Three hours after Yankees P David Cone threw a perfect
game against the Expos yesterday, David Cone Foundation VP
Andrew Levy said that a "total of six memorabilia companies
had already contacted him" wanting to "bid for the exclusive
rights" to Cone's autograph, according to Jack Curry of the
N.Y. TIMES. Levy said that he "expected even more" requests
today. Additionally, Kraft Foods and Wow Wings, which sells
chicken wings on Long Island, are "interested" in using Cone
as a spokesperson (N.Y. TIMES, 7/19).
SIDES OF RICE: 49ers WR Jerry Rice was named the 27th
greatest athlete of the 20th century on ESPN's
"SportsCentury" series. In the show, Rice complained "about
a lack of endorsements." But Nike Chair Phil Knight said,
"I think Jerry Rice is enormously marketable. I think Jerry
Rice has chosen himself not to engage in the activities that
make a person marketable" (S.F. EXAMINER, 7/18).
NIKE AS THE "EVIL EMPIRE"? In N.Y., Richard Sandomir
noted the emergence of "conspiracy theorists," who "assume
that the powerful and creative forces of Nike wrote the
script" for Brandi Chastain to take off her jersey to reveal
a Nike sports bra after the U.S. women's soccer team WWC
win. Sandomir: "Nike is an easy target, the closest thing we
have to an evil empire since the Soviet Union broke up."
Nike Senior Manager of Corporate Communications Kathryn
Reith "wondered why Nike would engage in such a marketing
ploy if" the sports bra is "not available in stores?"
Reith: "If we're such great marketing geniuses, why would we
do that?" Sandomir wrote, "How about buzz? What about hype?"
(N.Y. TIMES, 7/18)....Pittsburgh-based PLB Sports "may reach
a deal" by this week to market a cereal bearing the name of
the U.S. women's soccer team (TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 7/17).
