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	<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Business of Sports &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Business of Sports &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>New Game for Baseball Fans: Go to the Ballpark Without Spending a Dime</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/27/new-game-for-baseball-fans-go-to-the-ballpark-without-spending-a-dime/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/27/new-game-for-baseball-fans-go-to-the-ballpark-without-spending-a-dime/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cleveland Indians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeffrey Loria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major League Baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miami Marlins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Yankees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pro sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports tickets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[StubHub]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yankees]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78737</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Watch any Major League Baseball game on TV. More often than not, when a view of the &#8220;crowd&#8221; pops onto the screen, you&#8217;ll see more empty seats than people. (Check out an early April game at eerily empty Marlins Park, for example.) And the fans who did actually show up may be spending little or nothing to &#8220;support&#8221; the team. There&#8217;s no shortage of promotions around the country aimed at enticing more fans into coming out to the ballpark. The Cleveland Indians dropped beer prices to $4 for the entire season, down from a minimum of $5.25 last year. Coming off an awful 2012 season, the Boston Red Sox cut prices on beer and food for all home games in April, and even gave out free kids&#8217; meals to make a trip to the ballpark extra tempting for families. There is also the usual roster of deals on tickets and concessions — &#8220;Buck Nights&#8221; ($1 hot dogs and popcorn) and $7 tickets on Mondays in Kansas City, for example. All of these promotions promise good value, but they obviously require fans to spend some cash at the stadium. Perhaps a decent amount of cash, too: When beers are $4 rather than $9, fans are less bitter about the purchase, and are naturally more inclined to have a few while watching the game. (MORE: Fenway Park Drops Beer and Food Prices &#8230; And Red Sox Fans Get Angry?) In Miami, however, where Marlins&#8217; ownership has alienated locals like few other professional sports franchises in history, fans are actively strategizing ways to support the team without handing over a single penny that&#8217;ll benefit hated owner Jeffrey Loria. The Miami Herald reported on the phenomenon, in which Marlins fans get hold of free or deeply discounted tickets, park for free near the stadium, and eat before the game or bring in snacks to avoid stadium concessions: It’s the game that precedes the game, and fans are willing to play in order to see baseball but snub Loria, who cut payroll and traded stars<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78737&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Saving</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-saving-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/108329208-e13473908668291.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Baseball in Empty Stadium</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>The Major League Baseball Team That&#8217;s Made Fans—and an Entire Metro Area—Feel Like Suckers</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/02/the-major-league-baseball-team-thats-made-fans-and-an-entire-metro-area-feel-like-suckers/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/02/the-major-league-baseball-team-thats-made-fans-and-an-entire-metro-area-feel-like-suckers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeffrey Loria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major League Baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miami]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miami Marlins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pro sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports owners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports tickets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76327</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What with soaring ticket prices and $7 beers, many sports fans complain that their local teams take advantage of them. But no one has it worse than baseball fans in South Florida. The Miami Marlins have &#8220;disgraced baseball.&#8221; Team owner Jeffrey Loria has been described as &#8220;the most hated man&#8221; in the game today by prominent members of the media—and much, much worse by fans. And the entire team became &#8220;the butt of jokes around the country,&#8221; to put it mildly, after trading nearly all of its best players toward the end of last season. Lots of sports franchises make questionable roster moves. But what has Marlins&#8217; management done to bring about a level of hatred and distrust usually saved only for owners who overtly snub fans by physically moving franchises out of town, a la Walter O&#8217;Malley? Well, in the case against Loria, trading away most of the Marlins&#8217; tap talent is only the tip of the iceberg. The Miami Herald gave a rundown of the team&#8217;s recent dispiriting history. Loria purchased the Marlins in 2002, and the team surprisingly beat the Yankees in the World Series the following year. Even so, attendance lagged for years, and the Marlins eventually cut spending dramatically. &#8220;Only in 2006, after Loria slashed payroll to the lowest in baseball, did the team begin posting healthy operating profits — $110 million through 2009,&#8221; the Herald report states. (MORE: Post-Lockout NHL: Higher Ticket Prices, Better Attendance) It was during this period that Loria convinced local politicians that &#8220;the only way the Marlins could afford to stay in South Florida&#8221; would be to build a new stadium, largely paid for by the public. According to an op-ed in the Sun-Sentinel, the stadium, which opened last year, will cost the public $2.4 billion over the course of 40 years. Perhaps that would be money well spent (or not totally wasted) if the Marlins put decent teams on the field, and if fans supported the team by packing the stadium. Neither is likely to be the case anytime<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76327&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Why Apparel Companies Compete To Outfit College Hoops Teams</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/why-apparel-companies-compete-to-outfit-college-hoops-teams/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/why-apparel-companies-compete-to-outfit-college-hoops-teams/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh Sanburn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76065</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The overall No. 1 seed Louisville Cardinals have been donning polarizing uniforms in the NCAA men&#8217;s basketball tournament this year. Young fans seem to love the new unis. The older ones, not so much. But Louisville and its athletics department didn’t have a say in the design, only the color scheme, say Louisville officials — because in the relationship between college athletics and apparel companies, the Nikes and Adidases of the world hold the cards. In the old days, basketball and other college sports teams would simply purchase uniforms from vendors. But big-time college sports is different. Instead of a team paying an apparel provider, apparel providers give money, uniforms, equipment, and all manner of perks to college basketball teams. What they get in return, of course, are merchandising rights. The first week of this year&#8217;s NCAA tournament – broadcast on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV – garnered its highest television ratings in 15 years, and the 14-year contract between CBS and Turner to televise every game in its entirety is $10.8 billion. Big time college basketball, in other words, represents an almost unparalleled opportunity for these companies to get their products in front of a large group of enthusiastic customers. “The degree of competitiveness for these sports