NBC has inked OR-based Columbia Sportswear to be an
apparel supplier to the net's Olympic broadcast team for the
2000 Sydney Games and the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Columbia will outfit on-air talent, production crews and
VIPs (Columbia)....Nickelodeon and MLB will partner to
create a joint merchandising and promotional campaign around
"Rugrats." The product line, which will tie the program's
characters to MLB teams, will launch in spring 2000
(Nickelodeon)....SFX Entertainment's Pace Motor Sports
division has signed a multi-year title sponsorship and
license agreement with EA Sports. EA Sports gets the rights
to produce and distribute the official supercross
interactive electronic product around the Pace Supercross
(SFX)....Raycom Sports is launching a "World Series
Sweepstakes," offering viewers of the "More Than a Game"
syndicated sports-anthology series the chance to win an all-
expense paid trip to Game One of this season's World Series.
Viewers are invited to write a story on a sports figure who
has been a role model in their community or who has excelled
in sports. Raycom has produced a promotional piece
featuring Fred Hickman, the show's host (Raycom).
MORE NOTES: TX-based men's clothing line Cavewear has
entered into a deal with the IHL Houston Aeros to develop a
line of merchandise that will include both the company's and
the team's logos (Cavewear)....NASCAR was named the '98
Sports/Special Events Licensee of the Year at the annual
Int'l Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA)
Licensing Awards for Excellence in N.Y., marking the first
time an award was given in the sports category. The LIMA
awards committee is made up of reps from trade publications,
as well as a panel of licensing execs, (NASCAR)....The MLB
Cardinals and TX-based AIM Technologies launched a fan
loyalty program called the Redbirds Rewards Program, which
uses AIM's FanCard software platform and rewards fans for
frequent attendance to Cardinals home games (AIM).
