Fans, a New Digital Blitz. Photo SAN ANTONIO — Time for some Texas high school football, heavily assisted by modern technology. On a recent 90-degree Saturday night at Heroes Stadium here, with the lights flickering on at sunset, the Knights of Byron P.

Steele II High School opened their season before a crowd of more than 6,500. “I feel good,” said Scott Lehnhoff, the Knights’ coach. “Everybody feels like they’re in the right place.” If they weren’t, cameras around the field and stands probably would have caught it. The Knights are part of a technology revolution that is transforming high school football nationwide and creating opportunities for companies that supply equipment and services. “Lots of high schools in this country now spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, even a million, on football,” said Angela Lumpkin, the chairwoman of the sports management department at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Hudl works with 18 sports besides football for high schools, colleges and professional teams. L. Mr. Justice - La NFL secouée comme jamais. Où en sont les quatre procédures ? Ray Rice (ex-Baltimore), sans club et suspendu sans limite: l’aspect civil est clos sans réelle sanction. Côté Ligue, le syndicat des joueurs a fait appel de sa suspension, l’estimant condamné deux fois pour les mêmes faits après la révélation de la vidéo où il frappe et assomme sa fiancée (devenue sa femme). Vendredi, Adrian Peterson (Minnesota) a été inculpé et s’est présenté aux autorités texanes (état où a eu lieu la "correction" qu’il a infligée à un de ses fils). Il a été libéré contre une caution de 15 000$ et le processus légal suit son cours. Mardi soir, son équipe a décidé de le laisser à l’écart du groupe de manière indéterminée. Greg Hardy (Carolina) a déjà été reconnu coupable de violences et menaces de mort à l’égard de son ex-compagne. Pour Ray McDonald (San Francisco), l’enquête est en cours.

Trois des quatre concernés écartés des terrains A lire aussi Les sponsors, éléments déclencheurs La NFL recrute des femmes. Michele Roberts, N.B.A. Union’s New Leader, Confronts Gender Barriers - NYTimes.com. Photo Last month, inside a grand ballroom at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Michele A. Roberts stood before 117 players — towering international celebrities with millions in their bank accounts — and declared that she should be their leader.

Roberts confidently ran through her credentials — law school at the University of California, Berkeley; a sparkling trial career; partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, one of Washington’s most prestigious law firms — and then addressed the many problems facing the players union that she hoped to lead as executive director. But as the private meeting went on, she sensed an unspoken question hovering over the proceedings. “I bet you can tell I’m a woman,” she said, “and I suspect the rest of the world can, too.” She did not flinch. Hours later, Roberts drew 32 of 34 votes cast and was named the first female leader of a major North American professional sports union, ending a long and contentious search. Different, Not Inferior. What the O’Bannon Ruling Means for Colleges and Players - NYTimes.com. The landmark decision in the so-called O’Bannon case that found that the N.C.A.A. violated antitrust laws may be precedent setting and may ultimately cost colleges hundreds of millions of dollars.

But it is unlikely to create a windfall for any individual athlete. In her 99-page decision, Judge Claudia Wilken laid out the justification for her injunction. Q. What did the N.C.A.A. lose? A. The right to restrict any college or university from paying athletes for making money off their names, images and likenesses — for instance, in a video game. Q. A. As Robert Boland, a professor of sports law at New York University, put it: “The judge really split the baby.

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Many years later, O’Bannon, now a car salesman in the Las Vegas area, recognized himself on a video game and was troubled that his likeness was being used without his consent — or payment. O’Bannon then became the lead plaintiff in the antitrust suit filed in July 2009. N.C.A.A. Must Allow Colleges to Pay Athletes, Judge Rules - NYTimes.com. Photo In a decision that could drastically reshape the world of college sports, a federal judge ruled on Friday that the N.C.A.A.’s decades-old rules barring payments to college athletes were in violation of antitrust laws. In a 99-page ruling, Judge Claudia Wilken of United States District Court in Oakland, Calif., delivered a resounding rebuke to the foundation of the N.C.A.A., issuing an injunction against current rules that prohibit athletes from earning money from the use of their names and images in video games and television broadcasts. The decision in the so-called O’Bannon case would allow universities to offer football players in the top 10 conferences and all Division I men’s basketball players trust funds that can be tapped after graduation, giving players a chance to share in the billions of dollars in television revenue they help generate for their colleges and the N.C.A.A.

The ruling, which would take effect in 2016, does not mandate that players be paid. In one memo to Dr. Fears Rise Over Wealth Gap as Top College Conferences Push Overhaul - NYTimes.com. Continue reading the main story Video The head football coach at Alabama makes $6.9 million a year, and his staff is also very well paid. The offensive coordinator makes $680,000 a year, and the defensive coordinator makes $1.35 million. The strength and conditioning coach earns $395,000. At Ohio State, the football team moved into a $2.5 million, 10,000-square-foot locker room at its training complex, complete with a deluxe lounge outfitted with high-definition televisions. It also has a waterfall. When Florida State and Auburn qualified for last season’s Bowl Championship Series title game, their conferences each received $18 million. This is a portrait of life in the wealthiest districts of college sports. The denizens of these rarefied quarters, universities like Alabama and Louisiana State, are still institutions of higher education.

Photo And all of that has taken place under the N.C.A.A.’s old rules. Continue reading the main story “Enough is enough,” Kustra added. Record revenues for Packers shed light on NFL finances. Vikings step up MLS franchise bid with Relevent Sports tie-up. Les « Fantasy League », ce marché périphérique du sport aux enjeux colossaux - L'Observatoire du sport business. $2 Billion for Clippers? In Time, It May Be a Steal for Steve Ballmer. Japan targets baseball as potential economic spur. Developmental league targeted by NFL official. Trois nouvelles équipes canadiennes dans la LNH? | Julien Arsenault | Hockey. To Ensure Future Fans, Anaheim Ducks Grow Hockey Players.

$765m NFL concussion deal rejected by judge over fear sum is insufficient | Sport. NFL teams sidestep risk of playoff blackouts. Television Revenue Fuels a Construction Boom in the Pac-12. NFL and MLB team up to support rights-holders’ Aereo battle. If You Like a Star Athlete, Now You Can Buy a Share. Foot US - NFL - Les Redskins vont-ils changer de nom ? M.L.S. Tries to Mute Fans’ Vulgar Chants. Going to the Game, to Watch Them All on TV. NBA opens up to jersey sponsorship. The Real Advantage of the Packers' Community Ownership. (Hint: It's Not Money)

To Attract Potential Investors, Mets Add Perks to the Deal. Calling Foul on N.B.A.'s Claims of Financial Distress. Publicly-owned Packers announce new stock sale. The Wages of Wins Journal | Taking aim at the lies and damned lies in sports with stories written by the numbers. Predictions 2012 - NBA Attendance Takes A Hit: Rovell.