apparel companies to get their brand name out there is at an all-time high,” says Patrick Rishe, a sports economist at Webster University. “They realize a lot of people are watching.” (MORE: Why Banks Love Debit Cards Again) As a result, the dominant brands in the apparel industry — Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Under Armour — have flipped the vendor-customer relationship over the last few decades. And thanks to the economic downturn over the last few years, apparel companies have gained even more sway, especially with public universities that have had state funding cut since the recession. “Athletic programs are, more than ever, under tight budget crunches, and the people running these athletic programs are more keen to maximize revenues whenever and wherever they can,” says Rishe. Contracts between colleges and apparel companies are rarely disclosed, so it&#8217;s<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76065&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">jsanburn</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Dunk City &amp; Dollars: Florida Gulf Coast Bandwagon Means Big Bucks</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/dunk-city-dollars-florida-gulf-coast-bandwagon-means-big-bucks/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/dunk-city-dollars-florida-gulf-coast-bandwagon-means-big-bucks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Educational Financing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[basketball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FGCU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Gulf Coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Gulf Coast University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[March Madness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NCAA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports apparel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports fans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76051</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bringing new meaning to the term &#8220;fast fashion,&#8221; trendy sports fans are known to immediately need to get their hands on the jerseys of out-of-nowhere sensations like Colin Kaepernick and Jeremy Lin. A nation of fans is currently fascinated with an entire team—Florida Gulf Coast University, the first No. 15 seed ever to make it to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA basketball tournament. And the impact goes well beyond soaring team apparel sales. After FGCU scored an upset victory against No. 2 seed Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament, sales at the campus bookstore skyrocketed 1,000%, according to CNN Money. The store&#8217;s online unit then handled 500 apparel orders on Sunday, after FGCU&#8217;s win over San Diego State. On a normal Sunday, when the physical store is closed, its website does maybe 20 to 30 orders. Stores throughout the Fort Myers area have rushed to fill aisles with FGCU merchandise, as consumers clamor for a piece of the team everyone is talking about. &#8220;Everyone jumps on a winner,&#8221; Lewis Hardy, CEO of the Licensing Resource Group, told CNN Money. &#8220;There are people wearing their stuff right now who may not even know where they are located.&#8221; Interest in the team has expanded well beyond Florida. Earlier this week, the sports gear e-retailer Fanatics.com released a statement attesting to FGCU&#8217;s major leap in interest among fans nationwide: Since the tournament began on Thursday, Florida Gulf Coast University has been the top-selling college and most searched school on Fanatics.com, one of the largest online retailers of officially licensed sports merchandise. FGCU gear has been purchased by fans in more than 40 states since Thursday, with the top state being Florida, of course. (MORE: Madness for Sale: Businesses Go for a Piece of NCAA &#8216;March Madness&#8217; Basketball Tournament) Gamblers are drawn to FGCU as well. The team&#8217;s next game, a matchup on Friday night against University of Florida, which is favored by 13 points, is the hottest bet in Las Vegas, according to a Bloomberg News story:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76051&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7391cfb4656a46fc97fca2e4789ccee0-0.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Florida Gulf Coast&#039;s Dajuan Graf, from left, Eddie Murray and Brett Comer celebrate after winning a third-round game against San Diego State in the NCAA college basketball tournament, on March 24, 2013, in Philadelphia. Fla.</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Fenway Park Drops Beer and Food Prices … And Red Sox Fans Get Angry?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/28/fenway-park-drops-beer-and-food-prices-and-red-sox-fans-get-angry/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/28/fenway-park-drops-beer-and-food-prices-and-red-sox-fans-get-angry/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:00:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston Red Sox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fenway Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hot dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major League Baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pro sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Red Sox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports fans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75948</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cheaper beer prices? Free food for kids? How insulting! Following in the footsteps of the Cleveland Indians and other teams that have dropped concession prices at pro baseball stadiums, the Boston Red Sox are offering fans cheaper beer and food, as well as free kids meals. Team executives said the price cuts were intended to thank fans for their support. How nice, right? Unfortunately for Red Sox ownership, many fans reacted to the news by venting that the team has been gouging Fenway Park visitors for years, and that the promotional prices on concessions amounted to a hollow &#8220;too little, too late&#8221; gesture. The Boston Globe broke the news on Tuesday that for the month of April, Red Sox games at Fenway Park would feature buy-one-get-one-free hot dogs, half-price hot chocolate, free kids&#8217; meals (hot dog, Goldfish, juice box) through the third inning, and 12 oz. beers starting at $5—down from the usual $$7.50 to $8.50. “We’re looking for ways to fill the ballpark, and hopefully this will help,” said Red Sox chief operating officer Sam Kennedy. “But more importantly, that it be received as a thank you given everything we’ve been through the last nine, 10 years together. We thought it was an appropriate gesture.” (MORE: NBA Teams Struggle to Fill Arenas, Even When &#8216;Cheap Seats&#8217; Are $1 &#8212; Or Free) Based on the angry response from fans calling into sports talk radio and commenting online, however, the gesture isn&#8217;t being taken that way. &#8220;I would rather them do nothing,&#8221; wrote one commenter at the website of sports radio station WEEI. &#8220;This front office is unbearable. How stupid do they think Redsox fan&#8217;s are.&#8221; Another typical comment, at Boston.com, reads: &#8220;Hey Sox brass, you guys are deplorable. It costs a family of four approx. $240 to go to a game at Fenway, so now you&#8217;re going to be &#8216;generous&#8217; &#8211; for April ONLY, how thoughtful! &#8211; and it will only cost the family of four $225.&#8221; Instead of being received as an olive branch by diehard fans after last<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75948&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/sb10070109j-001-e13437518721551.