The current issue of BUSINESS WEEK examines the seemingly
"endless" sports marketing opportunities in Asia.  BUSINESS WEEK
notes, "Now, with the arrival of global sports promoters such as
IMG and 24-hour sports stations, once genteel pastimes such as
badminton, cricket, and table tennis are rushing into big-bucks
competition."  Companies such as Yonex Corp. are paying $2M to be
exclusive supplier for Indonesia's national badminton team.
MasterCard, Pepsi, Gillette, and Canon have all signed four-year,
$2.6M deals to sponsor Asian soccer.  Nike has become equipment
supplier to soccer and basketball teams in China and has started
a series of basketball tournaments for mainland teenagers.  The
piece states, "With government control of the media tight
throughout emerging Asia, sponsoring nationally televised sports
is the easiest, cheapest way to reach Asia's ballooning middle
class of more than 250 million."  New sports channels are also
"raising the financial stakes."  Rupert Murdoch's Prime Sports,
part of his Star TV Asian staellite Tv network, is paying an
estimated $4M annually to carry badminton, and is believed to be
paying $1M for Chinese soccer.  ESPN also plans to be "beaming
satellite signals around the clock" in Asia by year end.  ESPN
recently outbid Murdoch for rights to Indian cricket with a
reported $3M over five years.  IMG is not the only agency taking
advantage of the opportunities in Asia.  Hong Kong's Asia Sport
Group is working to link up federations around Asia to stage
regional tournaments.  IMG Managing Dir/Asia Breck McCormack:
"There is no shortage of opportunities.  It's a question of where
to focus your resources" (Engardio, Shari, et al, BUSINESS WEEK,
8/7 issue).

     Olympic sponsor AT&T will be the first of 13 sponsors to
launch a Dream Team promo, according to Michael Hiestand of USA
TODAY.  Beginning August 14, AT&T will distribute rubber outdoor
basketballs to consumers buying $50 of AT&T products.  Hiestand
writes, "Something to watch: Potential conflicts between Dream
sponsors and players' individual ad deals."  Ten of the 13
sponsors can use players if they are introduced in the team
context, but "one potential snafu: Shaquille O'Neal, a.k.a. Mr.
Pepsi, showing up even fleetingly" in a Coca-Cola promo (USA
TODAY, 8/1).  In Washington, columnist Tony Kornheiser criticizes
the Dream Team selection process under the header, "Once is a
Dream, Twice is a Marketing Reality."  Kornheiser: "Cleary, USA
Basketball, a wholly owned subsidiary of the NBA, sought to field
a team that will put the kindest, gentlest face on U.S. pro
basketball --- to make it easier to sell time shares in the NBA
around the world" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/1).

     Opel will provide the official cars of the 1998 World Cup as
they have extended their relationship with FIFA as an Official
Sponsor for the next three years (FIFA NEWS).... Timex is
sponsoring a film on extreme whitewater kayaking and an
Expedition Team to promote its new line of outside watches.  The
film will feature Tommy Moe (Timex Sports).... Dorna USA has
signed two deals to provide their AdTime signage systems at
collegiate men's basketball events.  Dorna signed with Kemper
Sports Marketing and ESPN for use of their AdTime signage system
at the Maui Invitiation tournament held in November, and with
Arizona State for at all home men's basketball games (Dorna
USA)...."NFL Prime Monday" had a feature on Deion Sanders' new
commercial for Sega.  The report noted Sanders is replacing Joe
Montana as a spokesperson for the company.  The cover of Sega's
football game will have Sanders in five different uniforms from
the 49ers, Broncos, Dolphins, Cowboys and Eagles (ESPN, 7/31).
In Boston, Peter Gammons writes that Sanders told his former Reds
teammates that the 49ers were preparing a long-term deal for him.
With the Giants attendance up this week, Gammons writes, "there's
a feeling that Bay-Area Sega and M.C. Hammer's record company
will keep Sanders playing for the two San Francisco teams"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 7/30). ....CNBC's Ted David reported on the
licensing industry, saying it contributes nearly $70B each year
to the retail sales volume of goods and services in the U.S.
(CNBC, 7/31).

