A Good Upgrade For Romo:
Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo didn't have many great passes against the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend. His best pass was probably made at last year's American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, who NBC caught on the field with Romo before the game and during the game cheering on the Boys from Jerry Jones' luxury suite.
If they do become an item, its a great move for Romo, though perhaps not so much for Underwood.
Let's break it down with the help of Chris Anderson, who provided me with the Davie-Brown Index (DBI) numbers.
Anderson points out the landing Underwood would get Romo -- who currently isn't known outside the sports fan world -- into magazines like US Weekly and InTouch.
Anderson also says that Underwood is actually a better catch that Jessica Simpson -- who Romo was previously rumored to be dating, though the two actually never met.
Here's why. The DBI data shows that while Simpson is more well known than Underwood, Underwood actually outrates Simpson in every measurable attribute including appeal, trendsetter and trust, among them.
Why would an alliance be hazardous to Underwood? It could tarnish her high scores if Romo sours. Underwood had three No. 1 country hits this year and sold 4.3 million albums. That's a lot to put on the line.
A Bit More Rocky:
My bold prediction for the movie "Rocky Balboa" didn't quite come to fruition. I said that the oddsmakers -- who predicted that the five-day take of the movie would beat $26 million -- would be surprised and that "Balboa" would pull in $30 million. Not quite. According to estimates, the movie only pulled in $22.37 million in the first five days. That's still an accomplishment, but not as great as originally anticipated. When factoring in inflation, it looks like this movie could actually do worse at the box office than Rocky V ($41 million in the U.S., $120 million worldwide.)
Rocky Artwork:
One thing "Rocky Balboa" has done is rekindle Rocky fever; and a company called American Royal Arts is poised to capitalize. The company signed what is believed to be the first fine arts license MGM has ever agreed to. The company is selling Rocky paintings by artist Joe Petruccio, prices range from $500 to $2,200 and run ranges from 30 to 275 pieces. Company owner Jerry Gladstone, who sold the business to Getty Images only to buy it back again, said a quarter of the paintings sold out in a week's time.
We Are Bad Timing:
I'm sure "We Are Marshall" is a good movie. It's a very poignant and touching story of the Marshall football team that died in a plane crash three decades ago. But taking seventh place this week and only pulling in a reported $6.64 million its opening week means one of two things, or both.
One -- this is not a holiday movie and Warner Bros. should have known it. Two, sometimes history is better in documentary form. This movie is the most interesting case study of a reality based sports story as a movie until the Jason McElwain movie comes out. McElwain of course is that autistic basketball manager who came off the bench to light it up this year. Early odds, I say, on that flick by Columbia Pictures -- not coming out anytime soon -- is that it bombs. Why? The real thing was a million times better.
This Super Bowl Will Rock:
Houston. Jacksonville. Detroit. Not to diss people in these beautiful cities, but these last three Super Bowl cities are not Super Bowl cities.
That's one of the reasons why Miami is going to rock this year. So much built up corporate money to spend in a city that is most likely the best Super Bowl city this nation has to offer.
1. Great weather
2. More hotels than almost any location -- its 10,000 rooms will more than double what Tampa can offer in an hour radius.
3. Plenty of cabs (Houston and Jacksonville does not pass this test, by the way NFL people.)
4. Airports (There are three International airports in close proximity and some 20 plus executive airports).
With the help of Michael Kelly, president of the Super Bowl XLI organizing committee, we're telling you what's hot more than a month in advance.
Kelly tells us that Ocean Drive magazine -- a South Florida staple -- will have a huge presence in South Beach along with NFL sponsor Motorola .
Playboy is shockingly reserving the American Airlines Arena for their party. I know the company is battling the Maxims of the world -- which is one less after FHM went down a couple weeks ago -- but we're not sure a huge party is the way to go. (See last year's Maxim party when thousands showed up in the snow and most didn't get in.)
That's on Saturday, while Maxim goes Friday (we're working on details on that front). By the way, one of my favorite parties from last year was Upper Decks'. Tremendous male to female ratio, great food, ingenious creativity. I'm told they're sitting out this year because there is so much going on.
For those of you who know my work from ESPN, expect me to be all over the party beat as usual during Super Bowl week.
Here's some party reviews from my past.
Super Bowl XL(link)
Super Bowl XXXIX(link)
Questions? Comments? SportsBiz@cnbc.com