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">beer</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Stealth Celebrity Endorsement: No Money Changing Hands, Just Free Burritos</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/21/stealth-celebrity-endorsement-no-money-changing-hands-just-free-burritos/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/21/stealth-celebrity-endorsement-no-money-changing-hands-just-free-burritos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Abby Wambach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bryce Harper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[burritos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[celebrity endorsements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chipotle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major League Baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NBA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pro athletes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[schwag]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shwag]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soccer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tony Hawk]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75420</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s no mystery as to why companies give away swag during the Oscars to people in the movie business. The possibility that a celebrity will Tweet about the product or perhaps be photographed with it more than offsets the cost of giving goods away. The same concept explains why high-profile athletes are now welcome to eat free burritos for life. A Sports Business Daily story on the trend notes that in marketing circles, the practice of strategically giving away merchandise is known as &#8220;celebrity seeding.&#8221; Among pro athletes, the Chipotle fast-casual burrito chain is tops for freebies. Here&#8217;s how the scenario plays out: Chipotle waits for well-known people to express an affinity for the company&#8217;s food either privately or publicly, and then sends them a card that gives them a free burrito a day. The company asks for nothing in return for the favor, but many high-profile athletes have taken to social media to sing the company’s praises after receiving one. That&#8217;s exactly what USA soccer star Abby Wambach did last fall, Tweeting &#8220;Happiest day ever&#8221; after receiving her free-burritos-for-life card. Skateboarder Tony Hawk, the NBA&#8217;s Mario Chalmers and Drew Gooden, and pro lacrosse player Paul Rabil are among the other athletes who can flash a personalized Chipotle card in exchange for one free burrito daily until their final days. (MORE: Amazon Prime: Bigger, More Powerful, More Profitable Than Anyone Imagined) The latest big-time athlete to receive the free-burrito card is Washington Nationals All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper, who Tweeted this week words of thanks to Chipotle. &#8220;The best thing ever! I really appreciate it!&#8221; Harper&#8217;s message reads. That&#8217;s some endorsement for Chipotle. And it didn&#8217;t have to spend millions of dollars or deal with Harper&#8217;s agent or bother making a commercial or anything. All Chipotle had to do was send Harper a card, good for one free burrito daily. If Harper took advantage of the card twice a week, that&#8217;d amount to maybe $600 annually in free burritos. That&#8217;s retail. Chipotle&#8217;s actual costs are much less. In other words, this<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75420&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/03/21/stealth-celebrity-endorsement-no-money-changing-hands-just-free-burritos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food and Beverage Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/food-and-beverage-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/138881906.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">T-Mobile And Google Music Host The Family Crest At Red Light Management Celebration</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Madness for Sale: Businesses Go for a Piece of NCAA &#8216;March Madness&#8217; Basketball Tournament</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/20/madness-for-sale-businesses-go-for-a-piece-of-ncaa-march-madness-basketball-tournament/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/20/madness-for-sale-businesses-go-for-a-piece-of-ncaa-march-madness-basketball-tournament/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[basketball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[billboard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[burritos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California Tortilla]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Consumerist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Domino’s]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DVDs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gambling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hot dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Little Caesars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[March Madness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NCAA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NCAA basketball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Outback]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Outback Steakhouse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pizza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pizza Hut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[promotions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Redbox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tacos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75240</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s just no stopping the madness. From Hooters restaurants to businesses selling books for homeschooled children to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, everyone seems to be pursuing a marketing tie-in to March Madness, a.k.a. the NCAA basketball tournament. This week, the nation&#8217;s attention turns to the college basketball tourney—if not the actual games, at least to office pools. It&#8217;s a costly time for American businesses; by one estimate, the loss in productivity due to the tournament will run a total of $134 million just on Thursday and Friday. Any time an event is on the minds of millions of American consumers, there will surely be businesses seeking a piece of the action. Here are some examples: The Bracket Racket The NCAA&#8217;s bracket format lends itself naturally to a series of face-to-face vote-offs on the Internet. Just substitute products, or movies, or even regional hot dogs and sausages, and wah-la! You&#8217;ve got a customized bracket that (hopefully) will be a magnet for clicks on your site, as viewers vote and check in—and probably, reveal lots of personal data that&#8217;ll help your marketing efforts further—throughout the course of the tournament. (MORE: March Madness Will Cost Businesses $134 Million. Why Aren&#8217;t Employers Concerned?) The Consumerist&#8217;s &#8220;Worst Company in America&#8221; tournament has been taking place for years, but it&#8217;s hardly the only one. Last year, in meta joke fashion, the Atlantic put together a bracket of brackets, in which Internet viewers voted for their favorite oddball brackets, from Worst Sci-Fi movie to Jezebel&#8217;s Sex vs. Chocolate showdown (the missionary position won, beating out brownies in the final), and beyond. This year, among the many brackets seeking your attention are some fairly straightforward ones, like the battle for the best sitcom at Vulture.com and the best music single of the past year at Billboard.com. Redbox, meanwhile, has a Movie Matchup, and picking winners yields points that can be used for free movie rentals. There are also curiously specific vote-offs, like the top player in Houston Rockets history at Bleacher Report and the Cooking<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75240&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/03/20/madness-for-sale-businesses-go-for-a-piece-of-ncaa-march-madness-basketball-tournament/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>March Madness Will Cost Businesses $134 Million. Why Aren&#8217;t Employers Concerned?