During halftime of ABC's broadcast of the Pro Bowl, SI's
Peter King reported on Deion Sanders and his sponsorship deal
with Sega.  According to King, there are two other corporations
in the Bay area that are lining up to pay up to collectively more
than $1M to Sanders.  King:  "So in essence, the 49ers aren't
going to have to foot the bill for Sanders' contract.  And, this
has a lot of NFL owners up in arms" (ABC, 2/5).  Will McDonough
reports Sega's deal with Sanders is a base of $1.2M that becomes
$2.5M if he stays with the 49ers (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/5).  Fred
Edelstein said Sanders' agent, Eugene Parker, told the 49ers that
Sanders wants $5M, but "that all of the money does not have to
come from the 49ers" ("NewSport," PRIME, 2/5).

     Gatorade is increasing its NASCAR sponsorship to a "presence
at every NASCAR event in every division, signage and/or coolers
in almost every NASCAR pit and an add-on award entitlement for
every NASCAR race."  The Gatorade Front Runner Award is to be
presented during the halfway mark of every NASCAR race via
broadcast mentions.  This new program replaces Gatorade's
sponsorship of a car and the "Circle of Champions" promo.  Bill
Schmidt, VP/Worldwide Sports Marketing for Gatorade: "The drivers
were aware of the old program, but the awareness was not high
among consumers, so we wanted to develop something that would
raise that awareness level" (Terry Lefton, BRANDWEEK, 2/6).

     MORE FROM THIS WEEK'S BRANDWEEK:  MasterCard is close to
signing as the first returning top-level World Cup sponsor, in a
deal sources valued at $20M....Anheuser-Busch will leverage its
official ties to the PGA and Senior PGA Tour to boost its
Michelob line with a $4-5M cross promotion with Wilson Sporting
Goods.  Michelob, Michelob Light and Michelob Dry consumers will
receive a certificate redeemable at participating pro shops for a
free three-pack of Wilson's Ultra 500 golf balls....L'Oreal
signed on as a sponsor of America3, the all-female America's Cup
racing team.  L'Oreal joins 14 other sponsors including Gillette,
Motorola, Chevrolet and GLAMOUR....Nestle will promote its NBA
sponsorship through a contest offering consumers a trip to the
'95 NBA Finals as a special member of the crew of "NBA Inside
Stuff."  Ten-second promos on "NBA Inside Stuff" and print ads
will support the contest (BRANDWEEK, 2/6 issue).
     OTHER SPORTS MARKETING NEWS:  USA TODAY's coverage of the
Super Show focused on the continued success of in-line skating.
The National In-Line Hockey Association expects the sport to grow
to 7.5 million participants in 1996 (Michael Hiestand, USA TODAY,
2/6)....Karsten Manufacturing, maker of Ping golf clubs, has
"climbed on the bandwagon of niche marketing" with its Ping Zing
2 Ladies clubs.  Titleist/FootJoy also promises to increase "the
noise level" of its commitment to women's golf with interaction
with LPGA pros and the hiring of Sandy Jaskol as full-time
women's promotional manager (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL,
2/5).... Nestle will help celebrate Babe Ruth's 100th birthday
with three "nostalgic, 1920's period" TV spots linking him to
their Baby Ruth candy bar (Nestle)....Taco Bell's "Border Lights"
fat-free line of food, to be announced this week, is "given a
better-than-even chance of success by industry analysts" (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 2/6)....Coors will begin test marketing Zima
Gold, "aimed at men who want a heartier taste than that of the
regular Zima" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/6).... U.S. soft drink exports to
Japan rose by 340% and beer exports rose 185% during the 11-month
period ended November 30, 1994 compared with the same period the
year before, according to the Commerce Department (KNIGHT RIDDER,
2/6).

     "Topping the shopping list" for NFL Properties this
offseason are new agreements in the credit card and computer
categories, according to Terry Lefton in this week's BRANDWEEK.
The two categories are currently held by American Express and
Zenith Data Systems.  AmEx "had done little to leverage its
sponsorship until this past season," when it tied in with Foot
Locker and Logo 7 in an NFL 75th anniversary promo.  While
sources in Miami for last week's Super Bowl said that AmEx is
likely to re-up, there is also talk that NFLP is talking to Visa
and CitiBank.  As for the computer categories, NFLP has not
determined how to split hardware and software.  But IBM, Compaq
and Microsoft "are the obvious targets, each already a top buyer
of NFL air time."  The NFLP is "wary" about a long-term deal, in
case technology renders "the installed base of hardware and
software obsolete" (BRANDWEEK, 2/6 issue).
     OTHER NFLP NOTES:  After this year's "successful throwbacks
promotion," NFL owners are "sold on the value of alternate
uniforms."  The league is working on a plan to "evolve" many
clubs' regular jerseys and add special events jerseys, such as
the Cowboys.  NFLP Senior Dir of Apparel Licensing Jeff Sofka:
"Our problem is no longer convincing the clubs.  It's determing
which is first in line for a new jersey."....With Reebok on board
as top-line NFL Pro Line licensee, "the talk among marketers in
Miami was how long it would be before the league brought in
Nike."  But one NFL exec countered: "We don't want to get into a
situation where Nike's the lead dog.  The NFL doesn't need Nike;
Nike needs the NFL.  We're not the NHL after all."....Hershey
will add a national promotional element to its sponsorship in
'95.  Last season, Hershey ran programs in select markets, tying
in local teams and retailers (Terry Lefton, BRANDWEEK, 2/6).

     Reebok announced at the Super Show that it has "won one of
the fiercest endorsement battles in recent basketball history,"
in signing Glenn Robinson.  Reebok plans to use him in all
marketing communications.  His first appearance in ads could be
this spring in a spot called "Moms," featuring the mothers of
several Reebok basketball endorsers talking about their sons
(ADVERTISING AGE, 2/6 issue).
     CONVERSE READY TO PLAY "HARDBALL":  Converse will unveil a
new brand positioning for its performance line in July -- called
"Hardball."  Converse President Mickey Bell:  "Hardball is the
new vision for Converse performance -- it's an attitude, a style,
a mindset and a strategy we have adopted to achieve our goals of
becoming number-one in basketball, breaking through the second
tier cluster of companies to become the number-three athletic
brand in the United States and the number-five brand worldwide."
The campaign will be supported by the company's first 60-second
ad featuring six Converse basketball endorsers:  Larry Johnson,
Kevin Johnson, Latrell Sprewell, J.R. Rider, Julius Erving and
Larry Bird.  The flagship shoe will be the $80 R.A.W. Energy
shoe, worn by Kevin Johnson (Converse).  Converse's performance
line will also carry a new logo beginning next fall -- "a
variation of its classic blue star logo called shooting star" (AD
AGE, 2/6 issue).
     REEBOK'S OTHER HOOP SUPERSTAR:  BET's "Off the Court"
profiled Shaquille O'Neal and his endorsements. Magic GM Pat
Williams:  "Let's face it.  Shaq has come on at exactly the right
time -- when the sport was hungry for a visible sports figure who
could serve as the role model" (BET, 2/4).
     THE SLOW BOAT JUST GOT SLOWER:  The athletic footwear
industry should be forced to raise prices if the U.S.'s decision
to impose $1.08B in punitive tariffs on China goes into effect on
February 26, as expected (N.Y. POST, 2/6).