BRANDWEEK TABS ACKERMAN & WELTS GRAND MARKETEERS OF THE YEAR

          WNBA President Val Ackerman and NBAP President Rick
     Welts have been named BRANDWEEK's Grand Marketers of the
     Year for their efforts in the "ballyhooed, multi-faceted
     launch" of the WNBA.  BRANDWEEK's Matthew Grimm writes that
     Ackerman and Welts "spearheaded the start-up as if it were a
     major consumer product launch" and "vaulted" women's pro
     sports into "America's cluttered sports-conscience."  Grimm
     adds that "measured as a product launch alone, the WNBA
     clearly was one of the year's most successful."  With its
     "incremental marketing investments," and its "big ticket
     marketers ... it is certainly the sports marketing success
     of the year."  Ackerman and Welts will be honored at the
     Assoc. of National Advertisers' annual conference October
     17-21 in CA.  ESPN Senior VP/Marketing Judy Fearing is also
     named a BRANDWEEK Marketer of the Year.  Winners will be
     profiled in BRANDWEEK's Superbrands/Marketers of the Year
     special issue later this month (BRANDWEEK, 10/6 issue).