And 1 VP/Marketing Jay Gilbert, on signing Knicks G
Latrell Sprewell to a shoe contract, despite choking former
coach P.J. Carlesimo: "If he's good enough for David Stern,
then he's good enough for us." Sprewell's agent Robert
Gist: "I didn't have to sell Latrell; And 1 reached out to
him" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/20)....In Chicago, George Lazarus writes
that Bears first-round draft pick QB Cade McNown "would be a
natural" as a McDonald's endorser, with a "moniker that
begins with 'Mc.'" Burns Sports President Bob Williams said
McNown "comes across as being a very spunky, competitive
individual" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/20).
TREND WATCHING: USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz writes on
the trend of marketers "moving away from sports superstars
as national marketing icons," as "bona fide heroes of sports
disappear -- and replacements are slow to emerge." The
movement "marks a major departure" for the U.S.'s $7.6
billion "sports sponsorship world." Reebok's football
endorsers have dropped from 250 to 150, its baseball
endorsers from 350 to 100 and its basketball endorsers from
100 to 25, but Reebok is "increasingly" funding grassroots
marketing efforts. Nike Senior Corporate Communications
Manager Kathryn Reith, whose company is also "backing away
from some celebrity jocks," but "ramping up" regional
marketing efforts, said, "The competition isn't spending as
much, so we can spend less as well" (USA TODAY, 4/20).
