Women’s achievements valued
■ Some of the big names
in the sports industry will be
in Eugene today to discuss
the role of women’s sports
By Mindi Rice
for the Emerald
Lee Ann Daly, ESPN’s Senior
Vice President for Marketing, will
discuss integrating the sports in
dustry into the entertainment in
dustry in her keynote address at the
Women in Sports Business Sympo
sium, beginning tonight at 7 p.m. in
the EMU Ballroom.
The annual symposium, in its
sixth year, is organized by graduate
students of the James H. Warsaw
Sports Marketing Center. The free
one-day event begins at 1 p.m. with
panel discussions and wraps-up
with Daly’s keynote address this
evening.
“We now have a national repu
tation that draws the biggest
names in the industry, as well as
regional leaders and our alumni,”
said Rick Burton, director of the
Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.
“I believe this is the best free one
day sports marketing conference
in America.”
Coinciding with the symposium
is the third annual Sports Award
Program, sponsored by the Warsaw
Sports Marketing Center and the
Women in Sports Network. The
Sports Awards Program recognizes
the achievements of local girls and
women who demonstrate a com
mitment to athletics, social service
and activities outside of sports. The
winners will be honored at the
keynote address.
“Girls and women who are active
in sports and recreational activities
achieve greater confidence, self-es
teem and pride,” said event organ
izer Kathryn Bayha. “Girls will be
more likely to remain involved in
sports when they know that their
achievements are valued.”
The symposium also features
two panel discussions including
representatives from companies
such as the Women’s National Bas
ketball Association, the Los Ange
les Dodgers, Action Sports Cable
Network and the International
Skating Union. The first panel will
talk about their careers, while the
second will discuss the future of
sports as entertainment.
“This symposium, which is run
largely by our students, combines
the best elements of a University of
Oregon business school experi
ence,” said Phil Romero, dean of
the business college. “Our students
can learn and network with sports
industry leaders while applying
classroom knowledge in areas such
as sponsorship, event marketing,
accounting and finance.”
Ex-FL folds after forgettable year
By Howard Fendrich
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — X-it, stage left.
The XFL folded Thursday after
one season that was a critical and
TV ratings disappointment for the
football league founded by the
World Wrestling Federation and
jointly owned by NBC.
The WWF said its share of after
tax losses will be about $35 million.
NBC’s loss should be similar.
“Despite where our heart was,
we just couldn’t make it work from
a financial standpoint,” WWF
chairman Vince McMahon said.
Even with many adjustments
during the season, very little
worked for the XFL between the
much-hyped and well-rated season
opener and the April 21 champi
onship game, which was watched
by about 75 percent fewer people
than the debut on NBC.
The final game’s national rating
was a 2.1, tying for 93rd place
among prime-time shows that week
and lower than anything else on the
four major networks.
“It was a risk we all thought was
a smart one in this wildly escalat
ing TV rights scene,” NBC Sports
chairman Dick Ebersol said.
NBC hoped to parlay McMahon’s
promotional skills to draw the
young male viewers that advertis
ers crave and air games on Satur
days, which generally have poor
TV ratings.
In the end, the XFL lasted two
years fewer than another outdoor
spring football league — the USFL,
which started airing on ABC in
1983 and folded after three seasons.
“We knew it wasn’t going to
work (in prime time) from early
March on,” Ebersol said. “The
launch worked, the people were
there, and we didn’t answer their
expectations, I guess.”
In addition to Saturday nights on
NBC, XFL games were shown on
UPN and TNN.
The XFL, though, didn’t seem to
be able to decide whether it want
ed to be more about sport or spec
tacle.
Early games had lascivious
cheerleader shots, anti-NFL bluster
from WWF types, sophomoric dou
ble entendres and screaming an
nouncers — including Minnesota
Gov. Jesse Ventura, a former WWF
wrestler — who sounded more like
shills than analysts.
Ventura, asked for his reaction as
he left a speech in Minneapolis,
said: “I don’t care. I don’t work for
them anymore.”
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