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Sports Business
NOTIONS: An idyllic day dressed in 'Blue Velvet'
May 23, 2005
Bruce HetrickYears ago, my wife and I registered our sons, Austin and Zach, for the Bank One 500 Festival Rookie Run. In what became an
annual tradition, we'd drive the boys downtown early on the appointed Saturday in May, pick up their T-shirts and racing numbers,
and wait for their age group to be called. At the appointed hour, Austin and Zach would line up with scores of other kids,
run a few blocks up and back Meridian Street, and receive...
MoreStaff departures don't derail IRL's marketing efforts:
May 23, 2005
-Anthony SchoettleDespite the departure of two key marketing directors, the Indy Racing League has continued full throttle with its initiative
to raise drivers' profiles. Director of Driver Marketing Chris Bowers and Director of Brand Marketing Jayme Sabo departed
earlier this year. That leaves two of the four director positions in the department vacant. John Griffin, Indy Racing League
vice president of public relations, insists the departures are not a sign of instability in the series' marketing ranks. "I
don't think it...
MoreHeartland Golf Cars and Equipment Co.: Golf cars have become hot commodity Local firm has ridden the trend to profitability
ram said. He credits solid financing at startup as key to the success of Heartland. To anyone interested in starting a business,
he
May 23, 2005
Jo Ellenram said. He credits solid financing at startup as key to the success of Heartland. To anyone interested in starting a business,
he advises, "Don't go into it on a shoestring. You have to have a business plan and be committed to working long hours. It's
not only working harder, it's the workmanship, too. It may sound like an old cliché, but it's very true." * Golf cars are
no longer just for sport. These electric- or gasoline-powered cars may...
MoreSPORTS Bill Benner: IRL vision falls short for driver on outside looking in
May 23, 2005
This will be the 10th Indianapolis 500 since the split-or chasm, or Grand Canyon-wide divide-in American open-wheel racing,
and there is no question that the Indy Racing League and CART/Champ Car continue to suck the exhaust fumes of NASCAR. They
lag well behind the taxi-cab series in crowds, television ratings, media coverage and corporate support. Why the knuckleheads
who rule both open-wheel circuits stubbornly continue to go their own way is way beyond me, but I suspect the reason can...
MoreFoyt's tough transition: Legendary driver struggles as racing owner
May 23, 2005
Anthony SchoettleFoyt with a wrench. It's an iconic image dating back to the 1960s, when the brash, hott e m p e r e d racer started forging
his image as one of the world's best drivers. A wrench gripped by Foyt's rugged hands is still the image that best characterizes
the legendary Texan. But in an era of high-tech diagnostics and sponsor-driven economics, it's no longer a winning image.
"There are certain athletes, racing drivers and personalities that have unusual...
MoreConvention payoffs won't be instant: New deals, development unlikely until construction begins
May 9, 2005
Andrea MuirraguiThe much-ballyhooed battle about funding for a new stadium and expanded convention center downtown appears to be over, but
it will be some time before the victors get the spoils. Although state lawmakers authorized a series of tax increases to pay
for the $900 million project, plenty of work remains to realize the promised payoffs-increased convention business, additional
development and a shot at hosting the Super Bowl. "I don't expect to see any of that until construction starts," said Indianapolis...
MoreCialis teeing off marketing efforts with PGA Tour: Spending could rival Viagra's NASCAR, MLB deals
May 9, 2005
Anthony SchoettleCialis, Eli Lilly and Co.'s erectile dysfunction drug, is teeing off its second season as a sponsor of the PGA Tour with several
major marketing initiatives. The increased spending levels, sports marketers said, rival Viagra's commitments in NASCAR and
Major League Baseball. Lilly officials said a 24-plus-percent market share for the drug just 18 months after its debut proves
the marketing strategy is working. Lilly makes the drug in partnership with Bothell, Wash.-based Icos Corp. In addition to
serving as...
MoreSPORTS Bill Benner: Stadium proves dreams sometimes come true
May 9, 2005
"This IsIn subsequent columns, I also stated that we needed a regional solution to the funding problem, and proposed a regional tax
for the counties contiguous to Marion in which they could keep a share of the proceeds for their own capital projects. Finally,
within days of last November's election, I observed that it would require a bipartisan effort led by both Republican Governor
Mitch Daniels and Democratic Mayor Bart Peterson to work this thing through the Legislature. I'm glad-overjoyed-everyone took...
MoreSUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary: Is Otterness art? Does it matter?
May 2, 2005
This spring brought unusual "blooms" to our downtown via truck and crane-25 bronze sculptures by New York sculptor Tom Otterness.
I watched from my office window as "Free Money" and "Female and Male Tourists" were installed at the Indiana Convention Center
near the RCA Dome. The sculptures were previously displayed in New York City to rave reviews. From Broadway to Indianapolis,
it doesn't get more prestigious than that! The next day, while driving east on Market Street from Illinois Street,...
MoreSPORTS Bill Benner: The city's 'next' Reggie is already in our midst
May 2, 2005
Steve Alford and Stephanie White were the quintessential Indiana high school and college basketball stars. They were hardwood
heroes who emerged from small towns and led their respective universities, Indiana and Purdue, to national championships.
