PSB MEDIA SERVES UP TSR '07!

The confluence of television and sports is a multi-billion-dollar powerhouse that shapes our nights and weekends. This entertainment engine is always open full throttle, constantly in flux, and rarely predictable. It reverberates throughout American culture, dictating where, when and how we watch the games people play.

The 2007 edition of “Television Sports Rights” offers a timely and lively digest of the broadcast-driven economy that's core to more than 20 sports." TSR 2007 is packed with analysis and news of the latest TV deals, ratings swings, and financial maneuvers from the vast array of professional and amateur sports that feed our competitive spirit.

TSR 2007 was compiled, edited and written by Bill Briggs, who has authored articles for MSNBC.com, the Financial Times, and a variety of other newspapers and magazines. He is a 21-year newspaper veteran who won dozens of national and regional writing awards for the Denver Post.

CHAPTER SYNOPSES:

CHAPTER I: FOOTBALL
The NFL dominates the world of television sports rights. The league holds contracts with three U.S. networks, one cable giant and one satellite provider that pay the NFL $3.7 billion annually, the largest TV deal in entertainment history. Since 1998, the value of the 32 NFL franchisees has grown 11 times faster than the Standard & Poor’s 500.  .

CHAPTER II: BASEBALL
Major League Baseball’s biggest nights – the World Series and All-Star Game – can no longer attract the type of audience that the NFL routinely draws on any given Sunday, and the game’s national presence continues to move toward cable. Yet Commissioner Bud Selig believes game is now in its “golden era.”

CHAPTER III: BASKETBALL
Despite waning interest by the American viewing public, NBA Commissioner David Stern is ready to extend TV contracts the league now holds with ABC, ESPN and TNT. Even more surprising, Stern thinks he can land more money in the next TV deals.

CHAPTER IV: HOCKEY
The lost season is in the rear view mirror and most NHL clubs are making fatter profits as they emerge from the work stoppage. But pre-strike, TV woes still plague the NHL. Its contact with NBC pays the league no rights fees. Moreover, the NHL’s national cable partner, Versus, can’t be accessed by 35 percent of American households.

CHAPTER V: SOCCER
The U.S. professional league, Major League Soccer, boasts a stack of fresh television deals (ABC, EPSN, Univision, and Fox Soccer Channel) worth more than $20 million per year. Next: the league’s Los Angeles Galaxy soon welcomes British soccer sensation David Beckham.

CHAPTER VI: MOTOR SPORTS
NASCAR is facing its first down shift after years of high-octane growth. During the 2006 racing season, television ratings declined, track attendance slumped, and the NASCAR fan base eroded by 3 percent. How long can NASCAR remain America’s No. 2 sport?

CHAPTER VII: BOXING
The super-hyped super-fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather trounced previous pay-per-view TV records as more than 2 million U.S. households purchased the bout. For the first time in a generation, there is talk that boxing can perhaps be saved.

CHAPTER VIII: GOLF
The PGA’s new, six-year TV package is the first step in a massive shakeup of the tour structure, including a reworked tournament schedule designed to get Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and other big names to compete together more often.

CHAPTER IX: NICHE SPORTS
The Tennis Channel is emerging as a new broadcast power. Extreme Sports push toward bigger TV audiences thanks to the X Games and Winter X Games. Hunting and fishing continue to stake out their wild ground on the channels. Poker is here; will it stay? Bowling is gaining fresh financial health with the aide of ESPN. And figure skating may survive its darkest period under a new deal with NBC.

CHAPTER X: COLLEGE SPORTS
When it comes to the BCS, Fox is the biggest player. It has the national championship game wrapped up through 2009. CBS continues its arm lock on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, even though March Madness ratings dipped in 2007.

CHAPTER XI: OLYMPICS
The IOC earns 40 percent of its total budget from current broadcast deals with NBC. Given that, does Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Games have an edge on the rest of the global field?

CHAPTER XII: (THE FUTURE OF SPORT)
Games streamed live on the Internet. The growth of High-Def. The rise of digital-cable channels. All of these trends portend a very different future in sports television.