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ESPN Delays Mosconi Cup Airing
Dec 29, 2003, 1:43 PM

Pool fans who tuned in to ESPN2 Sunday afternoon, Dec. 28, expecting to see six consecutive hours of the 2003 Mosconi Cup instead found a string of Trick Shot Magic reruns.

Blame it on Eminem.

ESPN public relations spokesman Nate Smeltz said that the 2003 Mosconi Cup, staged Dec. 18-21 at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, had "production problems" that prevented it from airing in its assigned time slot. Smeltz went on to say that the Mosconi Cup would, indeed, air on ESPN2 in the near future, but that definitive dates have not been established.

According to Matchroom Sports, producers of the Mosconi Cup, the crux of the problem was music (including rapper Eminem's "Lose Yourself") that Matchroom's United Kingdom television partner Sky Sport uses during player introductions and taped promotional segments.

"Sky Sports has copyright to run whatever music they want in the U.K.," said Matchroom's Luke Riches. "In the U.S., ESPN has to clear the rights to the music, or edit songs out of the program and replace them with music that they hold rights to."

According to Riches, Sky Sport edited and produced four hours of programming from the 2002 Mosconi Cup, which aired on ESPN2 Dec. 29, 2002. In 2003, however, ESPN assumed the task of editing the footage into six one-hour shows. (All 20 matches of Team USA's 11-9 win over Team Europe were aired live in the U.K. on Sky Sport.)

"Apparently," said Riches, "ESPN couldn't clear the music or re-edit the tapes in time.

"I guess this kind of thing can happen," Riches added. "But it's something of a disaster for our sponsors who bought commercial time and expected the commercials to air on Dec. 28."