"New national sponsors, long-term increase" in TV coverage,
"provincial control of rights' fees -- it all seems to add up to
boom times for the elite curlers of Canada."  The Canadian Curling
Association (CCA) just recently signed a new 5-year rights deal
with St. Clair Investment Inc. of Toronto.  St. Clair is paying
the CCA C$300,000 a year for exclusive marketing rights to six of
Canada's seven major championships.  St. Clair has spent C$1.5M
for 150 hours of TV coverage on TSN and CBC.  TV ad time "is a
potential gold mine, especially if the NHL stays out of the
picture, but the CCA won't see any of that until St. Clair's
investment is covered and the CCA's percentage of net revenue goes
over the C$300,000 mark."  There is one sponsorship opening and
that's for the junior championships, where Pepsi, a sponsor for 37
years, has pulled out.  If no sponsor is found, the CCA will have
to bankroll the C$150,000 event (David Banks, Vancouver PROVINCE,
10/26).

     Anheuser-Busch is promising a "new twist" on its annual Super
Bowl "Bud Bowl" promotion.  A new Bud Light campaign starring the
"beer buddies," Iggy & Biff, "marooned on a desert island" debuted
last Monday on the "Late Show with David Letterman."  The $10M Bud
Bowl campaign will also feature the guys in a "stylistic detour
from all the previous Bud Bowls."  A-B has been putting "more
emphasis on Bud Light during the last year, a signal that A-B is
recognizing the sales trends and pinning its future growth hopes
more on Bud Light than Bud" (Jim Kirk, BRANDWEEK, 10/24 issue).

     FORBES examines Cobra Golf (No. 19) and Bollinger Industries
(No. 41) on their list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America.
Cobra, a Carlsbad, CA-based company, which specializes in irons
with oversized heads and graphite shafts, earned $7.7M on sales of
$56M last year.  Securities analysts "expect Cobra's earnings to
jump to $19M on $112M in sales" this year, and since it went
public a year ago, "its stock price has more than doubled."
Cobra's closed at 36 3/4 yesterday, which is above its 52-week
high.  Cobra's clubs, made with lightweight graphite shafts which
enable golfers to hit the ball further, are a big hit with older
golfers and women.  Cobra's oversized irons -- the King Cobra line
-- has hit sales of $42M last year and are expected to top $100M
in '94 (Damon Darlin, FORBES, 11/7 issue).  Bollinger Industries
is the nation's largest manufacturer and marketer of exercise
accessory products.  The company earned $1.8M on sales of $45M in
the fiscal year that ended in March.  In the 1stQ of this year,
Bollinger's sales jumped 60%; earnings up 54%.  "Can the
Bollingers keep it up?  That depends on two things:  Will
Americans continue to feel guilty about keeping in shape?  And
will the family retain its marketing savvy?" (Christopher Palmeri,
FORBES, 11/7 issue).

     X-Am Jeans will help underwrite a "creative extension of its
biggest celebrity endorsement, co-sponsoring a new basketball-
themed lifestyle show" airing on ESPN and ESPN2 starting November
15 and co-hosted by Hornets point guard Muggsy Bogues, star of X-
Am's spring ad campaign.  As sponsor of "Jam Central," X-Am will
be billboarded during the opening and closing credits of the show.
The brand will also sponsor a show segment highlighting the NBA
dunk of the week.  Sprite, which Bogues endorses, has been pitched
on a sponsorship; no word from Sprite yet (BRANDWEEK, 10/24).

