Money & Sports
>> time warner under pressure from shareholders to reduce debt, said this week it’s exploring to sell the atlanta braves baseball team. what led to this decision? in this week’s “money and sports,” we’re joined by mike butow. is this a package deal?
>> they could do one of two things, sell them separately and try to get the most value you can that way. however, a lot of analysts, and enwhen you look at the most valued teams in the league, they have their own regional sports network. turner south is seen throughout most of the southeast, if they can sell both of them as a package deal, a lot of analysts and allen and company, who is handling the sale, has said that’s the best way for time warner to maximize the value of this team. there’s a lot of people interested in them, but most likely they’ll try to sell it as a package deal.
>> what’s the word on a possible price tag?
>> well, the value of the team is about $382 million. and basically they’re looking to sell for more than $400 million. look at the washington nationals, they’re trying to sell for about $450 million. that’s just the team. if you package turner south with the braves, you could be looking up to $500 million if not more.
>> moving on here, mike. u.s. athletes looking to get up • looking to get a leg up in the competition. softer pillows, part of an agreement with hilton hotels. athletes will sleep in luxury. i’ve heard of pampered athletes, but special pillows?
>> this is the ultimate pampered athlete. you work hard to train to get to the olympics. you might as well have a good night’s sleep. hilton hotels have revamped the athlete’s village out in colorado springs, the training center and will bring it over to italy. new bed frames, the twin bid no longer goes. you get two down pillows, the room is completely redone. one of the most interesting things is you pull that heavy curtain close and it’s like a cave. that athletes are saying it will help them get a good night’s sleep.
>> has sleep been a problem in previous games?
>> i’m not sure. some athletes say it’s something you worry about. you toss and you turn, you get to your event and you’re not as fresh as you could be. this is one little thing the committee is looking to get a leg up on.
>> how much does all the pampering cost?
>> it’s a good question, because neither hilton or the usoc are saying. but if you ask the athletes, whatever the cost is, a good night’s sleep is worth it.
>> new orleans sames players received good news related to hurricane katrina. $40,000 bonus. details on that, please.
>> well, you look at the new orleans saints and where they’ve played this year. they’ve gone from new orleans and moved to san antonio. they’ve gone from new jersey for their first home game, then in baton rouge. so this has been a difficult, unexpected situation. so the nfl and players union got together and will pay each player $40,000 for the year. it’s a bit of a bonus that the players look at and say, already, we’ve been inconvenienced. a little extra money goes a long way.
>> does every player get that same amount?
>> if you haven’t spent the whole season with the team, you’ll get $2,300 from each week. the nfl has a separate fund that they use as a performance based fund for lower salaried players that play quite a bit and they supplement their salary with this. this past year they paid out $57 million, so this fund gets a lot of use.
>> great topics today. thanks for joining us. our thanks to bloomberg’s mike buto from atlanta. it is sure good to be the king. mel brooks said, the man who calls himself the king of all media. howard stearn ended his career on three radio stations today. we’ll have a look, next.
点击播报
Listen Market briefing --- Lori (slow)
Oil price --- Su (fast)
World news --- Derek (slow)
>> oil prices fell for a third day in a row as temperatures warmed up in the northeast. extended forecasts are now calling for milder weather in the northern u.s., easing demammedses for fuel. crude oil futures for january delivery fell more than 3% today, $58.06 a barrel. lowest price in more than two weeks. as for the rest of the energy complex, heating oil, gasoline also fell around 3%. bloomberg’s sue keenen joins us now with the latest on trading and what we can look for next week. sue?
>> well, there were two key drivers in the energy markets this week. the weather and natural gas, which rallied to never before seen prices. by tuesday, forecasts for frigid cold weather pushed natural gas to record closing highs. check out the chart. by the end of today’s session, the rally, you could say, ran out of gas. new and revised forecasts for warmer weather caused natural gas futures to plunge almost 12% in three days. independent energy trader eric bowling said that reversal came despite the fact that natural gas supplies fell more than expected last week, normally a bullish event.
>> typically when you have something that’s bullish news and bad trading action, it tends to be a one or two-day phenomena if not more. it may signal a short term top in natural gas.
>> earlier in the week the natural gas rally ignited crude oil to its highest price in five weeks. futures ended $3 lower, giving a lot of credit to what bowling is saying. what is the outlook for next week? about 40% of the 44 analysts we surveyed say prices may rise. meanwhile, opec says oil demand will rise just over 1 ½ million barrels a day next year. lori, back to you.
>> more changes ahead at the federal reserve. president of the federal reserve bank of philadelphia will leave the bank march 31. there’s three vacant positions at the fed. ben bernanke is in line to replace alan greenspan as chairman. and edward gramlik who resigned in august. the deficit shrank to just under $198 billion as insurance payments and donations from abroad poured in following hurricane katrina. it is the second straight reduction in the gap after it reached a record in the first quarter. let’s check your treasuries today. the 10-year today was up, the yield down to 4 hnt 44%. and on the shorter end of the curve, unchanged with the two-year. in currency trading today, the dollar extended losses versus the yen and was also weaker versus the euro and the pound. argentina’s peso tumbled to its lowest level since 2003. and it is time now for a check of today’s top world and national news stories. the republican controlled house has again rejected calls for a timetable for getting u.s. forces out of iraq. derek davis joins us with more.
>> thank you very much, lori. the vote was 279-109, and the resolution says lawmakers are committed to achieving victory in iraq. and it says setting an artificial timetable would be fund mentally inconsistent with achieving victory. democrats say the resolution was politically driven and designed by republicans to limit debate on the war. with just two weeks left until key parts of the patriot act expire, the senate is refusing to give it new life. supporters couldn’t get the voting they needed to overcome a filibuster and reauthorize parts of the law. it’s a setback for president bush and republican leaders. president bush refused to say whether the national security agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the united states. the leaders of congress condemned the practice today and promised to look into what the administration has done. white house