For many Hoosiers, the storybook ending would have been for that success to carry on to the professional level, with Alford
and White leading the NBA Pacers and WNBA Fever to championships and street parades. Reality intruded. Alford, as we have
been reminded recently, was...
MoreExperts see improving market: Higher occupancy rates, more construction projects mean good news for landlords, developers
April 25, 2005
IBJ: Is your sector of the construction or real estate industry better or worse off than a year ago and why? BURK: Overall,
I think the Indianapolis office market is better off than it was a year ago. The occupancy rate for the 29-million-plus square
feet of multitenant office properties in the market increased by about 2 percent last year, to 82.5 percent. There was positive
net absorption of about 600,000 square feet, most of which occurred in the suburbs....
MoreNeuburger's new gig opens door for expanded FINA role:
April 25, 2005
Anthony SchoettlePros Consulting, an Indianapolis-based firm with a national reputation in the parks and recreation industry, has hired one
of the biggest local names in sports and event management to help grow its firm in a new direction. Dale Neuburger, who stepped
down as president of the Indiana Sports Corp. earlier this month, joined Pros as vice president of sport strategy and development.
Neuburger, who headed ISC for 12 years, carries international clout-especially in Olympic sports. Pros founder and President
Leon...
MorePacers gain traction with fans, sponsors: But Ron Artest's return presents a marketing challenge
April 25, 2005
Anthony SchoettlePacers average attendance jumped from 16,558 last year to 16,995 this season. While it appears to be a small difference, it's
almost twice the percentage increase league-wide, and it pushed Pacers attendance higher than anytime since the 17,889 average
in the second season in Conseco Fieldhouse. Capacity is 18,345. The Pacers enjoyed a slight attendance spike after Reggie
Miller announced his retirement in February. But interest was already bubbling as the team was in the midst of an unlikely
playoff...
MoreSPORTS: Pacers' comeback year extends post-season roll
April 25, 2005
Bill BennerOr to pile on a landfill. A season on the stink. In the hours and days following that fateful evening of Nov. 19 at the Palace
of Auburn Hills, Mich., where a momentary lapse turned into a monumental set of calamitous circumstances, it seemed there
would be little for the Indiana Pacers to salvage. A championship was simply out of the question, and with the removal of
that "One Goal"-the team's marketing slogan-it seemed the season would be nothing more...
MoreFarming fortune from frustration: Mower mogul got tired of servicing 'crap'
April 25, 2005
Anthony SchoettleIn 1979, Art Evans busted his knuckles repairing one too many lawn mowers. As a distributor for a nationally known manufacturer,
Evans also rebuilt mowers. And refined transmissions and steering units. And spent countless hours on tedious tasks, like
adding washers and tightening bolts. Working a few weeks ago in an old milk barn adjacent to his parents' Putnam County home,
Evans was a long way from the 1973 Indiana State Fair, where he first saw a zero-turning-radius lawn mower....
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Pondering the world from an economist's viewpoint
April 18, 2005
Patrick BarkeyIn case you've ever wondered what it is like to look at life through the eyes of an economist, here are some questions to
ponder: Has anyone else noticed that public schools these days are in the transportation business, the sports entertainment
business, the restaurant business, the health care business, not to mention the day care business? It's no wonder their jobs
are so difficult. To those who decry the risk of diverting Social Security revenue towards personal accounts in...
MoreSPORTS: Age-defying Reggie bids a historic farewell
April 18, 2005
Bill BennerSo much for the meat. Now all we have left is an uncertain supply of NBA playoff gravy. Lap it up while you can. Will we ever
see another like No. 31? Will we ever see another who is such an inspiring combination of talent, loyalty, longevity and professionalism?
Will we ever have another to represent us so nobly on the stage of professional sports, and to single-handedly carve so many
memorable moments into our collective consciousness? We can only...
MoreMission to Mexico to promote business: City officials, corporate leaders to take part in trip
April 18, 2005
Katie MaurerMost Hoosiers visiting Mexico spend their time on the beaches of Cancun, Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta. But this fall,
an excursion of a different kind will take local business and civic leaders south of the border to explore new opportunities
for commerce and trade with Mexico. The week-long mission, scheduled for early September, is the brainchild of Sergio Aguilera,
Mexico's consul general for Indianapolis. He hopes that exposing Hoosiers to all facets of Mexican life-from government and
the...
MoreAccounting firm looks overseas for help: Sarbanes-Oxley business sparks need for extra hands
April 18, 2005
Scott OlsonZietsman is one of several employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers who are in the United States to temporarily help the global
accounting firm complete client audit work created by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-accountability law. One rule, Section
404, requires corporations to assess the internal accounting controls they have in place to ensure their financial reporting
is accurate and reliable-and requires accounting firms to vouch for those controls. Many public companies had to devote thousands
of employee hours and millions of dollars to...
