Bears Sign Deal With Dr Pepper Snapple Group

Dr Pepper Snapple Group has signed a seven-year deal to become the Bears' new official and exclusive soft drink partner. The deal is at the Bears' top HOF partner level. This is the first NFL exclusive for Dr Pepper Snapple, which shares the Cowboys with Pepsi, and will activate with lead brands Dr ...

Andrew Luck Signs Deal With Panini America

Panini America has signed former Stanford QB and likely top NFL Draft pick Andrew Luck to a trading-card deal. Luck's first trading card will be in Panini's Prestige release, the initial NFL cards for next season from any manufacturer. The cards are scheduled to hit retail in early June. Luck is exp ...

Tags: Marketing and Sponsorship

Scotts Activating MLB Sponsorship Around Opening Day

MLB corporate sponsor Scotts is tying its lawn-care products to Opening Day with a baseball-themed promotion. Meanwhile, sources said the brand is close to extending its MLB sponsorship, as it enters the '12 season in the third and final year of its current agreement. “Major League Baseball ha ...

Tags: Marketing and Sponsorship, MLB

A-B Launches MLB-Themed Cans

Anheuser-Busch, an MLB corporate sponsor since '80, is supporting its longtime baseball rights with a cause-related program that begins with the new season. Budweiser's "Walk Off A Hero" program will donate $5,000 for every walk-off win during this MLB season and donate a portion of sales from Memo ...

Tags: Marketing and Sponsorship, Anheuser Busch, MLB

NFL Licensees Preview Pop-Up Store

NFL licensing officials and league licensees this morning offered a preview of a 10,000-foot Pop-Up Store in N.Y. that will open for the month of April and attempt to capitalize on the excitement around the NFL Draft. The Draft kicks off April 26 at Radio City Music Hall, seven blocks uptown from th ...

Tags: Marketing and Sponsorship, NFL

Panini Signing Deal With USA Baseball

Panini America will announce at today’s Industry Summit in Las Vegas that it has added USA Baseball to its roster of U.S. trading-card licenses. As the official trading card, Panini gets rights to USA Baseball marks and national team players, which will initially be used in an October "Pr ...

Tags: Marketing and Sponsorship

IMG's Tim McGhee Leaving Company

IMG Senior VP/Corporate Consulting TIM MCGHEE is leaving the company within a month. In an internal email sent Thursday, IMG Senior VP & Managing Dir DAVID ABRUTYN offered no reason for McGhee's departure, saying that McGhee will exit on March 1 "to pursue the next step in his distinguished ...

Tags: People and Pop Culture, IMG

Differing Reasons For First Time SB Advertisers

For first-time Super Bowl advertisers, the decision to "play" in the Super Bowl is an indication that their brand or their category has come of age. The companies have reached what they believe is sufficient critical mass to justify what this year is at least a $3.5M investment to conn ...

Tags: Marketing and Sponsorship

Visa's Michael Lynch Resigns After 16 Years

Visa Head of Global Sponsorship Marketing MICHAEL LYNCH , one of the most influential voices in the sports sponsorship industry, has resigned after 16 years with the leading payment-card brand. Lynch was one of the first people hired specifically for sponsorship marketing for Visa, which has a port ...

Tags: People and Pop Culture, Visa

Visa Sponsorship Chief Michael Lynch Resigns

Visa Head of Global Sponsorship Marketing Michael Lynch , one of the most influential voices in the sports sponsorship industry, has resigned after 16 years with the leading payment-card brand. Lynch was one of the first people hired specifically for sponsorship marketing for Visa, which has a port ...