Ask Wall Street Where King James is Headed

If you want to know where LeBron James will announce he is going to be playing this coming NBA season, all you have to do is ask our friends on Wall Street. Shares of Madison Square Garden Inc (MSG), the parent company of the NBA New York Knicks, have risen sharply in the month of July on the bet that LeBron will join the Knicks to begin the coming season.

Yesterday alone, shares in the company rose $1.30 a share to close at $21.57 and the volume spiked from 254,119 shares on Tuesday to 1,716,345 shares on Wednesday after news that LeBron was making his announcement on ESPN from Greenwich, CT caused traders to speculate that he would be joining the Knicks. the team has a practice facility 11 miles from Greenwich in Westchester County, NY.

This chart below, from CNBC.com, shows the roller coaster ride the stock has been on the past 5 days on LeBron James free agency speculation:



Today, however, the stock has dropped to its previous level on news that it is more likely LeBron James will join the Miami Heat with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. So much for that! We all will know tonight after ESPN airs a self indulgent hour long special on the decision.

Where Will LeBron Go?

The LeBron James sweepstakes has begun. Where will he end up is anyone's guess. That he will make a lot of money wherever he goes is not a question. According to reports on ESPN, he is planning to meet with two teams a day until he makes his decision. He met with the Nets and Heat today already.

LeBron James wants one thing, to win. He will make a lot of money no matter where he goes, so he isn't as concerned with that as he is a ring, if you believe comments he's made in the media. The hiring of Byron Scott to be the coach of the Cavaliers puts an interesting wrinkle into this whole situation. Who wouldn't feel bad for the new coach if LeBron goes elsewhere? Talk abut missing the boat...

The Cavs can win, they are built to win, but they need him to do it. The Knicks can sign two top level free agents, reports suggest they are targeting Bosch and James. The Nets can also sign two as well. The Heat can sign all three, so can the Bulls, according to various reports. The Cavs are serious about winning, they are serious because they need to show that to keep the most popular player in the league who also happens to be the most important player in the history of their franchise.

Of course this, just like any other report, is pure speculation. the only guy who knows what he wants to do is the man himself. Maybe he just wants the Cavs to sweat it out. He's from Akron, Cleveland is his town. Though he is a huge fan of Michael Jordan and New York; and close friends with Jay-z (part of the Nets ownership group), he might just decide to stay home for a few more years. It's not like this will be the last FA contract he signs.

Will Landon Donovan Cash-in after the World Cup?

According to an article on the Yahoo Sports website Sunday, Landon Donovan is being heavily scouted by Barclay's Premier League team Manchester City. City is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. Landon Donovan is one of his top choices for a roster spot on the team.

Donovan would likely make double what he is making playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS. According to Yahoo, his current salary is $2,127,777.78 for the season. Since there is more money in both the EPL and in the pockets of the Sheikh, he would easily be a much wealthier man making that jump.

In doing so, he would join other recent signees such as Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor (who joined from Arsenal), Argentina forward Carlos Tevez (who joined from Man United) and Brazil forward Robinho (who left Real Madrid). Man City is also reportedly about to sign Spanish midfielder David Silva according to the British press.

The transfer fee would like be about $12,000,000 that would be evenly split between the Galaxy and MLS according to Yahoo.

New King of Sports Streaming?

How big of a business is streaming live sporting events to the American populace? Ask ESPN and CBS. According to an article in the NY Times, ESPN claimed that the recently played World Cup match between the United States and Algeria was the most watched sporting event over the Internet with about 1.1 million unique visitors during the match.

That sounds like quite a lot right? Not so fast. The first round double OT NCAA Tournament game between Brigham Young University and Florida drew 1.15 million unique visitors over the course of the game says CBS Sports. ESPN appears to have erred. They are now grasping at straws saying "the United States victory over Algeria was seen by an average of 328,000 viewers a minute, while the N.C.A.A. game was seen by just over 200,000."

Semantics. There is a much bigger point to be made here, sports streaming is an expanding market with the proliferation of broadband Internet in the US and can only grow larger. This provides yet another targeted demographic for advertisers to take advantage of in an era where TV advertising becomes less relevant every time someone plucks a Tivo off of Amazon.com or signs up for their cable/sat/tel co provider's DVR service.

