Feature: US Sports Biz - February 2007  

S&T's US correspondent Mark J Jeffers, takes another look at the wild and wacky world of the movers and shakers in sports across the other side of the pond...

In news close to my heart, and my liver…Anheuser-Busch has extended its deal with the NBA keeping Budweiser and Bud Light as the league’s official beer sponsor. In a related note, basketball fans in 215 countries and territories watched this year’s NBA All-Star game. Now if all 215 countries drank Bud, maybe we could finally achieve world peace.
Touchdown for Tiki Barber! Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber who retired after the Pro Bowl, has landed a sports gig with NBC Sports' Sunday Night Football, and as a reporter for NBC's ‘Today Show’. The four year deal is reportedly worth $3m annually. There is no truth to the rumor that the peacock network is also starting a flag football league as well…
We have all heard about David Beckman coming to LA to save Major League Soccer, well I’m not so sure, do you think having Peyton Manning play in the European League would make football popular there?
UPS delivers, as the worldwide shipping company has signed a new five-year deal with NASCAR to continue as the official express delivery company through 2011. I’m pretty sure my packages would arrive on time, if UPS were able to have NASCAR drivers suit up in the UPS brown uniforms…
Over $93m dollars was bet on this year’s Super Bowl, I wonder if that includes my $1 Box, which I lost…
And 93.15m viewers watched the Super Bowl, but the show immediately following the game, ‘Criminal Minds’ had an audience of only 26.23m viewers; does that mean 66m viewers changed the channel, how bad could the show be? Viewership for the commercials topped off at 92.8m and they weren’t even funny this year.
I guess you could say the timing is right for the PGA Tour as Rolex has become the official timekeeper. Does that mean I will someday have a time limit looking for my lost balls?
Outfielder Barry Bonds has cut a one-year with the San Francisco Giants for a reported $15.8m. That’s sure a lot of money, but then again steroids are expensive.
That wraps it up for this edition of US Sports Biz, folks! I look forward to seeing some of you at Sportel in Miami!

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