Motor Sports: The New Golf

Motor Sports: The New Golf: "Recently, I watched SPEED TV's coverage of '12 Hours at Sebring.' During this an American Le Mans (ALMS) Series race, Tom O'Toole, SVP of strategy and systems at Global Hyatt was interviewed. He was asked why Hyatt signed on as a sponsor of Porsche's ALMS program.

'Motor sports is the new golf,' O'Toole answered. He cited the demographic cross-over between Hyatt and Porsche as a major factor. The interviewer turned to Frank Walliser, general manager of Porsche's motor-sports strategy program. His comments echoed O'Toole's and extended to integrated global campaigns spanning media channels. "

Motor Sports: The New Golf

Motor Sports: The New Golf: "Recently, I watched SPEED TV's coverage of '12 Hours at Sebring.' During this an American Le Mans (ALMS) Series race, Tom O'Toole, SVP of strategy and systems at Global Hyatt was interviewed. He was asked why Hyatt signed on as a sponsor of Porsche's ALMS program.

'Motor sports is the new golf,' O'Toole answered. He cited the demographic cross-over between Hyatt and Porsche as a major factor. The interviewer turned to Frank Walliser, general manager of Porsche's motor-sports strategy program. His comments echoed O'Toole's and extended to integrated global campaigns spanning media channels. "

Atlanta Braves : Official Info : Press Release

Atlanta Braves : Official Info : Press Release: "Budweiser and Bud Light, the 'official beer sponsors' of Major League Baseball and 26 MLB teams, will introduce team-specific packaging in team markets nationwide, allowing baseball fans to celebrate the 2006 season while showing support for their favorite team.

Anheuser-Busch will also debut new baseball-themed creative, offer a full-line of team-specific promotional items, and will partner with Education Is Freedom (EIF) to expand its 'Homerunazo' Latino scholarship program. "

NASCAR fans are loyal to sponsors

NASCAR fans are loyal to sponsors: ": Greg, I recently bought a pint of grape tomatoes and was quite surprised to see a NASCAR logo on the plastic carton. The tomatoes were grown and packaged by East Coast Brokers and Packers of Plant City, Fla. By purchasing this product, am I supporting one of my favorite sports? - M.P.P, White River Junction, Vt.

A: Yes, you are. Many non-automotive companies rely on NASCAR racing to deliver their consumer messages (and ultimately products) to the sport's millions of fans. It is proven that auto racing, and especially NASCAR, is the best advertising buy, dollar for dollar, a company can make in sports marketing. "

Sugar Bowl has new sponsor

"Allstate was looking to expand its presence in the sports world and to create some goodwill in the New Orleans area.

It was able to accomplish both Wednesday with the announcement that the insurance giant is becoming the title sponsor for the Sugar Bowl, replacing Nokia, which had held the rights since 1995. The four-year agreement begins this fall and includes the 2008 BCS national championship game, which will be played in the Superdome a week after the Sugar Bowl.

'It's very rare when a property as prestigious as the Sugar Bowl becomes available,' said Joe Tripodi, Allstate's chief marketing officer. 'We already have a deep relationship with college football, but we wanted to go deeper, and the Sugar Bowl presented that opportunity. "

the largest ever-private investment in amateur athletics

"The quest for Olympic Gold next summer in Athens continues this month when the top six men's and women's pro beach volleyball teams from the United States take on the world at the Swatch FIVB World Tour Grand Slam Olympic Qualifier set for September 18-21, 2003 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

The event, which is part of the Swatch FIVB World Tour, is the only time this year the world's best will compete on U.S. soil and will feature teams from over 40 countries. It also is a major step for U.S. players to gain valuable qualifying points to represent the country in the Summer Olympics next year. Prize money is $300,000 making it one of the largest purses on the international circuit and the richest in the U.S."

ESPN Orbitz Team On Sports Travel

"Wives of sports fans, and probably a few husbands of fans, may find their fan spouses planning the next vacation around Pedro Martinez's starts with the Mets instead of around a destination like Disney World. Unless of course, it's spring training when the Braves take residence at Disney in March. At least the hotel rates are pretty reasonable in late winter.

The Orbitz and ESPN team-up will enable fans to book hotels and even vacation packages based around sporting events, Dow Jones reported.

'Orbitz' agreement with ESPN.com is a slam dunk for sports fans who want to literally follow their favorite teams,' Randy Wagner, chief marketing officer at Orbitz, said in the report. "

smudailycampus.com - Uneven spending in athletic department

"Sarah Davis is dedicated to one thing, women's basketball at SMU.