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/march-madness-will-cost-businesses-134-million-why-arent-employers-concerned/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/march-madness-will-cost-businesses-134-million-why-arent-employers-concerned/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:45:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh Sanburn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Careers & Workplace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Life Balance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74869</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The NCAA men’s basketball tournament will cost U.S. companies an estimated $134 million in “lost wages” this week. But do employers care? Not really. A survey released last week by job outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &#38; Christmas found that the men’s college basketball tournament – which lasts three weeks – will cost $134 million in just the first two days (Thursday and Friday) of the tournament. An estimated 3 million U.S. employees will spend one to three hours at work watching the games, and two-thirds of all workers will follow the tournament at some point during work hours. (MORE: How Sesame Street Counted All the Way to 1 Billion YouTube Views) A few decades ago, the idea that employees would be able to spend hours watching a sporting event during normal working hours would’ve been unthinkable. But our work and personal lives have become completely tangled, and today most bosses are not only fine with employees who watch a few games or set up an office pool, they almost encourage it. According to a separate survey by staffing firm OfficeTeam, when office managers and executives were asked whether the NCAA basketball tournament had a negative effect on employee productivity, 75% said there was no impact, and 16% said there was either a very positive or somewhat positive impact. And one-fifth of employers said those activities elicited a positive impact on employee morale. That’s despite the fact the tournament likely takes more than $100 million out of productivity in just two days. “That’s a big number,” says John Challenger of Challenger, Gray &#38; Christmas, referring to how much the tournament is expected to cost businesses. “And yet, I think companies that allow their employees freedom and autonomy recognize that the workplace brings people’s personal lives in. It’s the way the modern workplace works.” The acceptance of March Madness into the workplace is of course just one example of how the workplace has changed. Today, employees check Facebook, share YouTube videos, or instant message with friends throughout the work day. But more<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74869&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Work/Life Balance</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/careers-workplace/worklife-balance/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">jsanburn</media:title>
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		<title>Hurray for $4 Beers! Baseball Teams Stop Ripping Off Fans with Jacked-Up Concessions</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/13/hurray-for-4-beers-baseball-teams-stop-ripping-off-fans-with-jacked-up-concessions/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/13/hurray-for-4-beers-baseball-teams-stop-ripping-off-fans-with-jacked-up-concessions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cleveland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cleveland Indians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hot dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Houston Astros]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles Dodgers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major League Baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Progressive Field]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74399</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Is a $4 beer a bargain? It is at a professional baseball stadium, where the average cheapest beer was $6.10 for all Major League teams last season, and many venues charged around $9 for a &#8220;premium&#8221; draft. For the 2013 season, the Cleveland Indians are taking an almost unheard-of step to woo fans back to Progressive Field: Prices are dropping for many food and beverage items, according to the Plain Dealer. The price of all 12-ounce domestic beers will be $4, down from as much as $5.25 last year. Hot dogs will be priced at $3, down from $4.50 in 2012. Prices for brats, pizza, nachos, and ice cream cones will dip a bit as well, and soda refills will be available for $2. The stadium will also offer hot dogs for $1 at 15 home games, up from nine last year. In a way, the move by the Indians can be viewed as something of an apology to fans for a mostly pathetic 2012 season. The team went 5-24 in August, and the ballpark was often empty throughout the summer. For the season as a whole, the Indians ranked 29th out of 30 Major League Baseball teams in home game attendance. (MORE: Post-Lockout NHL: Higher Ticket Prices, Better Attendance) By offering cheaper concessions, the Indians are giving fans a reason to come back to the stadium. It&#8217;s a way to make amends for a bad season, and it&#8217;s also a simple—and smart—attempt to boost sales of tickets and concessions. &#8220;Will the [fans] come to a game more often? That&#8217;s our goal,&#8221; Kurt Schloss, the Indians&#8217; Vice President of Concessions said to CNBC. &#8220;I hate to say we make it up in volume but that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re looking for.&#8221; The Indians conducted surveys that yielded results that everyone would know without needing a survey: &#8220;that concessions was a barrier to the enjoyment part of attending a baseball game in Cleveland,&#8221; according to Schloss. Some pro team owners seem to be realizing that if they push prices too high, fans will<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74399&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/200501009-001.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/200501009-001.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/200501009-001.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Hot Dogs</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Post-Lockout NHL: Higher Ticket Prices, Better Attendance</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/27/post-lockout-nhl-higher-ticket-prices-better-attendance/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/27/post-lockout-nhl-higher-ticket-prices-better-attendance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:11:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colorado Avalanche]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Detroit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Detroit Red Wings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Panthers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hockey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NBA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NHL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Phoenix Coyotes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=72930</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Maybe the NHL should shoot for a lockout-shortened hockey season every year? Soon after the NHL ended its 100+-day lockout, the discussion turned to how fans would react. Specifically, team and arena owners worried about the possibility that fans would be so bitter about the lockout that they wouldn&#8217;t show up for games, dollars in hand. When the shortened season schedule was announced, NHL teams rolled out deals on tickets and concessions to try to make nice with the fans and draw them back to arenas. Opening-night tickets were sold at 50% off, family ticket deals offered free seats for a child with a paying adult, and arena concessions and team merchandise were discounted or given away during promotional events. Apparently, the promotions did the trick. Either that or fans would have supported their teams no matter what. In any event, a little over a month into the lockout-shortened season, the NHL is boasting solid average attendance at games—up 1.42% over last season. The Bleacher Report reported that the increase, while modest, means the NHL is on pace for the third year in a row of rising average per-game attendance. (MORE: Pay Less for Sporting Event Tickets &#8212; After You&#8217;ve Already Bought Them) A Boston Globe Magazine article published in late January noted that we shouldn&#8217;t be surprised by how quickly fans seem to have let bygones be bygones: As Globe hockey columnist Kevin Paul Dupont wrote, NHL fans “have always acted as the enablers in the lockout dynamic.” After the league returned from the canceled 2004-05 season, attendance increased for 25 of 30 teams, including the Bruins. The NHL set records for total attendance (20,854,169) and average game attendance (16,955). Those numbers are very good — by hockey standards. According to ESPN data, average game attendance thus far in 2013 is around 17,700. Nonetheless, teams are trying to send the message that they don&#8217;t take fan support for granted, and the charm offensive is still in effect in many hockey towns. The Detroit Red Wings recently sent season ticketholders booklets of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=72930&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Pay Less for Sporting Event Tickets—After You&#8217;ve Already Bought Them</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/19/pay-less-for-sporting-event-tickets-after-youve-already-bought-them/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/19/pay-less-for-sporting-event-tickets-after-youve-already-bought-them/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[auction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dutch auction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dynamic pricing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northwestern University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scalping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secondary market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secondary ticket prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[StubHub]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=70591</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You&#8217;ve probably never heard of &#8220;Purple Pricing.