club sale

Tennis Club for Sale

South Carolina/Georgia border

Tennis center, little building, four courts just been resurfaced, lights, overlooking the lake and subdivision, and could build houses around the courts.

Rental home on that property and a model home on the property. Owner financing. Available for $ million. Without model home would be 600,000 for anyone who wants to own a tennis center. Attractive opportunity at a sweet price.

Contact management@solacesports.com

Saddlebrook's Future

Lagardère Unlimited is negotiating to buy a part of the Saddlebrook Resort’s professional sports academy in tandem with advanced talks to buy sports agency BEST.

The two acquisitions would catapult the French company into the U.S. sports agency space and, with the company’s deep pockets, would likely make it a top player along with CAA, Octagon, Wasserman Media Group and IMG.

French Connection (BEST SELLS OUT)

French Sports Company Lagardere SA Nearing Acquisition Of BEST

Johnathan Blue the big shot bought up role model Donald Dells tennis business not long ago and now coughs it up to the French amateurs and sells out his baby. The French company has no American presence until now, another giant we could live without in the US...

French sporting and publishing giant Lagardere SA is close to acquiring BEST, multiple sources said, which would introduce a player with significant financial wherewithal into the U.S. sports agency marketplace. A deal could be consummated as early as next week, the sources said. Lagardere is one of France’s largest and most influential companies, and has been making a major push into sports media and marketing rights globally in the last several years. But its U.S. sports business is very limited, accounting for about 1% of its sports division’s revenues. Blue Equity Chair & Managing Dir JONATHAN BLUE, whose private equity firm which launched and owns BEST, said in an e-mail, "Blue Equity has a long standing policy of never commenting on any portfolio acquisitions or partnerships until they have been completed." BEST Managing Dir MIKE PRINCIPE declined to comment. ARNAUD LAGARDERE, Lagardere SA’s owner and son of the namesake, said during an earnings call last month that the company was keen to make a U.S sports acquisition. He made similar remarks to SportsBusiness Journal last September. He declined to comment for this story. He said in September that while he expected the sports division to make money, near term profits were not as important. With the deep pockets to back that up, Lagardere with a BEST purchase could be a major competitor to IMG, CAA and Octagon. BEST and Lagardere have already done business together. Last year, BEST’s head of tennis, KEN MEYERSON, defected to Lagardere with some of his clients, including ANDY RODDICK. In return, Lagardere paid BEST a low seven-figure settlement.

AN IMPRESSIVE ACQUISITION: BEST represents about 200 athlete clients and boasts a major NFL and NBA practice, as well as a tennis practice and fledging coaches and broadcaster practice. Blue Equity launched into the sports business in the summer of '06 by acquiring the tennis, television and events divisions of the former SFX Sports as well as the practice of veteran NBA and NFL agent BILL STRICKLAND. Sports pioneer, tennis agent and founder of the former firm ProServ DONALD DELL joined Blue Equity as part of that deal. Dell still is a key exec at BEST. The company became a major player in the NFL business, when in May '07 it acquired the business of prominent NFL agent JOEL SEGAL, who counts Titans RB CHRIS JOHNSON, Saints RB REGGIE BUSH and Eagles QB MICHAEL VICK as clients. In the summer of '08, BEST acquired the practice of major NBA player agent DAN FEGAN, who counts Mavericks F SHAWN MARION, Suns G JASON RICHARDSON and Nets F YI JIANLIAN as clients. The sports division of Blue Equity was rebranded as BEST (Blue Entertainment Sports Television) in March '08. Its other sports businesses include Team Championship International, which owns participatory sporting events Hoop It Up, Let it Fly, and Kick It, as well as the events SFX owned, operated or held the rights for, such as the Legg Mason tennis tournament, the Boston Marathon, and the French Open and U.S. Open of tennis.

