1997 NBA Finals: Jazz Making Sure the World's Media are Welcome in Utah

Related Content:

Finals series page

Jazz home page

Jazz are controlled by Bulls' defense in Game 2

Game 2:

Recap
Box Score
Quotes: Bulls | Jazz
Notes
Photo Gallery
Video & Audio
Int. Room Audio

FOREIGN JOURNALISTS FLOCK TO UTAH

Jazz Making Sure the World's Media are Welcome
By Dick Rosetta
Staff Reporter, Salt Lake Tribune

eorge Eddy has been broadcasting basketball games in Europe for 20 years over the French CANAL-TV system. Tonight, he will be perched above the Delta Center floor, calling the play-by-play for Game 3 of the NBA Finals -- at about 3 a.m. in Paris.

Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek is surrounded by media members from around the world.

Eddy is one of some 1,500 media members holding credentials for the Jazz-Bulls series, determining the basketball champion of the world. That figure includes an NBA record 242 journalists representing 39 foreign countries, descending on Utah for what could be three games over the next six days.
The NBA issued only half this many credentials for the 1993 All-Star game at the Delta Center.
For previous playoff series, the Jazz have accommodated about 225 members of the print and broadcast media in regular and auxiliary seating. "The logistics of seating five or six times that number have been challenging,'' says Dave Allred, the Jazz's vice president of public relations. "The All-Star game prepared us for some of it, but the face of the Finals seating map seems to change three or four times a day.''
Amazingly, changes at the 19,911-seat Delta Center will be almost imperceptible. In fact, the only thing out of the ordinary will be construction of press seating over existing seating in sections 9 and 16 in the lower bowl. "We will take about 60 seats in each section that would normally be occupied by season ticket-holders during the regular season,'' says Allred. "They were always intended for press seating for big events and are only sold on a game-to-game basis during the playoffs.''
The NBA requests that Finals participants not sell tickets in certain sections, to accommodate the media, says Brian McIntyre, vice president of the NBA Communications Group. In Chicago's United Center, the section is at one end and far above the floor -- the equivalent to the Delta Center's upper bowl.
It would be impossible, Allred says, to provide every credentialed journalist a seat. Some will have to watch on monitors.
About 280 reporters and broadcasters will be seated in the club suites that ring the top of the Delta Center. "Those are the not-so-expensive versions of the luxury boxes,'' says Allred.
Allred says he hopes the NBA Finals can become a regular part of the Jazz postseason. "We see how efficient Chicago officials are. Practice makes perfect.''
Eddy was mikeside for the first of the Bulls' marches -- the first live broadcast back to France in 1991. "It was Magic [Johnson] vs. Michael [Jordan]. We've gradually built interest in the NBA. Ten percent of our 4.4 million subscribers now watch the NBA. Soccer still rules our viewership with 40 percent, but basketball is gaining.''
On Monday, NBA commissioner David Stern gave Eddy a "tip of the cap'' for generating enough interest for the NBA McDonald's championship to be held at the Bercy Arena in Paris Oct. 16-18. The 1997 NBA champion will join champions from Greece, Spain, France, Argentina and Italy for the three-day tournament.
Flavio Tranquillo, play-by-play announcer for TelePlus-2 TV in Milan, Italy, affirms the burgeoning foreign interest in the NBA. The 1997 Finals are his station's first on-site live telecast after three years on tape-delay.
Tranquillo, who over the last five years has befriended Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson at clinics in Salsomaggiore, just south of Milan, says more and more Italians are adopting basketball, with pro leagues drawing as many as 8,000 fans per game. "Michael Jordan is an icon in European basketball circles,'' he says.
Eddy and his crew will be touring Utah during what he hopes will be a full week. "We'll be checking out the Olympic mountain venues and we hope to make it to Bryce Canyon and Sundance,'' he says. "We'll take some [TV] footage back with us. We'll use the NBA International live feed and drop in portraits of players during the breaks.''
Terry Lyons, the NBA's vice president for public relations, says the foreign coverage of The Finals is less result-driven and more analytical. "Naturally, a lot of European reporters will zero in on Croatia's Toni Kukoc. And of course, every fan wants to know about Michael Jordan. And don't underestimate the appeal of Karl Malone and John Stockton. They were on two Dream Teams and they've played in so many All-Star games that have been televised around the world.''
The invasion of the foreign press into these Finals is a "testament to the NBA's growth through television,'' Lyons says. "These Finals are being watched in 175 countries, some of them on a tape-delay basis, but many of them are getting it live.''
One of the major festivities around the world is Hong Kong, where NBA Asia is staging a party for sponsors, media members and business partners.
Still, Lyons finds it "incredible'' that 22 foreign commentating teams are on hand for the 1997 Finals, noting the number has grown 15 in 1992.
It seems all 1,500 credentialed reporters are crowding around each player at every interview opportunity. Tuesday, for instance, each player had his moment. Utah's Chris Morris played five minutes and took two shots in Game 1. He had three times that many reporters around him, seeking the angle that no one else had. Same for the Bulls' Steve Kerr -- seven minutes, no points and 50 microphones. "I hate interviews,'' said Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan. "But we are required to do them.''