Sports News

The Arizona state legislature will abandon plans to help subsidize construction of a new Chicago Cubs spring training facility through a rental car tax, but legislators will continue their efforts to impose a ticket surcharge on all spring training games in order to help the Cubs build their new field.

The original bill, HB 2736, included proposals for both a $1 car rental tax and an eight percent ticket surcharge for all games in Arizona’s Cactus League, where 15 major league teams hold spring training each year.  Full Story...

Golfer Tiger Woods Tuesday announced he is planning to return to the PGA Tour next month at The Masters in Augusta, GA, his first tournament since his infamous car crash – and subsequent public admission of his infidelities – derailed his career late last November.

"The Masters is where I won my first major, and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta," Woods said in a statement posted on his Web site.  Full Story...

Claiming the move will help the team fall in line with what other NFL teams are doing, the San Francisco 49ers have increased ticket prices for close to half of the 70,000-plus seats in Candlestick Park for next season, a few by more than three-times the 2009 price. The cost of those tickets, which are for fewer than 100 premium seats, will jump from $71 per ticket to $295, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Some other premium tickets are rising by about 50 percent. The team has shown some promise on the field but largely has been mediocre in recent years, and it has lowered or froze prices for several thousand seats for next season.   Full Story...

NeuLion, a New York-based end-to-end technology services provider, this week announced a partnership with Duke University Athletics that will make NeuLion the new ticketing provider for all of the institution's sports events.

Previously, Paciolan ticketed Duke's athletic events; Paciolan, which was owned by Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment, was recently sold to Comcast-Spectacor.  Full Story...

The possibility of the New York Knicks landing soon-to-be free agent LeBron James in the off-season is apparently helping to drive up the team's season ticket sales. According to CNBC, the team has already received deposits for more than 1,800 season ticket requests for the 2010-11 season, an amount the team did not reach until the middle of August last year. The team, which has cleared out player salaries the last two seasons to have room under the league's salary cap, hopes to land LeBron and another star free agent, or two other marquee free agents, for next season.   Full Story...

PRESS RELEASE: "Beckett Media Signs Partnership with SeatGeek"

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 8, 2010 - SeatGeek, a free search and price forecasting service for buyers of sports and music tickets in the resale market, today announced a partnership with Beckett Media to become the official ticket provider for www.Beckett.com. Since 1984, Beckett has been recognized as the leading authority on information and services to the sports collectibles industry. With this relationship, Beckett’s loyal base of users will have immediate access to the best prices on sports tickets in the resale market.  Full Story...

PRESS RELEASE: "STEELERS ANNOUNCE NEW SEAT LICENSE MARKETPLACE"

PITTSBURGH, PA (Pittsburgh Steelers) March 5, 2010 ─ The Pittsburgh Steelers have partnered with STR Marketplace to provide a new service to help fans buy and sell Pittsburgh Steelers Seat Licenses. The Pittsburgh Steelers Seat License Marketplace makes it safe and easy for fans to sell their Seat Licenses or purchase Seat Licenses from current season ticket holders.  Full Story...

The past weekend's men's Gold Medal final in ice hockey at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games was one for the record books. The tournament's rematch between Canada and the U.S. (the U.S. won the first game earlier in the week with a score of 5-3) drew 27.6 million viewers on this side of the border. This made it the most watched hockey game here since the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980, in which the U.S. beat the USSR. Over 16 million Canadian viewers tuned for last Sunday's game, which turns out to be about half the country.  Full Story...

PRESS RELEASE: "WWE(R) Partners with Ticketmaster"

STAMFORD, Conn. & WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (BUSINESS WIRE) February 26, 2010 - World Wrestling Entertainment(R) (WWE 17.06, +0.05, +0.29%) today announced the creation of a new online ticket hub for all WWE live events, available at WWE.com. The comprehensive destination provides WWE fans with access to all WWE live event tickets in North America as well as premium seats to select events through Ticketmaster, a wholly owned subsidiary of Live Nation.   Full Story...