S.F.-based Blue Marlin, which makes merchandise
"inspired by" the Minor, Negro, Cuban and All-American
Girls' professional baseball leagues, was profiled by
Jessica Guynn of the CONTRA COSTA TIMES, who wrote that some
MLBP execs, Negro league "advocates" and business
competitors have "cried foul, accusing" company Founder Erik
Stuebe of "shortchanging those who hold the legal or 'moral'
rights to teams." But Stuebe said that his "business
tactics merely reflect the bottom-line realities" of a
competitive industry: "If we had to pay an 8 percent (of
sales) licensing fee, the economics just wouldn't work"
(CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 5/8)....Russell is "investing" $20M on
an ad campaign that "positions its sports apparel line as a
durable, all-American brand." The campaign by WestWayne
runs with the tag, "Made for the Long Run" (BRANDWEEK, 5/10
issue)....EA Sports inked T'Wolves F Kevin Garnett to be a
spokesperson for the NBA Live 2000 video game (EA Sports).
...In Ft. Worth, Sean Wood writes that as part of AT&T
Wireless' sponsorship of the MLB Rangers, the company is
"looking at ways to make it easier for its cellular
customers to dial out from The Ballpark." The company could
put some kind of antenna at The Ballpark to "boost cellular
signals." Rangers Assistant VP/Customer Relations Tim
Murphy said that the cell-phone "logjam is a problem," as he
has had "problems making calls" (STAR-TELEGRAM, 5/11).
