Jets ticket sale

The New Jersey Jets generated over $16 million in bids during an inaugural online auction of personal seat licenses. The sale was conducted through stubhub.com (owned by ebay) and allowed individuals to bid on specific seats. the winning bid allowed the bidder to have the PSL and pay $750 per game for the tickets. The highest bids were received at the auction kick-off dinner on October 16th at the Four Seasons in New York. The winning bid for a pair of 50-yard line tickets was $200,000. During the nine-day auction the average winning bid was $26,000. The highest bid was $82,000 followed by several other bids in the $60,000 range. the lowest bid was $10,500. The team initially was interested in selling 2,000 PSLs through the auction, but was only able to sell 620 of the seats.

This could create a new environment in the future where the choicest seats are put up for auction by teams/facilities and let the free market determine the true value.

NFL Europe

With a major game to be played in England, the NFL is interested in expanding throughout Europe. In an effort to help grow interest before the game the NFL has developed an educational web page, has stalked the stores with more NFL licensed, increased the seating capacity, and will air the game over additional broadcasting options such as BBC. The NFL hopes to play more games in Britain through 2010.

New Concession Company

If there were not enough sport concession companies out there (Levi's Aramark, DNC, Global-Spectrum, Centerplate, AEG, etc...) the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees have entered into a partnership (with Goldman Sachs) called Legends Hospitality Management. The first clients will be the Yankees and the Cowboys with their new stadium. However, due to significant branding opportunities there could be a slew of additional new sites (such as minor league stadiums hosting Yankee affiliated teams) that could sign-up with the company. Legends has hired the former President of Pizza Hut and several other top industry officials to help run the company.

Death Sentence

A Beijing Olympic official was found guilty of corruption and paid the ultimate price. Beijing's Vice Mayor Liu Zhihua was fired from his job overseeing Olympic construction projects for allegedly accepting bribes. Liu was originally sentenced to death, but if he has good behaviour in prison over the next two years his sentence can be commuted to life in prison. This story was published in last week's Sports Illustrated.

Turmoil in sports

There is significant turmoil in the sports world right now, and the economy is the center hub of the turmoil. Businesses are being hit left and right and there will be more blood shed to come. One of the more visible signs of trouble was the recently announced layoff with the NBA front offices. Roughly 80 jobs (nine percent of the national staff) were cut, but those cuts would not affect international expansion efforts. Other teams also were starting to cut costs as they head into the new season. the Charlotte Bobcats recently layed off around 35 staff members who were not working on the basketball operations side. I think this is the beginning of the slashing, but the real trick will be with the players and if they will be willing to cut their salaries so owners can reduce costs and lower ticket prices. If players balk at lowering their contracts then the sport world can be in for a long and rough several years.
Gil-

Problems in China

With the recent uproar over tainted milk in China, there are still other products that are bringing down China's manufacturing reputation. Over the years products with lead paint, tainted dog food, and now the tainted milk have tarnished the proud image of China's manufacturing industry. Recently another product was recalled and it is 103,000 Chinese-made Razor PowerWing scooters. the scooters can cause cuts by a rider's heel and several riders have had stitches due to the sharp metal. While any product can possibly have a defect, China cannot afford too many "black eyes" in the mind of the consumers or they will have a hard time winning the confidence of global industries and consumers.
Gil-

Spending wild

While the economy is sputtering in the US, it seems from the outside that the economy is going strong in China, even if their stock market is in a nose dive. In China they are building the world's fastest train (236 miles per hour), they will spend $62 billion on 97 new airports to be completed by 2020, and building at least 3,107 miles of expressway this year which would make China second only to the US in terms of total highway miles. One of the unique new buildings is a 682 foot tall Ferris wheel that will open in 2010. The attraction in Beijing will cost $290 million and and dwarf the London eye which is only 443 feet. The devise will have 48 air conditioned capsules and on a good weather day (if that is possible in Beijing) there should be a nice view of the Great Wall.
Gil-