INSIDE TENNIS MAGAZINE

CALIFORNIA BASED INSIDE TENNIS MAGAZINE -- DOES ANYONE READ THIS MAGAZINE? THEY SAY THEY HAVE 500,000 READERS, BUT I THINK ITS MORE LIKE OH LET'S SAY 5. MANAGEMENT HARASSES CLIENTELE TO ADVERTISE, RAMPANT PHONE CALLS FROM UNRESTRICTED NUMBERS MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THEY ARE A CREDITOR -- ADVERTISED IN THEIR MAGAZINE AND GOT ONE EMAIL A MONTH AFTER PUBLISHING -- I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM AND HOPE THEIR BUSINESS GOES UNDER AND SOMEONE TAKES OVER THEIR CONTRACTS, THE SOONER THE BETTER!

Would You Trust Them?

Colony Beach & Tennis Resort re-opening, hiring

Colony Beach & Tennis Resort will reopen its lodging Dec. 18 and hire 40 employees for various open positions.

The Longboat Key landmark is accepting reservations and offering special pricing on suites during the December holiday period, a release said.

Colony suspended its hotel operations about two months ago when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization after a long financial dispute with condominium owners over payment for maintenance and operating expenses.

The resort’s reorganization plan is due in bankruptcy court Jan. 15.

IMG DUMPS...ON ITS WAY OUT...

IMG laying off over 200 across company

Print This Story

By LIZ MULLEN
Staff writer

Published December 07, 2009 : Page 03

IMG has laid off more than 200 employees worldwide in the last few weeks, a reduction of more than 5 percent of its work force, in an effort to pare costs and position the company for growth.

The job cuts have been made in virtually every division of the sports, media and entertainment company in every region of the world. The affected employees have been notified individually in the last three weeks, according to multiple sources, and some may still be getting notice in the next few weeks.

Sources said the total number of layoffs at IMG, which had employed about 3,100 worldwide before the job cuts, were in the range of 200 to 300 people. One source said the layoffs represented about 7 percent of the company’s work force. IMG has 60 offices in 30 countries.

“We have taken out 4 percent of the costs of running the company,” said IMG spokesman Jim Gallagher. “A very small percentage of our total global work force is affected by this program.”

Gallagher wouldn’t provide a specific number of layoffs or respond to questions about how many people were laid off in individual IMG divisions, such as golf, tennis and media. But he said IMG had not closed any offices.

“As any smart company does from time to time, we are examining costs, trimming where necessary and exiting a few non-strategic businesses,” Gallagher said.

In late November, IMG sold television production companies Tiger Aspect, Darlow Smithson and Tigress to Dutch production company Endemol. Chris Davis, IMG executive vice president and chief financial officer, was quoted as saying those companies were not synergistic with IMG’s core business. Additionally, IMG shuttered Web site TennisWeek.com last week.

“This is not a program of layoffs,” Gallagher said. “This is a program of strategically reallocating and redeploying resources to long-term growth opportunities.”

IMG has identified and is currently working on several high-growth opportunities in emerging markets such as India and Brazil , Gallagher said. Last year, IMG announced a 20-year exclusive deal with China state broadcaster CCTV to develop and promote new sporting events and programming across China .

“IMG was doing well before these actions and will be doing even better following them,” Gallagher said.

News of the layoffs has been trickling through different segments of the sports industry in the last several weeks. SportsBusiness Daily reported in mid-November that IMG laid off Steve Kerepesi, the senior vice president of business development and the No. 2 executive in the business development group, as well as two others in that group.

But sources said that many of the people who have been laid off are not high-profile executives, but lower-level employees.

IMG sources said roughly half a dozen non-executive staffers were laid off in the golf division, primarily on the event management side of the business, though the exact number was uncertain because no internal announcements were made. Most of the cuts were believed to be outside the Cleveland headquarters, said sources working in that office, at disbanded IMG events.

In the last year, IMG canceled two LPGA events, as well as the men’s Skins Game and the Father/Son Challenge.

TENNIS WEEK

Farewell Tennis Week?

Could it be that the once-glorious Tennis Week magazine – the lucid and literary child of the late Gene Scott – may be no more?

The once widely-respected journal, founded in 1974, ceased publishing its print version in March. Now multiple sources say IMG, who purchased the magazine in December 2006, will be closing down the magazine’s website, TennisWeek.com, at the end of November.

