LAS VEGAS ECHELON: THEORY
The construction of the nearly $5 billion Echelon project in Las Vegas (where the Stardust casino once stood) has been halted. Citing a poor economy and trouble in “capital markets,” Boyd Gaming announced the decision this week.
Construction on the project won’t continue for “three or four quarters.” Up to 800 construction jobs may be lost with the suspension of Echelon.
LAS VEGAS ECHELON: REALITY
This Bud’s NOT for you!
That’s what American sports franchises may soon be finding out. This week American brewer Anheuser-Busch was bought by a European brewing company called InBev for $52 billion.
According to an article in the USA Today, Budweiser (the signature beer for the AB franchise) spent $218 million on sports ads last year. Analysts say that spending will be slashed by the new owners. The USA Today article says Budweiser’s sports ad budget may be cut by a third (or more.)
OUT TO PASTURE ?
STEPHON MARBURY
The $14.98 “Starbury” basketball shoe is down to selling for $8.98. The athletic wear chain that introduced them is bankrupt.That hasn’t stopped soon-to-be-unemployed New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury from showing his support of the project in a BIG way.
Marbury recently got the Starbury “3” insignia tattooed on his head.
Nice job by Deadspin.com for coming up with a still of Marbury sporting his new tat off the video of a recent interview.
STEPHON MARBURY DEBUTS CRAPPY SHOE AT STEVE & BARRY’S
Sporting goods company Steve & Barry’s has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company was behind the launch of New York Knicks player Stephon Marbury’s “Starbury” line of shoes and clothing.
Steve & Barry’s became tragically unhip not just for hyping the $14.98 sneaker but for teaming up with one of the most despised players in Knicks history. Stephon Marbury was Steve & Barry’s Jump The Shark moment.
Is the daily frappuccino the victim of high gas prices?
The Seattle Times is reporting that Starbucks is closing 600 company owned stores due to the nation’s faltering economy.
The closures are expected to affect some 12,000 Starbucks employees (about 7% of the company’s workforce.)
The stores shutting down are mainly in urban areas that already have competing Starbucks and is almost exclusively of stores that opened since 2006. In fact, almost 20% of the company owned Starbucks that have opened in the last two years are slated for closure.
THE FIRST STARBUCKS OPENED IN SEATTLE’S PIKE PLACE MARKET IN 1971
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YOUTUBE VIDEO ON BILL GATES LAST DAYS WITH TONS OF CELEBRITY CAMEOS INCLUDING BARACK OBAMA
Computer guru Bill Gates is retiring. His last official day at Microsoft was Friday. Gates, who is 52-years-old, is leaving the computer giant to spend more time working with his charity The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 along with Paul Allen. It has become the largest computer software company in the history of the world. Gates has served as the company’s CEO and chief software architecht.
Microsoft has also made Gates incredibly wealthy. His personal wealth reached over $46 billion. He annually tops the Forbes magazine list of the richest people in the world. Gates is no longer # 1 on that list-primarily since he has given so much of his money away to charity.
COMPUTER ICON BILL GATES WALKS OFF INTO THE SUNSET
Here’s the latest example of why newspapers are dying. The Orange County Register has announced it is outsourcing many of its editing jobs to India.
The paper has gone through three rounds of layoffs in the past year. The latest was in April when they cut 90 jobs. All newspapers are declining in circulation and ad sales but the OCR has been hit particularly hard. They recently dropped from the third-largest newspaper in California to the fifth-largest, behind the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune and Sacramento Bee.
THIS BUD’S FOR EU
Belgian brewer InBev has made a $46 billion buyout offer to Anheuser-Busch, the largest brewery in America. The makers of Budweiser are not commenting on the CASH offer (which may be too good for the company to pass up) other than to say,
“The board will pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch’s stockholders.”
Uh oh.
Local politicians are panicking over the possible sale and a website called www.savebudweiser.com has been set up to stop the sale.
Clear Channel is the world’s largest radio station company. They own over 1,200 radio stations in America. According to today’s edition of Inside Radio the enormous financing deal for the sale of the company (involving multiple banks and financial institutions) has finally been completed:
Clear Channel: Have cash, will close.
Bain Capital and THL Partners have placed their portion of the funding for the $17.9 billion Clear Channel buyout into an escrow account. The banks deposited their cash last week. Clear Channel’s Mark Mays says the financing is “ready to deploy” as soon as shareholders approve the buyout.
Clear Channel is also one of the biggest outdoor advertising companies in the world. The company had previously sold their tv stations and gotten out of live events.
The company started in 1972 with a single radio station in San Antonio. By 1995 they had grown to 43 radio stations (mostly in Texas.) That’s when the Clinton administration passed The Telecommunications Act of 1996.
This act deregulated media ownership, allowing a company to own more radio stations in every market. Previously the amount of stations a company could have in any single market was severely restricted by the FCC. Clear Channel went on a buying spree, purchasing more than 70 other media companies, plus individual stations.
The company loaded its board with close personal friends of both Republicans (Tom Hicks was one of George W. Bush’s biggest donors and a friend of the Bush family) and Democrats (Vernon Jordan was a longtime Clinton advisor.)
The sale of Clear Channel was first announced in November of 2006. However, because of FCC red tape and the recent credit market crunch, the sale has taken a year-and-a-half to finalize. Apparently the deal is now final pending stockholder and FCC approval.
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Mike Responts: The Blog 
