"Sportfolio" on Bloomberg TV Scores With A Look At The Business of “March Madness” This Week

NEW YORK - March 19, 2013 - PRLog -- For fans, college basketball is about to enter three weeks of intense competition, wide exposure, and extraordinary profit. That's "business as usual" for this week's guests on Bloomberg TV’s “Sportfolio,” who have been involved in the high-stakes business of college hoops at the highest levels.    

Rick Horrow sits down with Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco, who has managed the conference through a year of wrenching transitions and profound change. Aresco candidly discusses the negotiated departure of the league's basketball schools and the challenges of rebuilding a new conference, with a new name, on an accelerated schedule in the year to come. Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade also comments on a year in which her conference has experienced remarkable growth and exposure, yet faces the loss of teams in a turbulent environment driven by unprecedented revenue opportunities.

St. Louis University alumnus and trustee Dr. Richard Chaifetz, whose $12 million naming gift for an on-campus arena helped reinvigorate SLU's basketball program, joins Rick Horrow to discuss his school's inspiring run to the A-10 Championship. He reflects on the leadership of coach Rick Majerus, whose death in December did not derail the team's momentum, and makes a forceful case for SLU's inclusion in the new basketball-centric Big East.  Chris Bevilacqua, principal at Bevilacqua-Helfant Ventures, offers insight into the skyrocketing value of college basketball media rights. Bevilacqua is the lead negotiator for Commissioner Aresco as his new conference puts together its media portfolio for network bidders.

The show concludes with practical advice for those choosing teams in the many office pools and "bracket contests" that have become a March staple. Former Stanford standout and NBA veteran Jarron Collins tells Horrow how he weights academic excellence and "basketball IQ" in assessing which teams will advance in the NCAA tournament. When it comes to brackets, does GPA ever trump RPI? Collins, who played in the Final Four with the Cardinal in 1998, explains.

This week’s show debuts Wednesday night at 9:30 PM and 12:30 AM ET Thursday on Bloomberg TV (DirecTV 353, check your local cable systems for the channel near you). The show reaches more than 270 million households through first-run and syndicated airings.

Sportfolio premiered on September 27, 2011 and has now produced over 50 original episodes, all of which can be viewed at bloomberg.com/video/sportfolio (http://www.bloomberg.com/video/sportfolio). The guest list has already included: NBA Commissioner David Stern, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, MLS Commissioner Don Garber,  MLB Executive Vice President for Business Tim Brosnan, Pac 12 Commissioner Larry Scott, Ivy League President Robin Harris, Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross,  Dodgers and Warriors co-owner Peter Guber, AEG CEO Tim Leiweke, Wasserman Media Group CEO Casey Wasserman, Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren,  Cubs general manager Theo Epstein and owner Tom Ricketts, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, 49ers president Jed York, Los Angeles Angels GM Jerry DiPoto, San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer, Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark, NASCAR’s Brian France, Carl Edwards and  Jeff Gordon, the L.A. Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Masters Champion Bubba Watson, Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey, golf hall of famers Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, and many, many others.