American Airlines Wins NBA Finals No Matter What

If you’re a basketball fan, you’ll hear the name American Airlines a lot over the next couple weeks.

American slapped its name on the arenas of both teams playing in the NBA finals back when stadium naming rights were a hot commodity – the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami and the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

So whether the Miami Heat or the Dallas Mavericks win the title, American figures to get a lot of TV time. The same thing happened in 2006, when the Heat defeated the Mavericks in six games.

American bought the naming rights to those arenas a decade ago. According to published reports at the time, which American wouldn’t confirm or deny, it agreed to pay $195 million over 30 years for the Dallas rights and $42 million over 20 years in Miami.

Stadium-naming rights were trendy then, and they reached a fever pitch in 2006 when Citigroup agreed to pay $20 million a year to christen the New York Mets’ new baseball home Citi Field when it opened a couple of years ago. But sports sponsorships became harder to sell during the recession, and the business hasn’t fully recovered.

The Texas Rangers baseball team hasn’t found a name sponsor since ending a deal with mortgage lender Ameriquest in 2007. Today, it’s still simply Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

New football stadiums in Dallas and outside New York still don’t have sponsorships. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones might have missed his best chance when his new stadium hosted the Super Bowl in February. Now, with an NFL lockout dragging on, there’s a chance of missing games this fall.

Recent deals have been underwhelming. Miami did a 1-year deal to rename the home of the NFL Dolphins Land Shark Stadium after a beer promoted by singer Jimmy Buffett, then it cut a 5-year agreement with a Canadian company. It’s now Sun Life Stadium.

In Jacksonville, Fla., the football stadium had no corporate name for two years after a deal ended with Alltel, a phone company acquired by Verizon. Finally, a local bank ponied up for EverBank Field.

Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College, said the financial crisis and recession hurt the market for naming rights. As consumers cut back, he said, companies questioned ever-higher prices for sponsorships.

“I don’t think that the market is collapsing, it’s just not as rich as it used to be,” Zimbalist said. He suspects that some teams, including the Cowboys, are turning down reasonable offers in hopes that sky-high prices come back.

Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based sports business consulting firm Sportscorp Ltd., said CEOs may be gun-shy about naming deals after Citigroup was criticized for paying the Mets while getting $45 billion in federal bailout money.

American Airlines considered giving up its Dallas and Miami arena rights in 2003, when it hovered near bankruptcy. Company officials said such a move has not been considered since. American’s parent company, AMR Corp., has lost nearly $12 billion in the last decade.

It’s hard to determine the value of a company’s name on a stadium or arena, but that doesn’t stop marketing experts from trying.

Front Row Marketing Services estimates that American Airlines will get more than $10 million per game in national advertising. That’s based on the number of times the company’s name appears on screen or is mentioned by broadcasters.

But Front Row, which represents venues in naming-rights deals, assumes that a picture of LeBron James dunking is the same as a national advertising spot for American Airlines as long as there’s an American logo in the background.

“We don’t know if that’s right,” American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said of the 8-figure estimate, “but there’s value in it, and we’re sure it’s a large amount.”

American has big airport hubs in both Dallas and Miami, and many out-of-towners going to the games will fly on its silver-skinned planes.

“It’s great exposure, and it’s fun,” Smith said. “We’ve got home-court advantage every game.”

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

My first underwater photo

Taken @ Nogas Island, Siraan Antique Philippines

Thanks to my friend Gio for his underwater camera =)

RP government ensures order as 25.7M students troop back to school

THE GOVERNMENT has ensured adequate security to put order in today’s opening of classes, with 25.7 million students expected to troop to schools nationwide, a Palace official said at the weekend.

"We are prepared for the first day of classes... The police units and local government units (LGUs) have also been notified to be on top of the opening of classes tomorrow," said Deputy Spokesperson Abigail D. Valte.

The Palace, nonetheless, still appealed for vigilance among authorities even with preparations so far implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) as lead, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority prepared to address the volume of traffic.

"To all the officials concerned and agencies concerned, let’s make sure that the opening of classes goes smoothly, to secure the children. Let’s make sure that the first day goes well, not just for the first day of school, but for the rest of the school year," said Ms. Valte.

For his part, Education Undersecretary Tonisito M. C. Umali said that the DepEd has activated Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE), a joint undertaking of the DepEd, Department of Interior and Local Government and Philippine National Police.

Parents can inquire after their children’s needs from tuition to security, said Mr. Umali, at the OBE Information and Command Center at the department’s central office in Pasig City and regional offices nationwide.