As is stated on the website's FAQS, ESPN3.com carries over 3,500 live sporting events a year. They range from NBA, MLB, and college sports to niches like cricket, rugby, soccer and Australian Rules Football. Each event provides an opportunity that allows ESPN to market as an advertising vehicle for companies looking to reach their target demographic.

CBSSports.com, by comparison, streams only specific events like the Masters and the NCAA tournament. Other networks don't have the built up streaming capabilities of ESPN3 and will not for what appears to be a while. The major sports leagues in this country MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL all have their own streaming packages. Select national games are allowed to be streamed by ESPN (MLB, NBA) and NBC (NFL) but their is no rival to ESPN3 in the US.

It reaches over 53 million homes and 20 million college students through agreements with TV providers and free access to every college campus in the nation. Soon it will reach the roughly 20 million Xbox Live Gold subscribers with free access as well. It is unparalleled in terms of reach and offerings.

It's a safe bet that it will soon have the most streamed sporting event even though it has yet to reach that high water mark. It's less a matter of if than it is when. Hopefully that when will be a result of the USA advancing through the World Cup.

NFL QB Mark Brunell to File Chapter 11

Mark Brunell, most recently the backup quarterback for the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, has told the Florida Times Union he is filing for bankruptcy protection after multiple bad real estate investments.

In his long and productive career spanning 17 seasons and 4 teams he has earned over $52 million. His most success came as the starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1995 until the third game of the 2003 season. He made the pro bowl 3 times (96, 97 & 99) and led the Jaguars to the AFC title game in 96 and 99, losing both times.

During his time with the Jaguars he formed Champion LLC, a real estate partnership, with then Jaguars players Joel Smeenge and Todd Fordham. The properties they invested in during the height of the real estate bubble did not retain their values when it burst and the partnership faced multiple lawsuits over loan defaults.

Brunell kept the partnership afloat making loan payments from his personal funds in hopes they could reach a resolution with creditors. He told the Times Union via email: "The timing of the group’s real estate acquisitions at the height of the real estate market, in hindsight, clearly was not good...In the end, we couldn’t and I am no longer able to shoulder this burden.”

John Wall's Lottery Ticket

With the number one pick in tonight's NBA Lottery Draft, the Washington Wizards are expected to select John Wall, the guard from Kentucky. In doing so, they will make Mr. Wall a very rich young man. Though Reebok has already made him wealthy with a 5 year-$25 million endorsement deal with two of his own shoe lines, it is his play for the Wizards that will eventually make him fantastically wealthy.

If history is a good barometer for what type of money Wall can expect, he should do alright. The last 5 number one picks signed the following rookie contracts:

2009: Blake Griffin (LA Clippers) 3 years, $16,071,840 (RealGM)
2008: Derek Rose (Chicago Bulls) 3 years, $12,961,200 (HoopsWorld)
2007: Greg Oden (Portland Trail Blazers) 3 years, $12,529,100 (MyNBADraft)
2006: Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors) 3 years, $12,097,100 (HoopsWorld)
2005: Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks) 3 years, $11,665,000 (NBA)

According to HoopsWorld, this year's rookie scale contract is broken down as follows:

1st year: $4,286,900
2nd year: $4,608,400
3rd year: $4,929,900
4th year: $6,216,603 *estimate: Option year, must increase salary by at least 26.1%

John Wall will live a very comfortable life unless he turns into Latrell Sprewell. Enjoy your night Mr. Wall, the rest of your life begins in the morning.

Anelka Signs Extension with Chelsea

Who needs the French national team or the World Cup? Cetainly not Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka. He signed a one year contract extension with the Blues to add on to the final year left on his current deal, allowing him to remain until 2012.

Sounding like a man relieved to escape the hell that was the French team in South Africa, Anelka said "When I first came to Chelsea I wanted to stay much longer than I did in the past with other clubs, It is a big club, you play with big players and I like this club, I like London. There is no need to move anymore and so I am very glad to sign a new contract and I know we will play in big games and win titles. I am very glad."

Adds Manager Carlo Ancelotti: "Nicolas is a fantastic player who has good technical qualities and movement. When I was coach at Juventus I wanted to buy him, so it is good now he has signed for me and I think Chelsea is his home. I look forward to working with him for one year more."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.