FILA RE-UPS WITH JANZEN: Fila USA has extended its deal
with golfer Lee Janzen through 2001 (Fila).
A PERFECT ENDORSER: Spurs F Malik Rose, on his eating
habits before games: "I usually eat Skippy peanut butter and
Smucker's jelly, concord grape, about a half-hour before I
leave for the game" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 5/16).
NASCAR: Team Owner Felix Sabates will return to a
three-car operation later this season and has obtained a
"major communications company" as a sponsor for a seven-race
Winston Cup schedule (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/15).
....Washington-Erving Motorsports co-Founder Joe Washington
announced that Jelly Belly gourmet jelly beans has become an
associate sponsor (SPEEDNET, 5/14).
ON NIKE: Heather Locklear, on "The Late, Late Show"
with Craig Kilborn, said of her Nike/MLB ad: "Oh, isn't that
funny?" When Kilborn asked Locklear if she made "lots of
money for that" spot, she responded, "No, I think Mark
[McGwire] got most of that" (CBS, 5/14)....NBC's Jay Leno:
"The Labor Department has charged Sears with violating child
labor laws. They claim they found 27 underage children
working there. In fact, today Sears changed their slogan
to, 'Come see the Nike side of Sears'" (NBC, 5/14).
VENATOR BOUNCES BACK: CNBC's Ted David reported that
shares of Venator was up "about" 15% on Friday, "despite the
down market, with Merryl Lynch upgrading the athletic
footwear retailer to 'near-term buy' from 'neutral.' The
firm saying that athletic footwear appears to have bottomed
with improved sales of higher-end products" (CNBC, 5/14).
LEAGUE LICENSEES: For Bare Feet, which is licensed to
make socks for every major pro sports team, was profiled by
Sean Horgan of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS. NBA VP/Apparel
Sal LaRocca: "They're a small company that happens to make a
very, very quality product." The socks the company are
making for the Knicks will be "available to fans soon" via
the NBA Store in N.Y. or NBA.com (STAR-NEWS, 5/16)....New
Era Dir of Marketing & Sales John DeWaal said that the
company will produce between 150,000 to 200,000 Stanley Cup
championship caps, in addition to 50,000 caps for the
Eastern/Western Conference Champions (BUFFALO NEWS, 5/14).