     Pepsi-Cola announced it will have a packaging "blitz" in
August for an end-of-summer special.  They will ship new 16-ounce
"Slam Cans" of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Mountain Dew to retail
outlets.  They will also team up with Time Warner for a new 30-
can "Block Party" multi-pack with inserts offering more than $100
off certain Time Warner products, including CD-ROM versions of
Sports Illustrated's Multimedia Almanac, and a subscription to SI
for Kids (PepsiCo).
     FAST CARS, COLD DRINKS:  At each NASCAR Winston Cup event,
Pepsi is choosing one fan to win the Pepsi Fan Appreciation
Award.  Each winner receives a plaque signed by Richard Petty and
NASCAR President Bill France, and selected Pepsi merchandise.
Pepsi is the Official Soft Drink of NASCAR (NASCAR).
     FTC GIVES OK TO BARQ'S DEAL:  Coca-Cola has won approval
from the FTC for its purchase of Barq's Inc., the manufacturer of
the nation's No. 2 brand of root beer (BLOOMBERG BUSINESS
NEWS/N.Y. TIMES, 8/1).

     The PGA Tour's Ideon Classic at Pleasant Valley, MA, which
ended Sunday, is looking for a title sponsor.  Pleasant Valley
owner Ted Mingolla "is going on the assumption that this year'
title sponsor," Ideon Corp., will no longer be associated with
the tournament.  The event has been in search of a "long-term
title sponsor since Bank of Boston ended its nine-year
involvement" in '90.  Mingolla is in discussion with other
sponsors, but he has had difficulty signing a deal due "to the
state of the Massachusetts economy."  Mingolla felt the exposure
of The Golf Channel, which televised the event, "made it
attractive" (Joe Gordon, BOSTON HERALD, 7/30).  But Jack Craig
writes that the tournament needs a title sponsor and added TV
exposure to become a "major" event.  Next year's event is also
committed to The Golf Channel, "which can be found virtually
nowhere" in the Boston area, according to Craig.   But a title
sponsor willing to commit $2.5M would make Pleasant Valley "a
major TV event."  The networks require $2M from a title sponsor,
for which it receives around thirty 30-second spots "over the two
TV afternoons."  Craig calls ESPN "a much more efficient
purchase, demanding far less for 54 commercials over three days
of coverage, one reason Anheuser-Busch shifted most of its golf
ads to ESPN" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/1).

     As mentioned here last week, Tambrands has announced a two-
year sponsorship deal with the U.S. Open tennis chamionships.
The company earlier in the year attempted to become title sponsor
of the WTA Tour, but was turned down (THE DAILY).  Tambrands
won't have "its name attached to a particular phase of the Open,"
which was one "problem with the WTA deal."  USTA spokesperson
Page Crosland said the deal is "not a specific sponsoring."  As
part of the deal, Tambrands will arrange for female players in
inner-city tennis programs to meet with pro players.  In Atlanta,
H.A. Braham wrote of the deal: "The WTA Tour's loss is the U.S.
Open's gain" (H.A. Brahnam, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 8/1).

     "In the ongoing hammer-and-tongs battle between Nike and
Adidas known as Show Wars, each company zeroed in on the youth
market by sponsoring its own basketball tournament," writes Curry
Kirkpatrick in the current issue of NEWSWEEK.  In Las Vegas, Nike
and Adidas events combined to feature 259 teams and more than
2,000 players from 30 states and four foreign countries.
Watching them were college coaches, amatuer coaches, and "steet
guys" who "want to get their hooks into the kids," as Providence
College coach Pete Gillen puts it.  Kirkpatrick writes the NCAA
"has only itself to blame" for this new summer season, as "new
recruiting rules have sharply limitied college coaches' access to
a star prospect."  The case of Kevin Garnett, who played in the
Nike camp last summer, is documented, as is that of Schea Cotton,
"the next phenom" out of L.A. who was once flown to Nike HQs to
"consult about shoes" as an 8th grader.  Tom (Ziggy) Sicignano,
one-time Adidas salesman who now coaches a Nike team:  "There's a
lot of slime out there preying on kids, warehousing them"
(NEWSWEEK, 8/7 issue).