     The NBA season starts in less than two weeks, and with the
absence of hockey and starving baseball fans stuffed with
football, the league finds itself in the enviable position of
being one of the only games in town.  This gives the NBA's
younger players an opportunity to showcase their playmaking and
marketing talents to fans and sponsors alike.     In an exclusive
survey, THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY asked twenty of the top
professionals in sports to offer their short list of hot, young
players to keep an eye on.  The question posed to all:  "With
exception of Shaquille O'Neal, who are the top young, marketable
athletes in the NBA?"
     Seth Sylvan, assistant director of public relations at NBA
Entertainment, sees the NBA's top stars split into three groups:
The veteran stars in search of a championship ring; a middle
group of regional stars searching for wider national appeal; and
the top picks of the past two years.    But THE SPORTS BUSINESS
DAILY's marketability survey  finds it's the young guns who are
attracting the attention among the key industry executives
interviewed:
     1.   Grant Hill, Detroit Pistons (rookie)
     2.   Chris Webber, Golden State Warriors
     3.   Penny Hardaway, Orlando Magic
tie- 4.   Shawn Kemp, Seattle Supersonics
          Glenn Robinson, Milwaukee Bucks (rookie)
tie- 5.   Charlie Ward, New York Knicks (rookie)
          Alonzo Mourning, Charlotte Hornets
     GRANT HILL:  The Pistons rookie was the runaway choice for
the top spot.  Hill was mentioned by seventeen of the twenty
surveyed -- and eight of those seventeen rated him No. 1 overall.
Among the key factors contributing to his potential ascendance:
His personality; Detroit's status as a "basketball-crazy" city;
and, his exposure during his college days at Duke.  Chris
Bernucca, Senior Editor at INSIDE BASKETBALL, called Hill "one guy
you could build the league around. ... He reminds me of a Julius
Erving."  Mike Levine, director of marketing at Athletes and
Artists:  "Women like him and men respect him. ... He speaks well
and is very bright, and everyone knows he can play."
     CHRIS WEBBER:  Webber was a strong second to Hill.  He was
mentioned by thirteen respondents, and over half of those placed
him in their top two.  Like Hill, Webber's articulate manner and
the national exposure he gained from two Final Four appearances at
Michigan make him an attractive candidate for top endorsements.
And winning the 1994 NBA Rookie of the Year Award hasn't hurt,
either.  One sports marketing exec at a major corporate sponsor
notes Webber's "likeable personality" and gives him high marks for
the way he handled the "time-out controversy" of the '93 NCAA
Final.
     BIG DOG, SMALL BITE?  Many of the respondents were hesitant
about 1994 No. 1 draft pick GLENN ROBINSON, with several noting
that he hurts himself the longer he holds out.  In fact, even
among those who mentioned Robinson, four specifically cited his
$100 million contract demand as a threat to his marketing
potential.
     THE BEST OF THE REST:  Dave Lewis, managing editor of SLAM
magazine, calls our No. 3, PENNY HARDAWAY, the "closest thing to
Magic Johnson."  One exec at a top representation firm says SHAWN
KEMP has "megastar potential."  CHARLIE WARD is called the
"sleeper" of the bunch by several respondents because of his two-
sport talents and the New York factor.  BOBBY HURLEY did not crack
the Top Five, but the potential is there for a great story if he
can return from his injuries.
     METHODOLOGY:  THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY confidentially
interviewed twenty sports marketing, media and advertising
professionals over the last 10 days.  Those surveyed were chosen
on the basis of their experience and expertise in sports marketing
or athlete endorsements; their company's role as a top sponsor of
sporting events; or their close work with the NBA -- as
journalists or licensees.  In no way do we make any claims about
the scientific validity of this survey.  Rather, it represents a
quick read of the industry's pulse.

     "Entertainment Tonight" profiled the NHL players who can be
seen posing in this month's GQ.  ET's John Tesh: "Because of the
lockout, the hockey season is on ice, but in the new GQ magazine
you can see six of the rinks rising superstars heat up the ice."
The Blues' Brendan Shanahan addmitted he was "puzzled" as to why
hockey players were asked to model.  Shanahan: "We are all
surprised that anybody would ask a hockey player to do any
modeling.  The photographer doesn't say give us your best side, he
says give us your least damaged side."  The issue, with Charles
Barkley on the cover, is on the stands now ("Entertainment
Tonight," 10/25).

     Quaker Oats reported its earnings for the 1stQ of FY '95, a
31% decline from last year's 1st Q. Included in this decline was a
pretax reserve of $18.4M for an estimated litigation cost related
to a '84 trademark lawsuit involving Gatorade advertising.
William Smithburg, Quaker Oats Chair & CEO, attributed the loss to
"higher marketing expenses," especially for Gatorade North
America: "Our aggressive support of Gatorade during a period of
major competitive expansion has been successful.  Gatorade's most
recent market share is up and the category has grown"
(Quaker)....Group W Marketing signed with First Auto Sports
Television to handle FAST's national ad sales for auto and
motorcyling racing.  They will handle ad sales on Prime
SportsChannel and ESPN (BRANDWEEK, 10/24)....CNN's Terry Keenan
reported: "The Marlboro Man is back and he is riding high.
Marlboro's maker Phillip Morris is expected to join other tobacco
giants in raising prices by 4%-6% in the next few weeks, a
dramatic about-face for an industry which until recently was
involved in a vicious price war" ("Moneyline," 10/25)....Douglas
Ivester makes his first major speech as new Coca-Cola President
today in Atlanta when he addresses InterBev94, the beverage
industry's convention (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/26). ....The
Capitals introduce the first phase of the "Capital Streeters"
Nike/NHL Street Hockey Program this week.  "Capital Streeters" is
a joint venture of the Caps and the NHL, and will bring the game
of hockey to over 2000 middle schoolers at 10 locations in
suburban MD.  The Caps join 13 other NHL teams with over 600
program centers in the Nike/NHL Street Hockey Program
(Capitals)....In this week's BRANDWEEK, Elaine Underwood profiles
Disney's efforts to appeal to singles at its theme park locations.
One of those efforts includes ESPN opening a sports bar at
Disney's "Boardwalk" (BRANDWEEK, 10/24 issue).

     WINSTON CUP:  Ernie Saxton of Ernie Saxton's Motorsports
Sponsorship Marketing News reports that Lowe's hardware store
chain will sponsor the Junior Johnson and Associates NASCAR
Winston Cup team in '95 and '96, replacing Budweiser.  Kodiak
smokeless tobacco has not yet decided where its '95 Winston Cup
sponsorship money will be spent.  Lipton Tea will sponsor the BACE
Motorsports team in NASCAR Busch Series Grand National race in '95
and '96.  Wheels Discount Auto Supply Stores will sponsor Andy
Santerre's efforts in the Busch North Grand Nationals as part of
its long-term expansion plans in New England.  Caterpillar has
announced its first team sponsorship for the Busch Series (THE
DAILY).