A new type of marketing blitz for Stevenson

On a steamy turf field in Owings Mills, more than 100 young men are baking in the nearly 90-degree heat while coaches run drills like army sergeants and a few fatigued players stand on the sidelines sipping water under the watchful eye of a team trainer.

Welcome to Stevenson University football — the newest marketing tool for a school aiming to shed its small-time image since it changed its name from Villa Julie College two years ago.

Men’s football is the second athletics team the school has added since it changed its status to a university (women’s golf is the other), and Athletics Director Brett Adams said investing in sports is part of the plan to attract more students, offer a well-rounded college experience and keep alumni connected.

“It helps develop a passion for the university, and down the road those people give back,” Adams said after a news conference in which Stevenson unveiled its new Mustangs logo and football helmet. “In the short term, you can’t get better marketing [during the off-season] than happy football players wearing their Stevenson shirts at the beach.”

Judge: Rosecroft antitrust suit can proceed

An antitrust suit against the Maryland thoroughbred industry filed by the bankrupt owner of a Prince George’s County harness racing track is still alive.

A federal judge has ruled that Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., which shuttered Rosecroft Raceway last month, has put forth enough evidence to allow the case to go forward. But U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett noted several times in his opinion that his ruling was based on whether Cloverleaf had enough of a claim to proceed.

He noted it is rare to dismiss antitrust cases before the discovery stage.

“An antitrust complaint should not be dismissed … ‘merely because the court doubts the plaintiff will ultimately prevail,’” Bennett wrote, citing a 1976  Supreme Court case against a private hospital in Raleigh, N.C.

Bennett’s opinion, issued last week, was in response to a motion to dismiss filed by defendants Maryland Jockey Club, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and others.

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Collectors say the value of truly rare items has increased

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Rick Currence, owner of Sports Card Heroes in Laurel, will be exhibiting at the National Sports Collectors Convention beginning Wednesday at the Baltimore Convention Center.The 31st annual National Sports Collectors Convention begins in Baltimore on Wednesday, and the uncertain economic climate hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for a sometimes pricey industry — local collectors say this is still one of their busiest weeks of the year.

Exhibitors say the demand for sports memorabilia since the 2008 recession has gone two ways — while interest has dropped for the “manufactured” memorabilia, the value of the more rare items has increased.

“We didn’t see a change in interest in the older, true collectible stuff,” said Bill Huggins, co-owner of Huggins & Scott Auctions in Silver Spring. “The ‘true’ stuff is stuff usually [manufactured before] 1970 and it didn’t have a value before. Hence if you’re cleaning out your house, those are first things that get thrown away. Those have really held value through the economic recession.”

The items that have taken a bigger hit are collectibles like limited edition prints or autographed items that don’t have historical significance. (Think Nolan Reimold bobble-heads.)

1961 RBI crown will finally be awarded on Friday

Mmmm .... I'm thinking victory doesn't taste as sweet 49 years later. But the story's kind of interesting nonetheless!

Check out this Baltimore Orioles press release:

The Orioles have announced that they will honor former Oriole great JIM GENTILE in a special on-field ceremony on Friday, August 6, before their 7:05 game against the Chicago White Sox.

In 1961, Gentile set career-highs with a .302 batting average, 46 homers and 141 RBI. His 141 RBI were one behind the Yankees’ ROGER MARIS, leaving him second in the American League. Several years ago, a baseball researcher discovered that one of Maris’ credited RBI had scored as the result of an error. Within the last year, that research was verified and approved by Major League Baseball and its official statistician, the Elias Sports Bureau. In the 2010 Elias Book of Baseball Records, Gentile is for the first time listed as having shared the 1961 American League RBI crown with Maris.

In his four seasons with the Orioles from 1960-1963, Gentile made three American League All-Star teams, and his 141 RBI in 1961 still rank third all-time for an Oriole in a single-season.

Md. National Guard expands its Baltimore Ravens deal to include practice jerseys

After saying last season they could afford to be picky, the Baltimore Ravens have made their selection — the Maryland National Guard gets to be the first entity in Baltimore to take advantage of the NFL’s new rule allowing sponsorship patches on practice jerseys.

The Guard is paying a total of about $350,000 this year as part of an expansion of its sponsorship of the team, according to the Guard’s public affairs office. The cost is being split equally between the Maryland National Guard and the national organization.

The expansion in sponsorship includes the Maryland National Guard logo on Ravens practice jerseys, a tent at training camp and Ravens home games and more signage at M&T Bank Stadium.

Fan in Miami Heat James jersey kicked out of Cleveland ballpark

I've screened them all (thank you, YouTube) and here are the two best videos depicting the fan wearing the LeBron James Miami Heat jersey being excorted out of a Cleveland Inians game this week.

James' reputation in Cleveland seems doomed for the foreseable future. But really, how long will fans carry this grudge? This only makes them look petty and violent instead of the victim of James' selfishness here. As always, the truth probably lies somewhere in between ... (NOTE: beware of obscenities in videos.)

 

Fans booing...

