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Demolition sale

Soon you could be the proud owner of an authentic Tiger Stadium hot dog cart, batting cage, or even a little home plate dust. Die-hard fans and collectors may get a chance to buy a piece of the park if the Detroit City Council approves the auction — proceeds of which would be used to pay for the stadium's demolition, the Free Press reports today. An auction of the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis a couple years ago netted millions.

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NFL: It's only a few bad seeds

The National Football League hasn't been getting the best press lately. The legal problems of players like Michael Vick and Pacman Jones have dominated the headlines, so today the NFL launches a new ad campaign to highlight its "good apples." Like new Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn, who just graduated from Notre Dame, talking about how he wants to go to law school someday. Other spots feature Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young talking about why he has tattoos and Browns linebacker Willie McGinest telling his mom he loves her.

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No more ad space in the Super Bowl

The World Series is over. It'll be months before we know which teams face off for the Super Bowl. But if you were thinking you might get thirty-seconds of advertising during the game, think again. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that ad space for the highly lucrative event has already almost sold out. The buying craze is many yards ahead of previous years. Advertisers are hoping to get a piece of the big television events as many viewers turn to TiVo and away from commercials. Oh, and by the way: Just in case you were in the market for a 30-second spot, it'll run you $2.7 million.

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An assist from Buffet

It looks like one of the world's richest men, Warren Buffet, played a role in the return of Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees. The Wall Street Journal reports Buffet told A-Rod to go around his agent and approach the ball club directly after opting out of his record $252 million contract. After speaking with Buffet, Rodriguez got in touch with someone he knew at Goldman Sachs. That led to the $275 million, 10-year contract that's in the process of being finalized now.
Rodriguez and Buffet apparently became friends several years ago.

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Retiring with a healthy endorsement

Retired athletes are becoming pitching favorites in the midst of today's scandals, like steroid abuse and betting on dog fights. Tennis star Martina Navratilova is the latest example of an old pro cashing in. The 51-year-old will be serving up Health and Fitness tips for AARP. The Wall Street Journal says the endorsement deal could be announced today.

Navratilova says some sponsors were shy to sign her earlier in her career since she's openly gay. The AARP says that's not an issue. The former pro player also had recent deals with Subaru and Prince rackets.

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Ticketmaster gets NFL-specific

You'll have a new way to get your hands on NFL tickets next season. Ticketmaster is launching a website in 2008 where people can resell their tickets. The multi-year deal with the NFL will mean you'll be seeing the pro-football logo and promotions on Ticketmaster's original site.

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You can watch the Super Bowl now

It turns out everyone will be able to watch what could be a historic football game Saturday night.
The New England Patriots' attempt to go 16-0 against the New York Giants was only going to be available on the NFL network.The channel isn't carried by most major cable companies. But now the NFL says it's reached an agreement to also air the game on CBS and NBC. This is the first national simulcast for the league since the very first Super Bowl in 1967.

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Two winners on Super Bowl Sunday

The Giants won the Super Bowl, and it looks like Coke may be top dog in Super Bowl ads. A spot playing on the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade seems to have captured the most attention. Classical music plays as huge inflatable balloon characters of Stewie from the Family Guy, and Underdog battle above buildings for an inflatable bottle of Coke. In the end, another inflatable character floats up to grab the bottle -- a big, smiling, Charlie Brown balloon. Advertisers paid as much as $2.7 million for 30 seconds of air time.

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Throw in the fight and it's a perfect storm

Even if you are not into soccer, you might have heard of the Champions League. The most renowned soccer club competition. This year, and for the first time in the history of the European competition, two British teams reached the final. London's Chelsea and Manchester United. So, now put the pieces together -- the strong pound, the historic event, the money that soccer moves in Britain. That's right, some tickets for the final in Moscow on May 21 are already going for $10,000. In the U.K., it is illegal to sell tickets on the Internet, but who says foreign sites can't? And that's just to get into the stadium -- add the flight, the hotel, an expensive getaway.

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