&#8221; But you&#8217;ll like that it gives you a chance to snag sports tickets below face value, without resorting to haggling, scalping, or timing the market right. At Northwestern University, a &#8220;Purple Pricing&#8221; experiment has been launched—purple being the college&#8217;s color—in the form of a curious online auction. The men responsible for the idea are Jeff Ely and Sandeep Baliga, both economics professors at Northwestern who operate the Cheap Talk blog. The two econ wonks have taken a special interest in the way that tickets for concerts, sports contests, and other events are priced. Previously, for instance, they&#8217;ve suggested that arenas should buy back unwanted tickets on the cheap so that they can be resold for an extra profit, rather than see them wind up at a secondary market such as StubHub. Now, Ely and Baliga are launching what they think will be &#8220;a revolutionary way to sell tickets to sporting events (and someday theater, concerts, and restaurants).&#8221; They are consulting on what they describe as &#8220;a uniform price multi-unit Dutch Auction&#8221; for tickets to two upcoming Northwestern home basketball games, versus Ohio State on February 28 and Penn State on March 7. What does such an auction entail? The two explained in a post: We are setting an initial price and allowing prices to gradually fall until either the game sells out or we hit our target price. Thus we are implementing a form of dynamic pricing but unlike most systems used by other venues our prices are determined by demand not by some mysterious algorithm. (MORE: Should Sports Arenas Buy Back Tickets That Fans Don&#8217;t Want?) Normally with dynamic pricing, ticket prices go up or down, and the buyer is locked in at the specific price based on whatever time he or she pulls the trigger. In the Northwestern experiment, however, prices only change in one direction as time passes—they go down, never up. Also, everyone who agrees to purchase according to &#8220;Purple Pricing&#8221; rules winds up paying the exact same price,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=70591&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/baseball.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/baseball.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">Baseball Game</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Should Sports Arenas Buy Back Tickets That Fans Don&#8217;t Want?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/05/should-sports-arenas-buy-back-tickets-that-fans-dont-want/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/05/should-sports-arenas-buy-back-tickets-that-fans-dont-want/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MLB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NBA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pro sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[resale market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SeatGeek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secondary market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[StubHub]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=69576</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Given the number of empty seats on display during the typical pro sports event, arenas seem to be having a pretty tough time selling tickets. Still, one economist says arena box offices should consider a buy-back strategy so that they could sell the same ticket not just once, but multiple times. The emergence of secondary ticket sales sites such as StubHub and SeatGeek has caused havoc—and a fair amount of bad PR—for venues that host sporting events with lackluster demand. We&#8217;ve reached a time when relatively few fans pay face value because the easy availability of tickets on the secondary market pushes prices up or down based on how much people are willing to pay and how badly sellers want to unload their unwanted seats. Through the course of the long pro basketball season, and the even longer pro baseball season, plenty of games come across as boring, perhaps meaningless, from the fan&#8217;s perspective. The prices in the online resale market demonstrate just how much fans &#8220;value&#8221; these games. See: NBA seats for $1 and MLB tickets for a measly 1¢ (before fees are added on). (MORE: NBA Teams Struggle to Fill Arenas, Even When &#8216;Cheap Seats&#8217; Are $1 &#8212; or Free) An obvious devaluing takes place when a product is resold for a fraction of its original list price. Pro sports leagues, franchises, and arenas hate the idea their product isn&#8217;t worth full price. (They even have the gall to suggest $8.75 is a reasonable price for a Bud Light draft, so long as it&#8217;s drunk in a place where some of the world&#8217;s top athletes play.) What&#8217;s more, the system can leave season ticketholders—their absolute best customers—with a bad taste in their mouths, wondering why in the world they paid full price when the guy in the next seat paid one-tenth of face value. Jeff Ely, an economics professor at Northwestern University, recently suggested that the online ticket resales market isn&#8217;t merely embarrassing for sports box offices, it&#8217;s a missed business opportunity. At his Cheap Talk blog, Ely<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=69576&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Thanks to Colin Kaepernick, 49ers Won Super Bowl for Team Merchandise Sales</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/04/thanks-to-colin-kaepernick-49ers-won-super-bowl-for-team-merchandise-sales/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/04/thanks-to-colin-kaepernick-49ers-won-super-bowl-for-team-merchandise-sales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:45:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[49'ers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltimore Ravens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colin Kaepernick]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeremy Lin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jersey sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jerseys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaepernick]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[San Francisco 49ers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports merchandise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Super Bowl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[underdogs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=69415</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick doesn&#8217;t play or look like a prototypical quarterback along the lines of Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. And the fact that Kaepernick is so different has been great for merchandise sales. In recent weeks, Colin Kaepernick&#8217;s no. 7 jersey has been the NFL&#8216;s top seller. Kaepernick merchandise sales have been so strong—rising 350% week over week in mid-January, according to fanatics.com—that the 49ers boasted the most NFL-licensed merchandise sales in January, up 240% compared to a year ago. To some extent, this should come as no surprise: The 49ers made the Super Bowl, after all, and Kaepernick is the team&#8217;s starting quarterback. But what makes Kaepernick so fascinating, and what seems to have given 49ers gear sales such a phenomenal bump, is that pretty much everything about him is surprising to fans. We love underdog &#8220;he came out of nowhere&#8221; stories, à la Jeremy Lin, and we love the prospect of any &#8220;next big thing,&#8221; and Kaepernick is appealing on both fronts, even if he couldn&#8217;t quite seal the deal in Super Bowl XLVII, with the 49ers falling 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens. (MORE: The Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2013) As the Boston Globe&#8217;s Dan Shaughnessy notes in his column about Kaepernick, &#8220;Wearing his oversized Niners cap in flat-bill, rapper style, he looks like a kid you’d find in a skateboard park.