Tiger Woods, when asked during a pre-British Open news
conference about labor practices at Nike's Asian factories:
"You're the first one to ask about that. No one has asked
me because all I do is play golf. I chase a little white
ball around, that's all I do. We talk about it. But it's
never been raised as an official question or anything like
that" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/16)....Italian clothing company
Benetton will buy a 57% stake in Benetton Sportsystem (BS)
for $182M, with an option on the remaining 43% to be
exercised by March 31, '98. Sportsystem makes Prince
racquets, Rollerblade in-line skates, Kastle skis and
Nordica boots (FINANCIAL TIMES, 7/16)....Salomon Brothers,
which is launching the IPO for Formula One Holdings, asked
British bank BZW, one of the four managers for the offering,
to stop advising a rival plan by Rupert Murdoch's British
Sky Broadcasting to take a minority stake in FOH (FINANCIAL
TIMES, 7/16)....Miller will increase its NFL sponsorship
this season, as Fallon McElligot, Minneapolis, is filming
the first of "several" NFL-themed spots for Miller Lite.
Miller "wants to strengthen its association with the NFL in
consumers' minds, especially since the No. 2 brewer shares
NFL marketing rights" with A-B (AD AGE, 7/14 issue).