Update...TennisWeek.com is down so I believe it is safe to assume the magazine has been washed. Another result of Teddy Forstmann cutting costs in the business world now hitting the sports world and taking it for a ride until he can cash out on it. How funny would it be if IMG just bombed, and he lost it all?

INDY TENNIS

Organizers to announce Indy tennis championships sale

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Indianapolis Tennis Championships is selling its ATP membership. Organizers cite economic trends and declining ticket sales for the decision.

Tournament director Kevin Martin will disclose the buyer of the membership at a press conference scheduled for Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Omni Hotel downtown.

Selling the sanctioning rights all but assures the tournament will move out of the city.

Indianapolis has been home to the tennis event for more than 80 years. It began in 1921 as the Western Open Championships at the Woodstock Country Club.

AGASSI BLASTS NBTA IMG

In an interview posted through a video in the New York Times Andre Agassi blasts the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, IMG big time. Go to nytimes.com and it is on the main page in the headlines. The interview talks about his new book OPEN and how he was exploited by NBTA. He straight up comes out and shrewdly describes the lack of education at NBTA and how there was no supervision, no adult figures, calls NBTA a "glorified prison" with no love at all at the academy. He has supposedly a tragic description of NBTA described in his book which will sell a lot of books and probably hurt IMG business, blaming its structured programs. Slamming the academy that gave him direction, another ploy to sell books or just brutal honesty?

SERENA WANTS TO ACT!

Fiery tennis champ Serena Williams wants to stretch her acting chops!

Williams, who guest-starred on NBC's E.R. back in 2005, is hoping for the chance to shine in front of the camera yet again.

Says Williams: "I really enjoy acting. I like being in front of the camera. I think I should be an action star. I always wanted to die in acting and then I died (in E.R.) and I was miserable!"

Serena believes her "dying in acting career" is over, and it's time to move onto action!

"I can do a real mean chop and kick," brags the tennis star. "…And I can jump high and run fast and cartwheel."

Maybe if the whole acting thing doesn't work out for her, Serena can move on to stunt work?

Just sayin'!

MARIA UNDER ARREST!

Pilot Pen Not Renewing Sponsorship Of New Haven Tennis Tourney

Pilot Pen yesterday said that it "will not sponsor New Haven's professional tennis tournament beyond the 2010 event," according to Hunn & Baruzzi of the NEW HAVEN REGISTER. Pilot Pen has sponsored the tournament since '96, "making it one of the longest running sponsors on either the ATP or WTA tours." Pilot Pen Corp. President & CEO Dennis Burleigh said that the recession "was the reason for the company's decision." Tournament Dir Anne Worcester said that the tournament "would like to find a new sponsor by late spring or early summer 2010." She added that she "will spearhead the search along with the help of a sponsor services department, tournament partners, tournament investors, tournament chairman Butch Buchholz and CEO Mike Davis." Worcester said that the target sponsor for the joint ATP/WTA event "would be a national company, based in the northeast, that wants to affiliate itself with professional sports." Sources said that the "title sponsor deal is worth about" $1.5M. Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce President Anthony Rescigno said that the event is "still 'a desirable product,' given its uniqueness of being both a men's and women's tournament." Hunn & Baruzzi note tournaments in Indianapolis and L.A. -- "both men's events -- are also seeking sponsors" (NEW HAVEN REGISTER, 11/11). Burleigh said of the tournament, "This is the primary focus of our marketing efforts. We've been involved with this for 14 years. Personally, I love this. But in the end it's a financial decision" (HARTFORD COURANT, 11/11). Worcester said without a title sponsor, "it would not be financially viable to run a tennis tournament, clear and simple" (CONNECTICUT POST, 11/11).

X FACTOR: In Connecticut, Dave Solomon writes the event's "X factor" could be Yale Univ., "which is said to be solidly behind the longevity of the tennis tournament on their grounds." Yale "isn't in the tournament sponsorship business, but its powerful (and affluent) alumni dot every countryside." For some of the int'l companies "run by these men and women from Yale," $1.5M is "like loose change." Meanwhile, Solomon notes there is "no consideration at this point to making this a men's-only or women's-only event" (NEW HAVEN REGISTER, 11/11).

-Sports Business Journal

you cannot be serious!?

