About Greg Crawford: Greg Crawford loves sports business, that is why he loves writing this column and most important wants readers to totally enjoy this.
Greg Crawford is the COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management, http://kiyokawacrawfordsportsmanagement.weebly.com , which also includes Greg Crawford Speaks, http://gregcrawfordspeaks.weebly.com.
Greg Crawford also writes three blogs each week for CSNNW.com, Crawford's Clubhouse, www.csnnw.com/pages/golf and Crawford's Court, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball. Greg also works part time in the cancer unit of Adventist Medical Center.
Greg strongly encourages everyone to read, "Marketing Outrageously, Redux" by Jon Spoelstra, a book he reads at least once per month.
Boston Red Sox---It is rumored, but also denied by the Fenway Sports Management, owners of the Boston Red Sox that the team is for sale. Of course it is for sale, every sports property is for sale for the right price. And as we all know, sports teams are not valued realistically as they for the most part are emotional buys.
And since the Dodgers were purchased earlier this year for slightly over $2 Billion, you have to think the iconic Red Sox franchise could easily garner close to $1.5 billion.
For the real facts, Fenway Sports Group owns not only the Red Sox, but also the underperforming elite soccer franchise, Liverpool FC. In addtion, FSG owns 80 percent of the New England Sports Network, which the two largest franchises shown on the network are Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins.
With the dumping of major salaries last month by the Red Sox, a lackluster season, it might be time to buy for the right person. My question to you, would the Red Sox be a franchise that you would like to own? Obviously, the team does not want to continue a backward slide on the field, going back to the years when the Red Sox, were the Cubs of Boston.
My hunch here is the Red Sox will sell in the next six months to a group that has strong ties to New England sports.
Chris Hansen---Hansen, the well known fund manager who wants to bring both hockey and basketball back to Seattle, really has to be given some credit for the job he has done in navigating his plan through the politicos in Seattle and getting approval to build a brand new arena.
Now, he has to have teams to play in the a brand new, expensive building. It will not be hard for many hockey teams to move to Seattle. There are plenty who would want to make that move today. It will be a little more difficult for a basketball team, but someone will. Quietly, the NBA insiders will tell you, that Seattle is important to the NBA, which a team in Seattle ended in 2008 after a 41 year run, of course moving to Oklahoma City.
While the common thinking is that the Sacramento Kings will move to Seattle, do not be shocked if it is the Milwaukee Bucks.
Milwaukee by most accounts is the LEAST valuable franchise in the NBA, estimated to be worth somewhere around $300 million. The Bucks are owned by United States Senator Herb Kohl, who bought the franchise in 1985 for $85 million.
Of course at one point if Kohl sold the franchise, he would have faced serious political consequences from his constituents in Wisconsin. But that is more than likely a mute point at this time, as Kohl has announced he will not seek re-election.
If Hansen dangled even close to $400 million in front of the Bucks, I would think that they have to bite and bite in a hurry. One other important issue here is that the Bucks are on a year to year arena lease, making it even easier for them to leave. Right now I put Milwaukee way ahead of Sacramento for being the next Seattle............
Biz Bites----Of course it was a great move for Notre Dame to move to the ACC, for all sports except football and hockey. It will increase revenue greatly and in my mind will also help Notre Dame win an NCAA basketball championship in the next five years, write it down, it is going to happen.
Top sellling MLS jerseys, of course number one is David Beckham, followed by Thierry Henry, Landon Donovan and Fredy Montero. Represented there is LA, New York and Seattle. Have you ever bought an MLS jersey? In most cases they retail for $99.00, but do have higher prices in some markets.
Under the radar this week, was the resignation of MSG sports head Scott O'Neil. Scott gets a lot of credit for overseeing so far what has been a successful $1 billion renovation of Madison Square Garden, adding value to MSG properties through some heavy duty sponsorship agreements with companies like Chase and Coca Cola and bringing Knicks and Ranger tickets prices into the 21st century. Look for O'Neil to land a big time job soon, with an NBA team, he will be a much sought after executive.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops
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