MoreSPORTS: Two cities, eight teams and miles of observations
April 11, 2005
Bill BennerST. INDIANAPOLIS-OK, an explanation of the goofy dateline. I have just finished shuttling back and forth between St. Louis
for the NCAA Men's Final Four and Indy for the NCAA Women's Final Four. Because of a speaking engagement in St. Louis and
an obligation back here on the front end, I made three round trips in six days, covering 1,500 miles. It was worth it. Six
games over four days resulting in two national champions, the University of North Carolina...
MoreHelping pets pop pills: Butler MBA student invents easy way to medicate animals
April 11, 2005
Anthony SchoettleRob Puma's idea of a romantic date is not making dog treats in his kitchen. Yet that's exactly what he found himself doing
with his girlfriend over Valentine's Day weekend in 2004. The unusual celebration of a lover's holiday was part of what began
as a semesterlong MBA project at Butler University four years ago and became, as trite as it sounds, a labor of love for Puma,
the inventor of Medi-Crunch, a snack designed to help people medicate their...
MoreSUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary: A novel treatment for workplace injuries
April 4, 2005
SUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary A novel treatment for workplace injuries Oh, my aching back! How often we express that lament, or
perhaps it's an aching neck or shoulders or wrist pain. If you have escaped so far, you can surely identify a friend or co-worker
who is hurting. Is it because we are aging or is something amiss, or both? Businessmen and -women, young and not so young,
sit in front of a computer for hours every day. Many jobs require...
MoreSPORTS: And I repeat...the new stadium isn't just for football
April 4, 2005
Bill BennerA lot of folks have pointed to the arrival of the Indianapolis Colts in 1984 as the beginning of the Indianapolis renaissance
through sports. I would submit that the train already had left the station. The Indianapolis 500 notwithstanding, Indy's first
major national splash came four years before, in 1980, when the NCAA brought the Men's Final Four to Market Square Arena.
At that time, the event was just starting to bust out. The year before, Michigan State and Indiana...
MoreVOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY Don Altemeyer: Let's rebuild Indiana's rep as construction powerhouse A well-paying career More research
A lesson from hoops
March 28, 2005
VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY Don Altemeyer Let's rebuild Indiana's rep as construction powerhouse A well-paying career More research
A lesson from hoops We could wear out our hands clapping like Gene Hackman's Hoosiers, and it's not going to change the fact
that basketball in Indiana this year has been nothing short of unremarkable. Despite the state's long-standing reputation
as a basketball powerhouse, it's the other teams playing in our arenas that are making history. There's a similar story taking
place,...
MoreSchool moratorium concerns industry: State officials studying whether too much money is being spent on non-educational construction
projects
March 28, 2005
Scott OlsonDesigners of educational facilities are expressing concern over the future of school construction in Indiana as state officials
mull guidelines that could bring changes to the process. Upon taking office in January, Gov. Mitch Daniels temporarily halted
new school-construction borrowing to give the Department of Local Government Finance time to develop guidelines to ensure
taxpayer money is spent wisely. The 120-day moratorium is a result of Daniels' theory that school corporations spend too much
money on projects unrelated to instruction....
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In my opinion the estridge companies are crooks. They filed bankruptcy on their 'track housing' side of the business two weeks before they closed on one of my clients' homes. When my client first interviewed Estridge as a builder 6 months before, they specifically ASKED about the solvency of their business, knowing that some builders were struggling. Estridge truly misrepresented their financial situation at that time. I suppose I am more unhappy with the whole system than I am with the builder because what the heck==you can file bankruptcy on 'track homes' but still keep building and make money off of 'custom built' homes??? How ridiculous! They are all homes. How can a company be allowed to bilk thousands of dollars from their subcontractors but still be allowed to build houses?? they should have been made to pay back all their unpaid contractors before being allowed to profit from building any more houses! This alone makes them and the system crooks in my eyes. I would never build an estridge home and I would not recommend for my clients either. If they were truly 'bankrupt' how could they afford to keep building homes anyway??? The whole system needs fixed.
I live a couple blocks east of the Angie's campus and my house is assessed for ~$160,000. If I could get that amount, let alone $384,000 (a 140% bonus), I'd sell in a minute. Either Angie's stockholders just got fleeced, or Angie's is getting about a 58% discount on their property taxes, if these properties are actually worth what they paid Mr. Oesterle for them. Which do you think is the case?
Perhaps the IMA board is really to blame! They agreed to hire Charles. They can't seemingly find donors among themselves, or bring in new blood that will support the museums operating budget with an expanded museum and money to provide curators with something to do (ie buy art). The headlines of disarray at the museum and mass firings are hurting the reputation of the museum for some time to come. If people on the board had misgivings, perhaps they shpuld have more forcefully opposed efforts that they have seemingly been unable to fund, like expansion and the costs it has created!
See, I told u Indyman and Dipsicle....this 8 days is overkill. It's barely worth a weekend....great job Tony George! Your dream has been fulfilled....he fans want the I r l back. Thats how good it was.....and that sucked.
I have been in training for a short time now but right off I can see that safety and quality are the number one issues, my experience as of late has been a positive one, the employees along with Jeff the plant manager and the operation supervisor as well as the engineers are a highly motivated group of people, what an asset for the area to have and for company's in need of a quality metal products.