 

Escorted out ....

 

 

 

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New ESPN deal will help Terps, but how much?

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The University of Maryland’s financial future just got a lot more stable, but how exactly that will help the school build up its athletic programs remains to be seen.

Thanks to a 12-year, estimated $1.86 billion television deal the Atlantic Coast Conference made with cable sports giant ESPN, the conference’s member schools stand to see nearly double their television revenue and get more exposure for their sports than ever before.

While the greater exposure will help Maryland’s lesser-televised sports, just how the Department of Athletics can benefit from extra money depends on the economic climate.

“A lot of it’s going to depend on where everything else is at that time,” said the university’s interim director of athletics, Randy Eaton. “If tickets and donations are still down, all it’s going to do is keep us whole.

UMd. could be sanctuary for UConn athletics director

With University of Maryland Athletic Director Debbie Yow leaving for North Carolina State, potential replacement rumors are running rampant

When she left, Yow recommended University of Connecticut Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway to replace her. UConn spokesman Mike Enright told AOL Fanhouse that Hathaway “is fully engaged with his duties at the University of Connecticut,” noting his travel plans next week for meetings with the NCAA basketball committee where he represents the Big East.

OK, that’s nice. But we all know that doesn’t mean much.

Game ON: Vuvuzela-gate

I bet FIFA wasn't banking on the absolutely out-of-control media coverage of South Africa's vuvuzelas as a side show to the World Cup. But the circus around these incredibly obnoxious horns has been even more entertaining than the games themselves in some cases. (Sorry folks -- even in the first round, I hate games that end in a tie.)

Vuvuzelas have been such a hot-button issue that already other sporting events or stadiums are taking a stand:Wimbledon officially banned the horns this week, as did the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the Big Ten Conference. But the South Eastern Conference (SEC) has said "screw it" and is allowing them at its stadiums. (The sound you hear is major donors picking up their phones to cancel their season tickets this year.)

In addition, YouTube has now jokingly added a "vuvuzela button" to its videos, which allows the user to add the annoying horn drone to the audio of all its videos.

Rosecroft’s supporters point fingers at Annapolis

In the wake of Rosecroft Raceway’s announcement that it will be closing July 1, supporters of the Fort Washington harness racing track are pointing fingers at Annapolis.

“They talk about ‘jobs, jobs, jobs,’ and when the Preakness and Pimlico were in trouble, the governor and others ran downstairs to save them,” Sen. C. Anthony Muse, D-Prince George’s, said Wednesday, referring to swift legislative action last year that protected the property and the state’s first right of refusal to the race.

“Here we have 200 jobs on the line and they have done absolutely nothing,” he said.

Kelley Rogers, president of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., which owns the race track that declared bankruptcy a year ago, said it was no longer financially viable to keep Rosecroft open.

“It just makes me sick. It really does,” he said. “The Legislature sat on their butt and didn’t do anything to save these jobs.”

Maryland wants to recycle cross-state bike race

Fourteen years after the annual mid-Atlantic cycling race Tour Du Pont abruptly ended, state officials and cycling enthusiasts are trying to bring a race to Maryland in 2012 that could generate as much as $40 million in annual spending.

Tour de Maryland would be a seven-day cycling event covering roads in all five regions of the state — Southern, central and Western Maryland; the Eastern Shore and the capital region, according to Terry Hasseltine, the state’s director of sports marketing who is trying to position the race as a mid-spring precursor to the Tour de France.

“It’s a great way to showcase the state’s tourism assets, and it draws a major international following,” Hasseltine said. “We’re talking the likes of Lance Armstrong and others participating.”

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The end for Baltimore’s ESPN Zone

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The closing of Baltimore’s ESPN Zone on Wednesday will not only leave 150 people unemployed, it will leave a huge hole in a premier, 170,000-square-foot downtown development in a still-recovering economy.

Owner Walt Disney Co. announced the shuttering of its five, standalone sports-themed restaurants on Wednesday. Roughly 1,000 employees nationwide at ESPN Zones in Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, New York and Las Vegas will be affected, according to Leigh Friedman, ESPN Zone’s regional marketing manager in Baltimore.

The Zone is a major tenant in the Inner Harbor’s Power Plant building, which was developed and reopened in 1997 by Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. The restaurant was a founding tenant of the building, which had been closed for the 10 years prior, and in 1998, it was the first ESPN Zone to open in the country.

Zed Smith, a vice president of Cordish Co., said in a statement the Zone’s location makes it attractive to potential tenants.

“We will replace the ESPN Zone with an equally spectacular venue,” Smith said.

Soccer means business and retailers, bars hope to cash in

When suddenly everybody wants a U.S. soccer jersey and bars and pubs are opening their doors at 7 a.m., it usually means one thing — it’s FIFA World Cup time.

Once every four years one of the most popular youth sports in the country gets a one-month stint as the country’s most watched pro sport and businesses in the soccer world enjoy the roughly 25 percent boost in business that comes with it.