But since her freshman year, Davis said she and her teammates have not received the same amount of sweat suits, long-sleeve T-shirts or per diem (money for food on game days) as their male counterparts.

"We get stuff we have to have, they [the men] get stuff they want," Davis said.

Gender equality in athletics has improved. However, glaring inequalities remain"

IBJ Story

"The Indianapolis Colts had to be convinced that California-based Lucas Oil Products Inc. was the right company to buy its stadium naming-rights package. Football franchise executives were quickly converted, but the deal still has its detractors. A month after the 20-year, $121.5 million agreement was announced, sports sponsorship experts remain skeptical it will pan out.

'This is a heavy investment for such a small company,' said William Chipps, senior editor of Chicago-based IEG Sponsorship Report. 'I can tell you it took everybody in the sponsorship industry by surprise.'

Driving the suspicions of Chipps and other executives is Lucas Oil's annual revenue. At somewhere just north of $100 million, it pales in comparison to the money generated by other stadium sponsors. Yet Lucas has agreed to pay the NFL's fifth-highest naming-rights fee."

ESPN.com Teams With Orbitz to Build Sports Travel Site and Guide

ESPN.com Teams With Orbitz to Build Sports Travel Site and Guide: "Tapping into the
passion fans have for sports -- wherever they are or may want to
go -- ESPN.com and Orbitz, the faster, easier way to find the trip you want,
today launched 'ESPN Sports Travel Powered by Orbitz.' The new site is a
collaborative sub-section of ESPN.com aimed at providing sports fans with the
ultimate online, sports-focused travel resource.

'Sports and travel are both key aspects to the lives of the millions of
monthly ESPN.com users,' said John Kosner, senior vice president and general
manager, ESPN New Media. 'Whether traveling on business and looking for a
great spot to catch the game, or planning a quixotic tour of North America's
ballparks, ESPN and Orbitz are giving fans the resources they might need.'
Randy Wagner, chief marketing officer at Orbitz said, 'Orbitz' agreement
with ESPN.com is a slam dunk for sports fans who want to literally follow
their favorite teams. Fans booking on ESPN SportsTravel benefit from the VIP
treatment of OrbitzTLC, designed to anticipate the needs of a sports fan
on-the-go, from searching to booking to ensuring travelers make it to the big
game.'"

.: Pontiac Debuts Integrated NCAA 'March Madness' Campaign - General Motors Corporate :. Auto Spectator

"Continuing to push the boundaries of branded entertainment, Pontiac is launching a fully integrated marketing campaign wrapped around one of the most exciting events in collegiate sports, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, on Sunday, March 12. Pontiac is partnering with chart-topping Atlantic recording group P.O.D., CBS, the NCAA and 2K Sports in a campaign designed to engage viewers in an entertaining and unexpected way that seamlessly integrates Pontiac into NCAA "March Madness ."

MLS' New York Red Bulls cross threshold, but not likely to be followed soon - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com

"Some MetroStars fans call it 'insulting' or 'offensive,' or compare it to a death in the family.

Austrian energy drink company Red Bull's purchase of the Major League Soccer team and its decision to rename it Red Bull New York may be shocking to some fans, but it isn't unprecedented _ nor is it likely to be followed any time soon by a rash of copycats, marketing experts say."

TimesDispatch.com | Sports card business not what it used to be

"Empty boxes littered shelves, stores popped up everywhere, companies couldn't produce cards fast enough.

It was the early '90s and the sports card industry was thriving like a big-leaguer hitting Little League pitching.
But, like Texas oil in the 1980s and the dot-com companies at the turn of the century, the good times didn't last. By the end of the decade, the card industry crashed hard, leaving behind a wake of bankrupt companies and empty shops.

The only chance for survival was to diversify, adding new products to complement the sports cards. Even that didn't always work; most of the 15 or so companies at the height of the boom are gone."

It's the Biggest Cover-Up of the Games - Los Angeles Times

"The company that manufactured the toilets in use inside Pinerolo Palaghiaccio, the curling site for the 2006 Winter Olympics, is not an official Olympic sponsor, so anyone using the restrooms inside the arena has been seeing strips of gray tape placed strategically over porcelain.

The same tape has been plastered over sponsor patches on skiers' jackets in Sestriere and the brand names on television monitors inside numerous venues, anywhere an unapproved corporate logo might appear.

When asked how many rolls of tape had been spread across these Games, Cecilia Gandini, an organizing committee executive, laughed and said, 'I don't know how many meters, but it means we've been working quite hard.'"