NBA TO PUSH LICENSEES IN EFFORT WITH VISA, CHAMPS

     The NBA is tipping off its season with "accelerated
marketing efforts for its own 'brand,' marked by a $5 million-
plus ad campaign for its 125 licensees."  The campaign is the
league's first "season-long consumer promotion" and features the
league's first "partner effort" with Visa.  Running through '94-
95, the "first-ever all-license support campaign and promo
initiates a continuity program tying in Visa and the array of NBA
licensed products sold at 500 Champs stores nationwide."
Shoppers purchasing $100 of NBA licensed goods at Champs with
Visa will receive an NBA gift bag containing an NBA Fan Guide, a
poster and a CBS/Fox NBA Video.  The NFL has had similar programs
for the past four years and similar recent NFL promos linking
Logo 7, Footlocker and American Express yielded a 9% sales bump.
Visa has "long been coveted by the NBA as an official sponsor."
Sources from both Visa and the NBA said this promotion was a
"trial run" (Terry Lefton, BRANDWEEK, 11/7).