“Every four years we have an extended Christmas,” Stephen G. Humburg, general manager of Soccer American, said of the tournament which starts Friday in South Africa. “It’s not just World Cup merchandise — everything that is offered goes up.”

Strasburg’s arrival translates into sellouts, TV ratings for Nats

How big is Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg?

 He’s big enough to sell out Nationals Park days in advance of his scheduled major league debut Tuesday night.

The 100-mph-fastball pitcher is big enough to catapult ad sales — and rates — on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network for his expected starts this month.

The 21-year-old phenom is even big enough to inspire 249-year-old Strasburg, Va. to rename itself (if only temporarily) Stephen Strasburg, Va.

Simply put, expectations have soared beyond Earth’s gravitational pull and the money is already flowing — all before Strasburg throws his first big league pitch.

No one knows if Strasburg’s on-the-field performance will live up to the hype, but the Nationals are already starting to reap the financial benefits after signing him to a $15.1 million contract — highest ever for a rookie — last August.

Arundel slots petition case finally gets to judge

ANNAPOLIS — After more than three days of closing arguments, the fate of a county-wide referendum on a slots casino next to the Arundel Mills mall is in a judge’s hands.

 At issue is the validity of 22,967 signatures certified by the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections out of 40,408 collected during the petition drive by led by opponents of the casino, including the Maryland Jockey Club. The casino would be built and operated by Baltimore developer David Cordish.

PPE Casino Resorts Maryland LLC, a subsidiary of the Cordish Co., is suing the county board, challenging the process by which those signatures were verified.

In his rebuttal closing argument Thursday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, PPE attorney Anthony Herman explained why the company believes the board should have abided by the stricter county code regarding requirements for referendums and petitions.

Anne Arundel casino opponents finish case for signatures

ANNAPOLIS — Opponents of a slots casino planned near the Arundel Mills mall wrapped up their defense Wednesday in a hearing to decide whether the county elections board erred in approving their petition to put the development to a countywide vote this fall.

 In a continuation of closing arguments that began Friday afternoon, attorneys for the opponents (which include the Maryland Jockey Club) set out to rebut claims by the casino developer David Cordish that thousands of petition signatures should not have been validated by the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections this spring.

PPE Casino Resorts Maryland LLC, a Cordish Cos. subsidiary, is suing the elections board in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, challenging the process by which the 22,967 petition signatures of the 40,408 submitted by casino opponents were verified.

Take THAT, Canada! Hockey in U.S. on the rise

Who says the United States doesn't have good hockey fans? I mean sure, traditional hockey markets like Boston and Minnesota have always been the exection to that accusation. But this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs -- and the money spent in non-traditional markets -- seem to prove that hockey ain't just for the cold weather cities with funny accents anymore.

The NHL announced this week the Stanley Cup Playoffs attracted that largest audience in the sport's history pulling in record television ratings and online activity.

The league's TV surge was capped by Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in which the Chicago Blackhawks handledthe Philadelphia Flyers to take home the championship. The June 9 broadcast on NBC was the most-watched NHL game in the United States in 36 years with 8.28 million viewers.

Firing Major League Baseball managers — the new national pastime?

It was brought to my attention recently during a conversation with a former baseball executive that these days, MLB managers are the default scapegoat when things aren’t going well. Firing the manager is now often a PR move instead of an answer, and that seems to have been the case with the Orioles and Dave Trembley this month.

I have to say I agree.

After all, Trembley in 2007 didn’t inherit a shiny new Lexus and run it into the ground in three years — the Orioles were the Ford Pintos of the MLB in 2007 and pretty much nothing on paper has changed since then. Sure, they have “young, exciting” guys but that’s all they are so far — young. And occasionally interesting. But they’re not producing. Neither are the old, boring guys for that matter (ahem, Kevin Millwood).

Cordish lawyers assail validity of petition signatures

By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business

ANNAPOLIS—A Cordish Cos. subsidiary began its exhaustive closing argument Thursday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in an effort to show that the county elections board erroneously approved a petition to put the company’s planned slots casino to a vote this fall.

At issue are the 22,967 signatures validated by the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections out of 40,408 collected during the petition drive led by casino opponents, including the Maryland Jockey Club, this spring. The casino is to be located near the Arundel Mills mall and is planned by Baltimore developer David Cordish.

Cordish subsidiary PPE Casino Resorts Maryland LLC is suing the county elections board, challenging the process by which the petition signatures were verified.

Teams announced for July’s international soccer match at M&T Stadium

By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer

For the second summer in a row, M&T Bank Stadium will host an international soccer match — this year featuring Manchester City Football Club against Football Club Internazionale Milano — a tradition that officials hope will cement reputation Baltimore as a world-renowned soccer destination.

Last year’s match, where England’s Chelsea Football Club defeated Italy’s AC Milan 2-1, sold out the stadium’s more than 70,000 seats 10 days in advance.

That event last July generated $20 million in spending, $1.5 million in state and local taxes and roughly 300 jobs, officials said.

Officials, who made the announcement Friday morning at the stadium, expect the same financial impact — if not better — for this year’s match on July 31.