Job-cutting CSX Corp. to buy $1 million in Super Bowl tickets

Sarasota Herald Tribune ^ | 11-13-03 | AP

[Beck_isright]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --

Railroad company CSX Corp., which earlier this week announced it will cut up to 1,000 nonunion employees, recently agreed to buy $1 million worth of 2005 Super Bowl tickets.

The Super Bowl ticket deal would help the city prepare for the high-profile event and continue to show the Jacksonville-headquartered company's stewardship in the community, CSX Vice President Adam Hollingsworth said Wednesday.

The tickets were provided by an organization called Jacksonville XXXIX, which is selling corporate ticket packages to raise funds to finance improvements to Alltel Stadium before the championship game.

The company would use the tickets to entertain Fortune 500 clients and to reward employees, Hollingsworth said. He said that the company "had some tough choices to make this week."

"I can understand those that might have difficult time reconciling these two different decisions," he said. "However we have to make decisions based on the long-term future of the company and make decisions fairly and thoughtfully."

CSX CEO Michael Ward is on the Super Bowl Host Committee - a separate entity from the stadium improvement organization. He declined to comment. Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver did not return calls.

In the third quarter, CSX reported a loss of $103 million, or 48 cents a share, after recording more than $200 million in charges to change the way it estimates injury liabilities and to settle a dispute related to a 1999 sale of international container shipping assets.

CSX has 34,000 employees and its rails cross 23 states.

[Beck_isright]

I don't think any comment is necessary.

[doosee]

CSX will gain ten times the ticket cost in new business by building chemistry with customers who they host at the game. There is nothing wrong with smart marketing. When a company is losing money, the last thing to do is to cut back on customer relationships.

[Guillermo]

So what?

Why should a company keep around useless employees?

Is the purpose of a company to act as a jobs program, or is it to maximize its profits?

[Hermann the Cherusker]

I just sold my CSX stock and made a tidy profit. Thanks Mr. Icahn!

[Beck_isright]

"Why should a company keep around useless employees?"

Agreed. That wasn't the point.

"Is the purpose of a company to act as a jobs program, or is it to maximize its profits?"

So much for your knowledge. CSX is a quasi monopoly. If you had any brains and knew anything about the transportation industry, your choices are Norfolk Southern or CSX in the Southeast U.S. There rates are almost identical and their service is also. The issue with this article is just an observation that this is nothing more than an executive perk. If they have a million dollars to waste on Super Bowl tickets, they have a million dollars to invest in their sadly deteriorated lines, which need safety work and infrastructure improvements desperately. Get a clue before barking, little dog.

[Guillermo]

Who pissed in your cereal this morning?

Hope you don't have a dog, because if you did, I suspect you have kicked him today.

[bert]

Pruning dead wood enables the plant to grow.

[Held_to_Ransom]

If they have a million dollars to waste on Super Bowl tickets, they have a million dollars to invest in their sadly deteriorated lines, which need safety work and infrastructure improvements desperately.

Easy to say. I want to know how many of the purchasing agents of the companies they deal with asked them for tickets as a personal gratis. It's not like CSX has the only employees in the US who would initiate such a thing.

[Beck_isright]

"Who pissed in your cereal this morning?"

Any company which doesn't re-invest in itself and instead wastes money.

"Hope you don't have a dog, because if you did, I suspect you have kicked him today."

I fried the dog's innerds up with my eggs this morning.

[Beck_isright]

"Pruning dead wood enables the plant to grow."

The plant grows faster when the diseased tops are pruned also.

[Beck_isright]

"It's not like CSX has the only employees in the US who would initiate such a thing."

I link it more to like the power companies wasting money by advertising. If you live in a state controlled by the Southern Companies, it's like who else are you going to use? If you need to ship a boxcar or flatcar from Tampa to Atlanta, other than CSX, who else are you going to use? (no one else is the answer, by the way)

[Guillermo]

If you don't like the way they're spending their money, buy some of their stock and make your views known, as an owner.

[Sam Cree]

Just took Amtrak from Syracuse, NY to Miami.
I can tell you that CSX could put some money into track maintenance in the Southeast, those tracks are pretty rough.

Not that a million would go very far in that area, though.

[Held_to_Ransom]

I link it more to like the power companies wasting money by advertising. If you live in a state controlled by the Southern Companies, it's like who else are you going to use? If you need to ship a boxcar or flatcar from Tampa to Atlanta, other than CSX, who else are you going to use? (no one else is the answer, by the way)

How much goes only to Atlanta? That's a short haul that might well be competitive on a truck. What about all the business that links to other rails and ports across the country? What's it take to make sure CSX can rely on it's connections giving them priority?

[Beck_isright]

"How much goes only to Atlanta?"

Alot more than you can ever imagine.

"That's a short haul that might well be competitive on a truck."

Not even close. CSX does it for 65% less than most trucking companies could ever dream of.

"What about all the business that links to other rails and ports across the country?"

That's more or less dominated by region. CSX and NS control most of the Mississippi on eastward region. Sante Fe and Burlington Northern the West. Railroads underwent the consolidation that the trucking industry is just now enduring over 20 years ago.

"What's it take to make sure CSX can rely on it's connections giving them priority?"

Simply returning the favor to their interline partners. That's all. Trucking has made huge inroads but energy costs have made rail so much more attractive. It's a catch 22. If you need it there overnight you ship truck. If you have your JIT schedules down, it goes rail to interline with trucks or direct to the customer. Our transport network is an interesting situation. But it needs some attention and definite upgrades in security. It's pathetic.

[Held_to_Ransom]

Simply returning the favor to their interline partners. That's all.

And that favor includes........?

[Beck_isright]

" And that favor includes........?"

On time delivery and a prompt interchange of equipment.

[been_lurking]

Any company which doesn't re-invest in itself and instead wastes money.

The money was put into play in the economy. What difference does it make if it was through sports or through payroll. It's still out there doing it's thing.

[Held_to_Ransom]

On time delivery and a prompt interchange of equipment.

And what? A Christmas card for a lot of attention and preference?