"We are managing the traffic with the police and have set up action centers in 199 school divisions and 17 regional offices, apart from the central station which is being manned by 50-70 people... We’re confident that we’ll be very okay," said Mr. Umali, in a phone interview.

Prior to the launch of OBE, the DepEd had also revived the Brigada Eskwela on May 24-28, or National Schools Maintenance Week, which entailed preparation of classrooms for the onset of classes.

Under the program, the citizenry and private corporations help in cleaning classrooms and making minor repairs and rehabilitation, even donating tables and chairs.

Meanwhile, President Benigno S. C. Aquino III today will witness the ceremonial turnover of 454 units of two-classroom school buildings that were pledged by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII).

This after he administers the oaths of office to the new officers of FFCCCII in Malacañang.

The Filipino-Chinese umbrella business group has a network of 170 member organizations nationwide and has administered a schoolbuilding program since 2002. The program has so far built around 1,400 classrooms.

The program is expected to provide learning facilities in the provinces of Benguet, Bulacan, Laguna, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Zamboanga and Davao this year.

The country is facing an estimated shortage of 152,569 classrooms, according to a study made by the Education department for 2010-2011, based on a ratio of 45 students to one classroom.

Mr. Umali said the ratio of classrooms to student population should be 1:45 in grade school and high school, and 1:25 in kindergarten, but admitted funding limitations in achieving the target. "We lack the funds... [but] there are also ongoing major repair efforts for classrooms that will hopefully be finished in two to three years," said Mr. Umali, adding that 80% of the DepEd’s P207.3-billion 2011 budget goes to salaries of 550,000 teaching and non-teaching staff. -- Johanna Paola D. Poblete

BusinessWorldOnlien

Usapang U-turn

Sa mga wala pang idea... Ang U-turn ay ibang term ng indian... Ito yong tipong mag coconfirm na sasama pero the day before ang event ay mag cancel, worst 3 hours before ang event.

Dahil sa U-turn maraming apektado. Pinakamalaki ay ang budget ng bawat miyembro. Mas malaki kasi ang magagastos kung mas konti ang sasama. Magsimula sa transpo, registration, food, etc.

Kayo nasubukan nyo na bang mag u-turn? Ano ang pakiramdam?

Hindi ba nakakainggit sa mga natuloy? Yong mga larawang di mapantayan? Yong mga masasayang sandali na hindi na mauulit? Yong mga lugar na di na pwedeng balikan?

by: Bonghernz of Philmountaineering.com / Trailtalk forum

Overstaying sa Singapore

April 22, 2011 ara na ko sa Singapore for a vacation and partly YES! for job hunting. Tourist Pass lang ko so para makalawig-lawig ko stay sa SG nag exit ko sa Malaysia sang April 30 kag nagbalik man lang daun. So meaning ma end ko sa May 30. Pero nag apply ko extension sang May 20 pa lang kag na approve.

June 3, I decided to go home sa Pinas! Sang sa Imigration na, I presented my Approval Form. Pero sala ang na print ko. Application Form lang to ya gale... pero sure ko na approve ko kay nagbayad na ko gani. So, gin hawidan ko danay sang isa ka officer kag gin dul-ong sa isa ka officer for verification sang application ko kag gamay nga interview (Interview kuno ha!).

After few minutes, gin tawag ko sang isa ka officer nga mal-am.

IO: Why are you overstaying?!!! (angry mode)

Me: So what's the problem Sir if I overstayed? I believe, my application for extension was approved.

IO: No no no! You are overstaying!

indi ko na ma gets kung anu ambot ya silingon... Ma sabat nko tani pero ga sige gid siya japon wakal nga "you are overstaying!" (so many times with matching pointing his finger at me - agry face!). Samtang gina akigan yako, gina buksan ya man ang gate para ka sulod ko sa departure area.

Indi gid ko ya ka inchinde! Nga-a akigan ya ko bi noh? Kay klaru man kaayo nga na approve akon extension. Kag biskan sala nga form nahatag ko gin verify ya man.

Last day ko nalang gid to sa Singapore na badtrip pa ako! Na init ko! Ang iban ga hambal gina amu na kuno nila basta Pinay. Kay basi Burikat man kuno ang kadto. Indi ko ya pokpok! Kag tani indi nila pag e generalize ang tanan nga Pinay!

Im aware of the law..ga basa2x man ko a!

Under the Singapore Immigration Act, the penalty for illegal entry is a jail term of up to six months, plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane. The penalties for overstaying (exceeding 90 days) are – a jail term not exceeding six months, and caning not less than three strokes. In cases where caning cannot be administered, the offender will be fined up to $6,000.