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Clippers Broadcast may go commercial-free Tuesday....and beyond!

Sponsors are pulling out left, right, and center over the whole Donald Sterling mess. CarMax, Kia, Amtrack, Red Bull, a Santa Barbara casino.....all have had ads pulled from the Staples Center, as well as the local radio and TV broadcasts for the near future. Given how toxic things are, not sure replacements will be found.
 
Ever since TMZ obtained a tape of Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend to not post pictures of herself with black men (Matt Kemp, Magic Johnson) and to not be in public with blacks and to not bring them to Clippers games, the outrage has spread nationwide. Even President Obama expressed his disgust with Sterling's comments. Sterling said he is not a racist because he provides the blacks with money and food and cars. Clippers president Andy Roeser issued a statement declaring that Sterling's comments do not reflect his "views, beliefs or feelings." Oh, really? I beg to differ! And in 2009 Sterling had to pay $2,730,000 to settle two federal lawsuits charging him with refusing to rent his Koreatown (Los Angeles) apartments to blacks or hispanics. He had said that black men "smell." Eight Clippers sponsors have now suspended or withdrawn their sponsorship: Kia, CarMax, Chumash Casino, Amtrak and Red Bull are joined by State Farm AQUAhydrate and Virgin America. Yeah, it will be interesting to see who advertises during the Clippers' next few games---assuming, of course, that they can win the series against Golden State. They may have just two more games before they can go fishing.
 
Sprint, Corona beer and Yokohama tires have joined the growing list of sponsors who are canceling or suspending their support of the Clippers.

At 2 pm Eastern time on April 29, NBA commissioner Adam Silver will hold a nationally-televised press conference. It is expected that he will hit Sterling with a huge fine and possibly a two-year suspension, and Silver's decision will be final and not subject to appeal. Meanwhile, it is reported that many team owners are pressuring Sterling to sell the Clippers.
 
Isn't sponsor cancellation more of a PR reacton?

I can understand sponsors wanting to distance themselves from the boorish remarks of Mr. Sterling, but does cancelling commercials hurt him? No. The broadcasters are, as far as I know, already contractually obligated to pay the Clippers for the rights to the games. The broacasters therefore bevome the ones who suffer the loss. Am I not correct?

Incidentally it appears that the NBA may be able to orce Sterling to sell the team, which he purchsased for $15 million, as a "worst case" punishment. Its now reportedly worth over $500,000,000. Possible buyer? Magic Johnson and backers. So Sterling and his estranged wife get to split the gain and pay taxes.
 
Mercedes-Benz has also withdrawn its sponsorship of the Clippers. Today NBA commissioner Adam Silver imposed a lifetime ban on Donald Sterling and a $2,500,000 fine, the maximum allowable. Silver also would like the other owners to vote to force Sterling to sell the team.

Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Dwyre wrote, "The opinion that Donald Sterling can no longer be an owner is incorrect. He would make an excellent plantation owner." :)
 
Two million dollars--heck, Sterling probably has that much change in his couch cushions!
 
ESPN is reporting that Donald Sterling has been battling prostate cancer for "some time." Why is the story just now coming out? Trying to garner some sympathy there, Donny Boy?
 
Sterling is history

Sterling is history - although financially he and his wife may make out like bandits if the team is allowed to be sold sold under tax rules for involuntary conversion. That possibuility was raised on KFI today by guest host Jean Wells.

But what is interesting from a radio standpoint is the nuanced reaction of Clipper's fans - showing out in strength to support the team while advcating bycotting the concession stands because profits from sales there go directly to Sterling.

I ask again, doesn't this same nuanced principle apply to broadcast sponsors? If their money goes to the station opertors, not the team owner, why cancel ads? Especially when more people are probably listening/watching.
 
Even though the Clippers' sponsors certainly do not subscribe to the racist opinions espoused by Donald Sterling, the concept of "guilt by association" is alive and well. It is not surprising that they want to distance themselves from Sterling's team.

And today Sterling told a reporter from DuJour magazine, "I should have paid her off," referring to his ex-mistress V. Stiviano. who recorded more than 100 hours of conversations between herself and Sterling. He didn't say "I'm sorry" for all the racist rants---just "I should have paid her off." Wow.
 
Only half of the Clippers sponsors have returned. After being down by 22 points and making an amazing comeback to take game 4 from Oklahoma City and even the playoff series at 2-2, the Clippers do not deserve all the [expletive deleted] that they've had to put up with for the past three weeks.

In A CNN interview, Donald Sterling says he doesn't "remember" making racist comments and he insists that he is not a racist. Then he proceeded to bash Magic Johnson for making love to women in every city and getting HIV and not being a good "role model." Sterling also blamed the news media for stirring everyone up. He says he's gotten "thousands" of phone calls from people who support him.