Thanks to a tweet by James Larosa (and the stalkeratti) the rumored budding romance between Maria Sharapova + the LA Lakers Sasha Vujacic is def AWN - well, as much as a photo of two happy looking people strolling down a sidewalk holding hands can say.

So I guess the race to name this coupling will begin. Somebody shoot me if I start.

Them Laker boys always snagging up the celebs first the part time amazonian and part time cutie chloe kardashian with the giant lamar odom and now a no-namer off the bench. Come on Maria, don't lead the guy on, he might actually think he's supposed to be good at basketball...or is this just her way to get scandalous with Kobe, now were talkin!

Addict

Coming out 12 years later...It is obviously a marketing ploy to sell more books since nobody was probably going to buy any. Now, even I am considering picking one up so it has worked. Otherwise, I doubt that I would have! The headlines say "Federer disappointed with Agassi drug news." Seriously? Who gives a shit about what Federer thinks about this situation. Roger is not his father nor a saint. Didn't he impregnate a woman and have a half ass shotgun wedding. Everyone is shocked the confession is now, where was the ATP? Well, that was when Miles was in office and based on the stories I hear over and over about him none of them have been good ones even though I have never had a problem in my dealings with him or his family. Andre is flat out trying to sell books. Was it appropriate? No. Will it sell books. Yes. On ESPN this coook who I can't stand made a good point this morning. He said, Agassi did this to sell books because his ego couldn't stand not to sell a ton of them. Is it an ego problem? Probably. Truth, I don't really care. Did you see the guy back then, whacked out hair, crazy clothes, dating celebrities for bad reasons. He was a punk and thrived off of the bad boy image. What comes along with the image, partying. Crystal Meth, kind of a white trash choice, but nevertheless all drugs are basically trashy some more than others. I am surprised with all the PR this has gotten or else I would not be writing this column. Do I mind that he did it? No. Apparently there was some sort of cover up with the ATP when he failed a drug test. Then again, what is the point of being too strict on the ATP's meal ticket. Anyways, off to more important things like watching the Yankees in the World Series. Be Good!

Ladies...

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Serena Williams of the U.S. , Dinara Safinaof Russia, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, Elena Dementieva of Russia and Venus Williams of the U.S. (L-R) pose for a picture during the draw for the WTA Tour Championships at the Museum of Islamic Art conference centre in Doha October 25, 2009. The tournament will take place in Doha from October 26 to November 1.

More...

Here's a sneak peek from Brooklyn Decker's guest cameo on Ugly Bettynext Friday, October 30.

In the episode, the gorgeous tennis WAG plays the new sexy, but incompetent, assistant to Mode EIC Daniel Meade played by Eric Mabius.

Ugly Betty

Dirty Brooklyn Decker on Ugly Betty Coming Soon!

10 Year Reunion

Princeton High School Tennis!

"Don't Hate The Players, Hate The Game"

Sleepy Season

Playboy Coming Soon

Embarrassing!

Chris Evert + Greg Norman have announced a formal separation after only 15 months of marriage according to a statement released throughGreg's LA spokesperson Bart Collins.

The couple requested privacy for themselves and their families and said, "We will remain friends and supportive of one another's family." The pair have not indicated whether they will divorce.

The history of the relationship has been well-documented, includingclaims made in 2007 by Chris' ex-husband and Greg's former best friend,Andy Mills, who blamed the golfer for ruining his 18-year marriage to the tennis Hall of Famer.

Last July, Chrissie publicly admitted to the affair for the first time but tried to explain it away during an interview with Vogue saying, "It was like an irresistible force. How do you explain something like that?"

Upon hearing of the separation, Greg's ex-wife Laura Andrassy had her own explanation. "They say opposites attract. Here were two people very much alike - high profile and narcissistic people - and that would make a relationship difficult," said Laura.

It was Chrissie's third marriage and second for Greg.

Ouch. Well, I can't say the news of their separation is a shocker. Unfortunately, it's not at all.

Martina

Time's up for Martina Hingis.

The 2-year drug suspension on the Swiss Miss ends today which is, coincidentally, her 29th birthday.

pretty boys

yeah right!