Sports Business Journal Survey

I was perusing Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal earlier this morning and with it being year-end and all, they included results to a reader survey regarding many sports-related questions. There were some interesting results and some results that make me scared that the general population votes for the representatives in our government.

Here is a brief rundown of some of the questions and results:

Favorite TV play-by-play personality: Al Michaels, followed by Joe Buck, Jim Nantz and Mike Tirico --> I am fine with each of these, but would add at least one or two less popular, but overall better pbp guys like Gus Johnson.

Favorite TV game broadcast analyst: Kirk Herbstreit, followed by Madden, Aikman and Jaworski. I am fine with Herbstreit, but there is nobody better than Jaworski. Not to mention that Madden is an absolute joke of himself and a captain of the obvious.

Favorite studio show host: Chris Berman, Bob Costas, Chris Fowler, James Brown and Ernie Johnson. Seeing as how I find the TNT NBA basketball studio show to be far and away the best (with College Gameday 2nd), my vote would go to either Costas or Johnson, plus Berman is simply just annoying.

Corporate sponsor you most want aligned with your property: Nike, followed by Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Apple and American Express --> I pretty much agree with these choices, except I have a certain distaste for Apple.

Most underrated commissioner/top executive: Don Garber (MLS), followed by Bud Selig (MLB), David Baker (AFL) and Gary Bettman (NHL). This was an inspired pick, especially Garber's strategy relating to player salaries for international superstars (the "Beckham Exception"), but I would probably have selected Baker from the Arena Football League because of the alliance he formed with ESPN and the ownership groups he has helped bring on board.

Property/organization with the most growth potential: MLS, followed NHL, UFC, X-Games and NCAA. I think this is quite accurate as the MLS (due in part to the growth of soccer in the US with the addition of channels such as Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV to the sports tiers of cable networks showing games from England, Germany, Mexico and other leagues) is just on the cusp waiting for more Beckhams to come across the pond.

Property/organization most likely to fold within the next five years: WNBA, followed by Champ Car, AST Dew Tour (volleyball), and NLL (lacrosse). I haven't heard much financially about the WNBA to think it is going under, but I have heard about Champ Car's issues, especially compared to the IRL, Formula One and of course, NASCAR.

Best sport/league to see in person: NHL, followed by NCAA football, MLB, NFL, and NCAA basketball. I have never been to an NHL game (though, hopefully one is on the horizon eventually), I have seen other hockey games live and this is a great sport. On the other hand, if you include tailgating at a SEC school, I could easily see college football being #1a on this list, rather than just #2.

Team most in need of a new logo (NFL): Cleveland Browns, followed by the Redskins, Titans, Bengals and Bills. This one actually surprises me, because I would've assumed the Redskins would've been #1 convincingly considering the underlying connotations of their logo.

Least effective owner (NFL): Al Davis (Raiders), followed by Bill Bidwill (Cardinals) and William Clay Ford (Lions). Considering the utter ineptitude of the Cardinals and the inability of Ford to fire Matt Millen as team president of the Lions, I would have gone those choices first. The Raiders have at least been in the Super Bowl this century.

NBA polls: Nothing at all surprising - Cuban as best owner and Dolan (Knicks) as worst, with Jazz as the team most in need of a new logo.

Most effective owner (MLB): George Steinbrenner, followed by John Henry (Red Sox), Arte Moreno (Angels), Larry Dolan (Indians) and Fred Wilpon (Mets). This is an interesting one, but I would've picked Henry, especially because it is for a category saying most effective.

Least effective owner (MLB): Peter Angelos (Orioles), followed by Jeffrey Loria (Marlins), Stuart Sternberg (Rays), Bob Nutting (Pirates) and David Glass (Royals). This one was fascinating because all of these owners are terrible. I would throw Loria to the top of the list even though he has won a world series this decade, simply because he had a young team, not earning much money with a young eager coach (Girardi, now with the Yankees) who was getting the most out of them and has since fought with Girardi and firing him, traded the top two faces of the team this past week (Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis) for unproven prospects (though these guys could be unbelievable) and now has a payroll for the 2008 season that may not reach $10 million and attendance that may not average 1,500 spectators per game.

Owner who will bring the most change to a franchise over the next 10 years (MLB): Tribune Co. (Chicago Cubs). Really?? Are they going to change the franchise by selling them?

NHL: Nothing surprising

NASCAR: Nothing surprising

Most underrated conference (college) Big East, followed by Pac-10, MAC, Conference USA, ACC and Big 12. I agree with the Big East (especially in basketball), but the Pac-10 is honestly very overrated in all sports. Even though I am a small conference guy, I don't find Conference USA to be underrated at all. In fact, other than a few teams at the top (Tulsa, Houston, Southern Miss, Memphis and UCF), the teams at the bottom are terrible pretty much across the board.

Most overrated conference: Guess ... yes, it is the Big 10. And they wonder why no cable company wants to put the Big 10 network on their regular cable lineup rather than a sports tier.

Best MLB ballpark: Fenway, Wrigley, Yankee, AT&T (Giants), Oriole Park and PNC Park (Pirates). I haven't seen a game in any of these stadiums, so I would appreciate feedback.

MLB club most in need of a new ballpark: Marlins, Mets, Rays, Twins, Nationals and Athletics. Absolutely to every single one of these.

Best NFL Stadium: Cardinals, Packers, Patriots, Seahawks and Texans. No surprises here, but I have heard that other than the nostalgia factor, Lambeau isn't that spectacular.

Favorite item from the concession stand: Beer (28.8%), Hot dog (26.2%), Local specialty (19.5%) and Nachos (7.3%). I stand behind my fellow Americans who voted on this question.

Feel free to leave a comment about whether you agree or disagree with any of the above.