&#8221; Both how he looks (tattooed arms, scraggly goatee) and how he plays (heave the ball 70 yards one play, run for 70 yards the next) would never be described as old-fashioned, making Kaepernick especially popular with younger fans: This 25-year-old man is NFL Future. He is 6 feet 4 inches, weighs 230, and is ripped. Freezing defenders, running the trendy “Read Option,” Kaepernick can sling it and he can beat you with his legs. (MORE: Early Winner of Super Bowl XLVII? Colin Kaepernick’s Tattoo Artist) Kaepernick&#8217;s atypical rise to glory also resonates. Kaepernick played for a college not exactly known for producing NFL superstars (University of Nevada-Reno), he was<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=69415&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/colin_kaepernick-_0204.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">colin_kaepernick-_0204</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Super Bowl Sunday: What We&#8217;re Eating, Where We&#8217;re Watching, How Much We&#8217;re Spending</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/31/super-bowl-sunday-what-were-eating-where-were-watching-how-much-were-spending/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/31/super-bowl-sunday-what-were-eating-where-were-watching-how-much-were-spending/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:20:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Victor Luckerson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=69097</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s almost time for that most American of semi-holidays, the Super Bowl. The football-championship-turned-media-spectacle automatically conjures certain images in most people&#8217;s minds: bars overflowing with drunken fans; pizza, Doritos and other unhealthy snacks at game watch parties; and tickets priced so high that it&#8217;s easy to convince yourself that you really do want to stay home and watch the commercials. However, not all myths about Super Bowl Sunday are true. Here&#8217;s a rundown of what people will be eating, where they&#8217;ll be watching, and why it might not be too late to get a ticket to the game itself. You May Be Able to Score a Ticket for $1,000 &#8211; While that’s still a large chunk of change, consider that the average ticket for the 2011 Super Bowl between the Green Bay packers and Pittsburgh Steelers sold for an average of $3,650, according to ticket price aggregator TiqIQ. Tickets for this year’s matchup are currently selling for an average of $2,800, but TiqIQ senior director of data and communications Chris Matcovich says prices always drop precipitously as Super Bowl Sunday approaches. Entry-level prices, currently hovering around $2,200, could go as low as $1,000 by Sunday. The fact that Baltimore and San Francisco are both thousands of miles from New Orleans is also likely to lower demand and depress prices. For reference, here’s the last five years of average Super Bowl ticket resale prices, per TiqIQ: Arizona Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (2009): $2,097.22 Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints (2010): $2,329.36 Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (2011): $3,649.91 New York Giants vs. New England Patriots (2012): $2,955.56 San Francisco 49ers vs. Baltimore Ravens (2013): $2,795.08 (MORE: Super Bowl Tech Ads: Survivors and Tragedies Over the Years) Not Everybody’s Scarfing Down Junk Food &#8211; Though you might imagine that a proper plate of Super Bowl snacks has to be high in salt and/or sugar, more fans are opting for healthier snacks this year. According to a Nielsen survey, vegetables will be the third-most popular snack this Sunday, beating out pizza, buffalo<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=69097&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/6488-000411e.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/6488-000411e.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/6488-000411e.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Superbowl</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">vluck2012</media:title>
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		<title>5 Top Trends for 2013 Super Bowl Commercials</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/30/5-top-trends-for-2013-super-bowl-commercials/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/30/5-top-trends-for-2013-super-bowl-commercials/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Autos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Best Buy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chrysler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clint Eastwood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coca-Cola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doritos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Halftime in America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kraft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lincoln]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MiO Fit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skechers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smartphone apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smartphones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snack Bowl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports drink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Super Bowl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Target]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=68304</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The cost of advertising in the Super Bowl is rising, running an average of $4 million for a 30-second spot—up from $3.5 million last year and just $42,000 back in 1967. To justify the expense, advertisers aim to present fans with something more than just another entertaining but ultimately forgettable commercial. How do they plan on doing it? Here are a few of the ways: Longer Commercials The most talked-about ad from last year&#8217;s Super Bowl was Chrysler&#8216;s &#8220;It&#8217;s Halftime in America&#8221; featuring Clint Eastwood. The ad stretched on for a full two minutes, which is an epic length compared to the usual 30-second TV spot. More XXL commercials are expected during this year&#8217;s Super Bowl. According to data cited by the Los Angeles Times, nearly 20% of this year&#8217;s ads will go on for one minute or longer, compared to 10% during the 2011 Super Bowl. (MORE: The Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2012) Online Teasers One of the reason&#8217;s the Clint Eastwood ad was such a hit is that it was a surprise; no one had gotten a &#8220;sneak peek&#8221; of it in advance on YouTube or Chrysler&#8217;s website, and news of the spot hadn&#8217;t spread ahead of time on Twitter or Facebook. That&#8217;s rare nowadays for Super Bowl ads, as AdAge explained: When an advertiser shells out between $3.5 million and $4.5 million for a Super Bowl ad, using social media to get added exposure isn&#8217;t just an afterthought. It helps amortize the cost of the commercial by generating millions of dollars in free publicity. For advertisers, the Super Bowl isn&#8217;t merely a day, but the highpoint of an entire season for marketers hoping that their clients can become part of the national conversation before, during, and after the game. Most advertisers aren&#8217;t satisfied just with getting the attention of millions of TV viewers on Super Bowl Sunday. They want their attention for weeks beforehand as well, which is why, for example, Volkswagen released the video of the dogs barking the &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; theme online.