The ATP Tour and Jewel Productions Ltd. have reached a four-
year agreement to make Hartford the home of the World Doubles
Championship.  Phoenix Home Life, a Hartford-based insurance and
investment company, will be title sponsor (ATP Tour).  The
Phoenix ATP Tour World Doubles Championship will take place at
the Hartford Civic Center November 13-17 and will be televised by
ESPN for all four years of the deal.  The contract between Jewel
and the ATP Tour requires Jewel to offer $500,000 in prize money
each of the first three years and $600,000 the fourth.  Time
Magazine and Trinity College will be presenting sponsors.  Other
sponsors include:  Locite Corporation, the Mohegan Sun Resort,
the Hartford Courant, People's Bank, St. Francis Hospital,
Northeast Utilities, the CT Radio Network, Hartford Hospital and
Ernst & Young (Greg Garber, HARTFORD COURANT, 3/26).

     Buick's "Go for the Green" test drive promo will showcase
the effort to "improve customer relationship and strengthen model
brand ID's," according to BRANDWEEK.  Buick's campaign, which
kicks off next month, features free golf balls and an Olympic
sweepstakes offering trips to the '96 Games.  Dealers say this
year's program includes direct mail to all Buick owners as well
as most prospective owners.  Since last year's promo did not
increase showroom traffic significantly, Buick has thrown in a
three-pack of Top Flite XL's as a '96 value-add.  Buick and other
GM units are studying ways to match each car line to specific
sponsorship deals.  One Buick exec:  "Go for the Green does tie
into our sponsorship of the PGA and our status as an official
car.  We're trying to leverage that for future brand value."
Buick plans to use golf in the launch of the '97 Park Avenue, but
has yet to decide which events and pros will be used (Steve
Gelsi, BRANDWEEK, 3/25 issue).
     AIR VS. GOLDEN BEAR?  Execs at Michael Jordan Golf Co. Inc.
expect to choose a site off NC's I-77 near uptown Charlotte or in
University City within the next six weeks for a $3M golf center,
according to the CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL.  This comes after
Columbus-based East Coast Golf Centers Inc. last year announced
plans to open a $2M Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear Golf Center in
nearby Mathews, NC.  East Coast Golf President Tom Elsass:  "We
fully intend to open before Jordan does.  We also think Michael's
market is a little different from ours.  Jack is golf" (Erik
Spanberg, CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/25 issue).

     Fila has replaced Reebok as "anchor back-to-school partner"
for the 600-store Lady Foot Locker chain, with Reebok's share of
the $6B women's footwear market "slipping."  Lady Foot Locker
chose Fila for its July and August push, via a $4M campaign from
Bates/New York that  includes national cable, in-store displays
and store marquee signage.  Analysts see the move as a "coup" in
Fila's efforts to "broaden its brand beyond its core of urban
basketball shoe buyers."  Meanwhile, Reebok loses a "franchise
position" in its efforts to slow a $57M "slide" in '95 women's
sales.  While store officials refused to explain the change,
parent company Kinney and Reebok have been "at odds" over product
placement and development.  Reebok will still have "co-op" print
ads with Lady Foot Locker and will use its 80-unit NBC Olympic
buy for a back-to-school push (Steve Gelsi, BRANDWEEK, 3/25
issue).
     MORE SHOE NEWS:  A MA state court ruled Friday that Reebok
is temporarily barred from using Australian triathlete Michellie
Jones in advertisements.  Alan Glickman, attorney for Hyde
Athletic Industry, said Jones had a three-year agreement to wear,
promote and help develop Hyde's Saucony brand.  While that
contract ended in January, a right of first refusal clause in
effect until January '97 obligates Jones to allow Hyde to top any
other bid.  Jones signed a four-year apparel and shoe deal with
Reebok February (Joseph Pereira, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/26).

     Nike debuts its controversial "Evil" TV spot from Wieden &
Kennedy/Amsterdam during CBS' Final Four coverage.  A 90-second
version will appear in movie theaters next month.  The spot
features an all-star soccer team of Nike endorsers representing
"good" against "Satanic" forces (AD AGE ONLINE, 3/26)....RC cola
is running a consumer promotion at K-Mart as part of its
sponsorship of the Newman-Haas racing team, offering a trip to
the Indy 500, a limited edition Ford Explorer, or a $1M prize
(BRANDWEEK, 3/25).... The role of cable networks as NASCAR
sponsors is profiled in ELECTRONIC MEDIA.  Wayne Walley notes
sponsorship can cost between $2.5 to $5.5M for the 31-race NASCAR
season, but the sponsorship provides "media exposure, promotional
value, merchandising and licensing revenues, and other
intangibles" (ELECTRONIC MEDIA, 3/25 issue).... Finalists in the
MPA Kelly Awards competition, which recognizes top magazine ads,
include Wieden & Kennedy spots for running shoe and Goodby,
Silverstein ads for Bell Sports Corp. helmets (Stuart Elliot,
N.Y. TIMES, 3/26)....ESPN has sold out sponsorship positions for
the '96 X Games.  Gold level sponsors are Coors, AT&T, Mountain
Dew, Taco Bell, Nike, Chevy Trucks and Pontiac (ESPN)....Adidas
has paid $3M for naming rights to three Nick Bollettieri sports
training schools in Bradenton, FL (USA TODAY, 3/26)....Sears has
begun airing 30- and 60-second spots featuring the Women's USA
National Basketball Team.  The spots will run on network prime-
time programming, including Lifetime (USA National
Team)....Chicago's Sportmart sold more than 1,000 pairs of the
new Air Jordans on Friday (Fred Mitchell, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/26).

     Pennzoil is staking its '96 core motor oil strategy on a
"technological superiority claim" and its sponsorships of the
Indy 500 and NBC's Olympics coverage via $14M in media
advertising, according to BRANDWEEK.  This strategy marks
Pennzoil's move toward "premium positioning," boosted by price
discounting included in a Final Four rebate offer.  Sports tie-
ins help reach the 18-49 audience, and Pennzoil is using its
Olympic broadcast ads to target female buyers, now about 50% of
the company's total sales.  Pennzoil will break a new spot on
CBS' Final Four coverage Saturday to push sales of their 10W-30
motor oil.  Valvoline, which is "pushing" the growing semi-
synthetic blend oil category will have 14 spots on ABC's Indy 500
telecast, but lose in-track signage to Pennzoil (Steve Gelsi,
BRANDWEEK, 3/25 issue).
     RACING NEWS:  Sources say that Roger Penske, owner of
Michigan Int'l Speedway Owner, is putting up an "estimated" $70M
offering in Penske Motorsports Inc. which will be priced as early
as today and available for investors for the first time on
Wednesday (Dave Philips, DETROIT NEWS, 3/26).