Cuban Favors Stern Approach

David Stern is in a tough spot. With the economy shaky, this is not the best time to be negotiating a national television contract. The old contract is about to expire, though, and the NBA commissioner has to find money somewhere.

“I’m not privy to what is going on, but I have all the confidence in the world in David Stern,” one NBA owner said. “He’s the best person to be dealing with our media partners. My thinking is, let him do his thing.”

The owner voicing such strong support? Mark Cuban.

Cuban sat courtside before his Dallas Mavericks played the Lakers on Wednesday night and talked freely about some of his concerns about the NBA.

But the television contract was not one of them.

He thinks everything will work out and has no advice for Stern in that regard, even though he knows something about generating revenue, particularly through new media.

A self-proclaimed “computer geek,” Cuban came up with the idea of putting sports broadcasts on the Internet. He and a friend created Broadcast.com in 1995. Four years later, Broadcast.com was sold to Yahoo for nearly $6billion.

He has since moved on to new ventures, such as turning the Mavericks into one of the most talked-about teams in the NBA and turning himself into the most talked-about owner in the NBA. Another new venture is high definition television.

His channel, HDNet, is on DirecTV’s Channel 199. Among other things, it carries Cuban’s lively Dallas television show at various times. In February, HDNet will be offering high-definition coverage of the Winter Olympics from Salt Lake City.

High definition technology has been around for years but has never really caught on. Cuban says now is the time.

“A high definition television set used to cost $8,000,” he said. “The price has dropped like a rock.”

NBA Scenarios

Earlier this year, parent company Disney told ESPN not to bid on the NBA unless it made economic sense. Disney, already taking a hit with its theme parks, was tired of losing money on sports properties.

Football has been a money loser because of exorbitant rights fees, and hockey has been no bargain at $120 million a year. Fox and ESPN were paying only $45million a year for hockey two years ago.

The NBA didn’t make economic sense to ESPN until the price started dropping. NBC, during an exclusive negotiating period, came in with a low bid, reportedly $1.3billion over four years. NBC’s current deal is $1.75billion over four years.

ABC and ESPN, its cable sister, jumped into the fray this week, but some industry sources think ABC might be a longshot.

“NBC needs the NBA and the NBA needs NBC,” television consultant Neal Pilson said Thursday. “The NBA fits better into NBC’s schedule.”

Possibly, according to several sources, NBC will retain over-the-air rights and ESPN will get the cable rights, although NBC and ESPN would be strange bedfellows.

Also, AOL Time Warner, in a joint venture with the NBA, might turn CNN/SI into an NBA channel similar to NBA.com TV, which is now available on DirecTV and on digital cable through In Demand.

If ESPN gets the cable package, live games will not be carried by CNN/SI.

Budding Sportscaster?

Jennifer Carpenter, 30, of Redondo Beach, a UCLA graduate and football season-ticket holder, has a shot of getting on ESPN’s “College GameDay.”

She is a finalist in an ESPN.com contest in which entrants pick college football winners. First prize is a guest appearance on “College GameDay” on Jan. 1.

So did Carpenter, who is a human resource manager for a downtown consulting firm, enter the contest because she is an aspiring sportscaster?

Not exactly.

“I’m a huge Kirk Herbstreit fan and have always wanted to meet him,” Carpenter said. “He’s the reason the show has such a good female fan base.”

Tennis Channel

The Golf Channel has been fairly successful, and now there are plans to launch the Tennis Channel sometime next summer. It’s one thing to announce plans to launch a new cable channel, it’s another to actually launch it.

But the Tennis Channel got a boost Thursday when Pete Sampras announced that he has invested in and will serve as a spokesman for the channel.

Short Waves

One of the more intriguing made-for-TV golf events this time of year is the Hyundai Team Matches. A field of four two-person teams in each of three divisions--PGA Tour, PGA Senior Tour and the LPGA--broadens the appeal. A beautiful setting at the Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point helps too. Saturday’s play will be televised live at 1 p.m. by ABC, and Sunday’s championship and consolation rounds will be on delayed at 1 p.m.

The Heisman Trophy presentation show will be on ESPN Saturday at 4 p.m., and a preview will be on ESPN2 today at 3 p.m.... At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, ABC will televise the BCS Bowl Selection Show.... ESPN will have a different kind of bowling Sunday. The finals of the Professional Bowlers Assn. U.S. Open at Fountain Valley will be on live at 10 a.m., followed at 11:30 a.m. by the Professional Women’s Bowling Assn. U.S. Open from Laughlin, Nev.

The Hyundai California Community College football championship game at Visalia will be on Fox Sports Net 2 Saturday at 1 p.m. Palomar takes on San Francisco. Palomar’s coach, Tom Craft, was hired Thursday as San Diego State’s new coach.... Sports Illustrated’s “Night of Champions,” to be held Monday night at the Shrine Auditorium, will be televised by NBC the following Saturday at 8 p.m.... Chick Hearn will be honored Thursday night at 7 at a Start-a-Heart fund-raiser at the SkyBar in the Mondrian Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

Speedvision, which will become Speed Channel early next year, has entered into a three-year agreement with AMA Pro Racing, which sanctions motorcycle racing, and its Supercross Partner, JamSports. Beginning in 2003, Speed Channel will carry AMA U.S. Supercross Championship events.

The Van Triple Crown series, featuring core sports such as skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, BMX and motocross, this week began a nine-event, two-month run on NBC and Fox Sports Net. Taped coverage of a skateboarding competition at Oceanside will be on NBC Sunday at 2 p.m.

In Closing

Jay Mariotti and Jim Litke were talking about the Peter Blake tragedy on Sporting News radio, KMPC (1540), Thursday morning. Apparently sailing isn’t their cup of tea. Neither had heard of Blake. Said Litke, “The only yachtsman I’m aware of is Donald, oh what’s his name? O’Connor.” Think he meant Dennis Conner? Litke wasn’t having a good day. He had earlier referred to Nebraska’s Eric Crouch as Tim Crouch, who is not to be confused with the Cleveland Browns’ Tim Couch.