American Express will be the title sponsor of the new Senior
PGA Tour event in Sarasota, FL. The American Express
Invitational presented by Business Week will be played February
23-25 at the TPC at Prestancia and offer a $900,000 purse (PGA
Tour)....Boston officials say the running of the 100th Boston
Marathon will bring in an estimated $124M for the city (BOSTON
HERALD, 1/15)....MasterCard and MBNA will be the title co-
sponsors of the 1996 AHL All-Star Game. AHL has also singed I-
Tech to a sponsorship deal (AHL)....Miss. State has joined the
Collegiate Licensing Co.'s consortium (CLC)....CNN's Jan Hopkins
reported, "Troubles continue to mount for Kmart with Standard &
Poor's downgrading Kmart's debt to junk status, citing concerns
about the retailers long-term prospects" ("Moneyline," CNN,
1/12)....SPORTS ILLUSTRATED notes Univ of Colorado coach Rick
Neuheisel advised LB Matt Russell to remove a Starter warmup
jacket after the Cotton Bowl. Russell: "Coach Neuheisel didn't
want me to do anything that might tick off Nike" (SI, 1/15
issue)....Pete Sampras, on his new magazine ad for milk: "Who
better to endorse the all-American nutrient-rich wholesome
beverage than me? I mean, do you really think a radical-looking,
earring-clad, stonewashed desert boy could convince women that
they need at least three glasses of milk a day to meat the
calcium requirement? I don't think so" (USA TODAY,
1/15)....Michael Jordan's new Nike commercial, which leaves him
hanging from a 100-foot basket, debuted during NFL games Sunday.
CNN's Nick Charles, on the ad: "It's a shame he's hung up there.
They're going to have to play without him the rest of the season"
("This Week in the NBA," CNN, 1/14). "ET" also featured the new
Jordan ad in its "ET Net" segment ("Entertainment Tonight,"
1/12).
