Word: cubans
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Former NBA star Bill Walton, now an NBC sports analyst, says that for all the attention Cuban receives for barking at refs, "the suggestions he makes have spurred the NBA to move in a better direction in television, marketing, ticket pricing. He's in the forefront." And while NBA commissioner David Stern has levied huge fines against Cuban, Stern says, "we've had open and good discussions about refereeing." He adds, "Mark very presciently focused on the whole issue of audiocasting on the Internet, and it would not surprise me if his HDTV venture wasn't equally prescient...
...Cuban scoffs at the idea that he has done anything innovative. "I've brought a sales focus," he says, shrugging. Cuban has even done radio promotions for a weight-reduction system and a local tanning parlor to help close a deal for ads on broadcasts of Mavericks games. Cuban threatens to fire anyone on his sales team who boasts of the Mavs' winning record, arguing that NBA basketball is not about winning so much as entertainment. That includes the usual dancers in skimpy outfits, kids competing in free-throw contests and goofy advertiser promotions during time-outs--all backed...
...Cuban attends most games, and fans pester him for autographs. At the Mavs' main office, Cuban works at a desk clearly visible to customers by the front door. He posts his e-mail address (mark.cuban@ dallasmavs.com on the scoreboard and answers complaints immediately...
...When Cuban bought the team two years ago, he called FoxSports Network president Robert Thompson seeking to broadcast Mavs games in high definition. Thompson was dumb struck. "I said why would I want to do that?" At the time, there were no trucks for HD transmission, no distribution channels, and the costs were off the charts. "But he did pique my interest...
Thompson introduced Cuban to a Fox production specialist, Phil Garvin, who helped him solve the technical and financial obstacles to HDTV broadcasting. "With regular TV, you pull a truck up to a stadium, hook up to existing cables from every camera to the truck outside and transmit," he says. "But there were no cables for high def, and the setup was expensive." Sony had to create a new cable system for the five HD cameras needed for each game. By piggybacking on FoxSports' regular NHL broadcasts and using its graphics and audio, Garvin and Cuban got the network running...