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=68304&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Advertising</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/marketing-2/advertising-marketing/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Free Tickets, Half-Price Jerseys: After Lockout, NHL Rolls Out Deals to Make Nice with Fans</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/18/free-tickets-half-price-jerseys-after-lockout-nhl-rolls-out-deals-to-make-nice-with-fans/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/18/free-tickets-half-price-jerseys-after-lockout-nhl-rolls-out-deals-to-make-nice-with-fans/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carolina Hurricanes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Columbus Blue Jackets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dallas Stars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Detroit Red Wings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Panthers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hockey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nashville Predators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NHL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pittsburgh Penguins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[San Jose Sharks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports arenas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Lightning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=67048</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The NHL lockout is over, and the shortened season&#8217;s first games are taking place this tomorrow. But will fans, who have been frustrated for months while players and team owners squabbled, actually show up as paying customers? Many NHL teams are worried that quite a few won&#8217;t. As a way to apologize for the several-month absence of hockey and simultaneously entice fans back to the arena, teams such as the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Dallas Stars, and San Jose Sharks are rolling out discounts and promotions, especially during the early part of the season when fans are most likely to still be bitter. The deals include free and half-off ticket specials, across-the-board discounts on team gear purchases, and complimentary food and beverages from arena concession stands. The Chronicle News Services highlighted the special offers on tickets and merchandise from the San Jose Sharks and a few other NHL teams. Here are a few more: Carolina Hurricanes: Half-off opening night tickets if purchased by January 17; $1 concessions (hot dogs, popcorn, soda) at certain home games; 50% off team merchandise at the arena store now through January 24. (MORE: NHL Lockout Is Over! Guess Who&#8217;s Happier Than Fans or Players?) Columbus Blue Jackets: Two-for-one tickets to the home opener against the Detroit Red Wings; &#8220;processing and convenience&#8221; fees from Ticketmaster waived for all tickets purchased now through January 21. Dallas Stars: Free ticket for one child 12 and under with the purchase of each full-priced ticket for home games in January and February. Detroit Red Wings: Home game tickets throughout the season for as little as $9, only when purchased at the Joe Louis Arena Box Office this Saturday, January 19; also, no Ticketmaster fees for online purchases on the preceding Thursday and Friday (January 17-18). Florida Panthers: Season ticket packages starting at just $7 per ticket, with free parking and a Panthers jersey included. Nashville Predators: Tickets for the second home game free when you purchase a ticket to the home opener; upper-deck tickets for sale for just<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=67048&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/10115520-e1358354834227.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">PUCK DROPPED FOR HOCKEY FACE OFF</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Snowboarding May Have Reached Its Peak</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/18/snowboarding-may-have-reached-its-peak/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/18/snowboarding-may-have-reached-its-peak/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:21:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mountain sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ski resorts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[skiing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[skis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snowboarding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snowboards]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=67103</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Snowboarding is no longer new, no longer extreme, and—now that your mom knows how to ride—no longer quite as cool. No wonder snowboard sales and snowboarder visits at mountain resorts are on the decline. Once all the rage among the young and active, as well as pretty much everybody else who was a newcomer to winter mountain sports, snowboarding appears to be past its heyday. Using data from SnowSports Industries America, the Los Angeles Times noted that sales of snowboards and snowboard gear have slumped 21% over the last four years. Meanwhile, skiing, the sport that snowboarding was supposed to be surpassing—the MySpace to snowboarding&#8217;s Facebook—has been on the upswing, with sales rising 3% over that same time span. As the Denver Post reported last spring, snowboarders represented roughly one-third of all U.S. ski resort visits in the 2009-2010 season, up from just 7.7% of visits in 1991. Lately, however, the proportion has shrunk slightly, down to around 30% of visits over the past couple of years. (MORE: NBA Arenas Struggle to Fill Arenas, Even When &#8216;Cheap Seats&#8217; Are $1 &#8212; or Free) Mountain resorts that hit new business peaks due to an influx of snowboarders have been struggling more than their peers. Southern California&#8216;s Mountain High, which tends to be dominated by boarders, had 80,000 rider visits in November 2002, compared to 42,000 in November 2011, despite very similar conditions for weather and snow. The resort&#8217;s leader explained to the Denver Post why snowboarder numbers have been falling: &#8220;We just don&#8217;t see the fanaticism anymore, with people coming out every day, all day,&#8221; said Mountain High president Karl Kapuscinski. &#8220;It&#8217;s a maturing sport. It&#8217;s nothing we&#8217;ve done. The parks and terrain are better than they&#8217;ve ever been. But we just can&#8217;t expect to keep that level of fanaticism going forever.&#8221; To some extent, the thrill is gone. As snowboarding&#8217;s popularity grew and became more mainstream, it necessarily lost some the original edge and attitude. Some of the passion disappeared as well. Today&#8217;s riders are older and a lot more<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=67103&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/sp002817-e1358441680882.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Snowboard and Boots</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Lots of Goodies Were Stuffed into the Fiscal Cliff Deal­</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/07/lots-of-goodies-were-stuffed-into-the-fiscal-cliff-deal%c2%ad/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/07/lots-of-goodies-were-stuffed-into-the-fiscal-cliff-deal%c2%ad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Sivy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austerity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hollywood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investment Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manufacturing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mutual Funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Private Equity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street & Markets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=65939</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You’d think that Congress would have kept the fiscal cliff negotiations as simple and tight as possible. The size of the deficit, the threat of automatic spending cuts, and the need for a last-minute tax deal deserved everyone’s full attention. And yet, the Congressional Budget Office breakdown of the bill shows that there were all sorts of goodies buried in the fine print, benefiting everyone from filmmakers to rum distillers. The problem is so-called “tax expenditures,” which are basically ways to subsidize various kinds of activities through