Russell Athletic will donate $5,000 to "Cheli's
Children" in the name of the Blackhawks' Chris Chelios.
Chelios was the winner of the Russell Athletic NHL All-Star
Fan Favorite Award. "Cheli's Children" is a Chicago area
charity founded and sponsored by Chelios (Russell)....USA
TODAY's 12-page bonus section on the All-Star game includes
ads from IBM, Nike, Pinnacle, Quaker State, Sheraton and The
New Dodge (USA TODAY, 1/17)....OTHER MARKETING NEWS: Fox
will "face the biggest audience in its 10-year history" with
the broadcast of Super Bowl XXXI, and programmers are
"scrambling for ways to translate record football viewership
into big numbers" for the rest of the year. Fox plans promos
for its own programming during ad breaks and Fox Sports Exec
Producer Ed Goren said, "We want to tell people that it's
not just the Big Three networks anymore. Now, it's the Big
Four" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/17). In New York, Richard
Sandomir writes, "In any language, Fox will reap huge
financial dividends from the Super Bowl." News Corp. Chair
Rupert Murdoch: "Having NFL football really made us a
network" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/17).....Sportmart is closing its 11
stores in Canada. The move comes amid a "crowded market and
dwindling demand that resulted in heavy losses" (Toronto
GLOBE & MAIL, 1/17).....A USA TODAY/IntelliQuest poll asked
Web surfers to rate skiing web sites. The Mountain Zone,
http://www.mountainzone.com, was voted the top site by 39%
of participants, Ski and Skiing magazines' SkiNet, http:
//www.skinet.com, was second with 33%, and InterZine's iSki,
http://www.iski.com, was third with 28% (USA TODAY, 1/16).
