THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers: WIN : GOLF -- The IOC's decision to nominate golf for inclusion to the '16 Games provides a huge pick-me-up for a sport suffering through one of its toughest years in recent memory. Though the economy continues to ravage golf's sponsors, the sport's future looks a bit brighter with a likely place on the Olympic stage as a spot in the Summer Games provides a big push to golf's drive to expand internationally. To boot, TIGER sits atop the PGA Championship leaderboard as he goes for his third win in as many weeks, which should attract millions of fans to TNT and CBS. LOSE : RICK PITINO -- The man who guided Louisville basketball back to national prominence suffers a huge blow to his image this week after details emerge of an '03 affair. Though the school stands by its man despite loud calls for his dismissal, whatever marketability Pitino once had has been all but washed away. But perhaps even more painful than the loss of endorsement dollars will come from public opinion, as the coach now has mountains to climb in order to regain respect and credibility. DRAW : MUN2 -- Prior to this week, the Telemundo channel had very little reach and even less name recognition. Owning the exclusive English-language rights to broadcast Wednesday's U.S.-Mexico World Cup qualifier, though, instantly raises its profile among soccer fans. NBC Universal rejects attempts by ESPN to air the clash at Estadio Azteca, instead opting to project its mun2 to the North American sports world. However, the channel struggles to make a positive splash in its debut as critics slam its suspect presentation and announcing duo.
Sponsored content