tax breaks (as opposed to direct payments). The fiscal cliff deal consists of three parts – personal taxes, business taxes and energy taxes – and each includes its own giveaways. Many of these were simply increases or extensions of tax expenditures that already existed. And some of them may be perfectly reasonable public policy. Perhaps it’s worthwhile to spend an additional $9.7 billion over the next 10 years on additional subsidies for student loans or $5.6 billion for adoptions, although both those figures seem like a lot considering that employer-provided childcare is getting only $209 million. More money is at stake in subsidies for various businesses, $46 billion, and for alternative energy, $18 billion. But even when those tax expenditures are justifiable, they merit separate and thorough discussion, rather than being mixed into what is supposed to be a debate over personal income tax rates. Moreover, there are plenty of lesser tax expenditures that seem to deserve some skepticism. Indeed, Senator McCain criticized such tax benefits last week, saying that &#8220;special-interest giveaways,&#8221; including a $15 million subsidy for asparagus growers, would feed cynicism at a time when tough choices have to be made about the deficit. Here’s a quick look at where some of the other small bequests are going: Railroad tracks. A special 50% tax credit for maintaining tracks is projected to cost $331 million over the next two years. Racetracks. Tax benefits for certain motorsport racing track facilities will cost more than $100 million over the next seven years. Native Americans. Business property on Indian reservations will receive<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=65939&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economy &amp; Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">michaelsivy</media:title>
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		<title>How the SEC Became the Richest Conference in College Sports</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/07/how-the-sec-became-the-richest-conference-in-college-sports/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/07/how-the-sec-became-the-richest-conference-in-college-sports/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:45:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Victor Luckerson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=65629</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If any team has a reason to hold a grudge tonight as the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish battle for college football’s national championship, it’s probably the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia came within 5 yards of upsetting the Tide in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship and earning a shot at the national title. It was a tough win for ’Bama to pull out and a tougher loss for Georgia to accept — Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray has said the loss will likely haunt him forever. But nine days after the game, University of Georgia president Michael Adams already decided whom he’d be rooting for in the title game. “The pain is still there, but I’ll be pulling for Alabama,” Adams says. “I’m an SEC person.” That’s a common sentiment in the South, where chants of “S-E-C!” often ring out in the stadiums of some of the country’s most successful sports programs. But for the people in control of the Southeastern Conference — the university presidents, athletic directors and conference leadership — supporting the SEC is about much more than Southern pride. It’s about protecting what has quickly grown into a billion-dollar enterprise that still has plenty of room left to grow. Back in 2004, when the SEC’s clout was so small that an undefeated Auburn Tigers team was left out of the national championship in favor of Oklahoma and Southern California, the athletic departments of the 12 SEC schools pulled in about $620 million, according to data collected by the Department of Education. By 2011 that number had ballooned to almost $1.1 billion, and the SEC had reached parity with the Big Ten to become one of the most valuable athletic conferences in college sports. (MORE: Students Cash in on College-Football Ticket Frenzy) The fuel driving this economic engine has been winning of an unprecedented nature. If Alabama defeats Notre Dame on Monday, the SEC will claim its seventh consecutive national championship in football and its eighth in 10 years. The victories have catapulted what was once<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=65629&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/rtr3b48c.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">image: Alabama Crimson Tidekicker Jeremy Shelley, center, and long snapper Carson Tinker, right, celebrate after beating the Georgia Bulldogs during the NCAA SEC college football championship in Atlanta, Dec. 1, 2012.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">vluck2012</media:title>
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		<title>Deep Trouble: Ski Resorts Try to Cope With Less Snow – Now and in the Long Run</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/12/14/deep-trouble-ski-resorts-try-to-cope-with-less-snow-now-and-in-the-long-run/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/12/14/deep-trouble-ski-resorts-try-to-cope-with-less-snow-now-and-in-the-long-run/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:37:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[california]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global warming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lake Tahoe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ski]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ski resorts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[skiing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snowboarding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snowfall]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=64280</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What does a winter resort do when winter barely arrives? Last winter was reportedly the fourth warmest on record since 1896. It had the lowest national snowfall in two decades, and saw a 15% dip in visits to ski areas by snowboarders and skiers. The 2012-2013 season is also getting off to a slow start, with minimal snowfall throughout most of the country. The big concern isn&#8217;t just that ski areas are having a bad couple of years—it&#8217;s that conditions for skiing, and for the ski industry as a whole, may be bad indefinitely. A ski resort can be a difficult business to run even during the best of times, and it becomes far less economically viable as temperatures rise and snow is less predictable. A New York Times piece offered some grim insights about state of the industry, including the forecast that by the year 2039, the majority of ski areas now open in New Hampshire, Maine, and New York would have to close. Not a single ski hill in Massachusetts or Connecticut is expected to be open by then either. While there&#8217;s only so much individual ski areas can do to counter huge global climate trends, in the short run, resorts are taking action by cranking out more fake snow than ever—and it&#8217;s reportedly better quality than ever too. For decades, big mountains in the East have felt the need for powerful high-tech snowmaking equipment in order to fill in the gaps when Mother Nature doesn&#8217;t cooperate, and recently, reports the Los Angeles Times, resorts in the West have started following suit. And whereas in the past, artificial snow looked and felt just like that—artificial, usually like tiny granules of ice—modern equipment can produce soft, light snow that&#8217;s perfect for carving smooth turns: &#8220;The snow is more consistent with the new machines,&#8221; said Jim Larmore, director of mountain operations at the Northstar resort in Lake Tahoe, which added nearly 100 new snow guns last summer. &#8220;The product is so much better. When you ski on it, the snow<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=64280&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Tourism</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/tourism/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/biz-ski-12141.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">image: Skiier</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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