Umm.....can you name two or three of them, Donald?
 
If three-fourths of the NBA owners vote on June 3 that Donald Sterling should sell the Clippers, he has to abide by the vote...but everyone has been expecting him to put up a huge legal fight to keep the team.

But wait---there's more! Today, May 23, TMZ and ABC News are reporting the ever-popular "unnamed sources" as saying that Sterling has transferred control of the team to his estranged wife, Shelly, and she is negotiating with the NBA to sell the Clippers on her terms.

Whooo!!!
 
NBA spokesman Mike Moss says that the league constitution does not allow for transference of a team's ownership without approval by the board of governors. He says the June 3 vote will go on as scheduled and if a three-fourths majority votes to remove Donald Sterling, Shelly would also be removed.

Whooo!!!
 
Donald Sterling gave control of the Clippers to his wife...but he did so without the league's approval. He authorized her to sell the team...but he did so without the league's approval. Now Shelly Sterling has agreed to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion...but she did so without the league's approval.

Golly gee, I can hardly wait to see what happens next!
 
Donald Sterling gave control of the Clippers to his wife...but he did so without the league's approval. He authorized her to sell the team...but he did so without the league's approval. Now Shelly Sterling has agreed to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion...but she did so without the league's approval.

Golly gee, I can hardly wait to see what happens next!

Anyone who comes to the league with $2,000,000,000 is more than welcome, regardless of who is selling. Approvals will not be a problem.
 
I agree---approval of the sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer will not be a problem. But Donald Sterling has made sure that there will be a different kind of problem: ESPN and Sports Illustrated are reporting that Sterling intends to file a lawsuit against the NBA, alleging "an invasion of Sterling’s constitutional rights, violation of anti-trust laws, and breach of fiduciary duty associated with the NBA’s lifetime ban and termination charges." Sterling will ask for $1 billion in damages. And the beat goes on.....
 
Sterling has filed a lawsuit against the NBA and is asking a judge to overturn his lifetime ban and halt the forced sale of the Clippers. He contends that the forced sale "threatens to produce not only a lower price than a non-forced sale but, more importantly, it injures competition." Uh, Donald? Steve Ballmer has bid two billion dollars for a team that Forbes estimates is worth $750,000,000. Do you really think you could get a more lucrative offer than that? You're a schmuck!
 
Associated Press bulletin, June 4 2014:

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling agreed today to sign off on selling the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for what would be a record $2 billion. Sterling "has made an agreement with the NBA to resolve all their differences" and as co-owner has given his consent to a deal that was negotiated by his wife, Shelly Sterling, to sell the team, said attorney Maxwell Blecher. Representatives for Shelly Sterling declined to comment
 
Boy, this just keeps getting better 'n' better:

On June 4, Donald Sterling announced that he is dropping his lawsuit against the NBA and is approving the sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer.

On June 9, Donald Sterling announced that he is filing a lawsuit against the NBA and is not approving the sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer.

Not only has Donald gone back on his word, Shelly Sterling has indemnified the NBA, so if Donald wins a lawsuit, the money will come from his own family trust fund! What a schmuck!
 
Several former Clippers sponsors have not returned. They're waiting to see what happens with the impending sale of the team. Here is the latest:

Sterling trial gets underway
AOL News, Jul 7 2014 9:27 PM

A neurologist testified Monday that Donald Sterling likely has Alzheimer's disease as a trial over the $2 billion Los Angeles Clippers sale finally got underway. Dr. Meril Sue Platzer testified that she was hired by Sterling's wife, Shelly Sterling, to evaluate him and made the diagnosis based on imaging tests and a two-hour interview at his home with his wife and an attorney present. "After it was over," she said. "I told him and Mrs. Sterling that he probably has Alzheimer's." "What was his reaction?" asked Pierce O'Donnell, an attorney for Sterling's wife. "I'm hungry. I want to eat," Platzer said. Platzer was to undergo cross-examination Tuesday when the trial resumes.

Donald Sterling's attorneys argued that their client was induced to undergo mental examination under false pretenses and that his private, personal medical records were given to his wife's "handpicked" doctors in violation of federal medical privacy laws. Platzer testified that she wasn't told that her evaluation was in connection with the Clippers sale.

Shelly Sterling made a brief appearance in court Monday morning but left when Donald Sterling's motion to move the trial to a federal court temporarily delayed the trial. Her lawyers claim Donald Sterling has been engaging in tactics to run out the clock on the Clippers sale. NBA owners are scheduled to vote on the sale to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on July 15. That's also the day his offer is set to expire - and there is no deal without the judge's approval of the sale. If the sale isn't completed by September 15, the league said it could seize the team and put it up for auction.
 
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