ON THE AGENCY FRONT: After a 21-year relationship,
Spalding "has replaced" Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos,
as its agency of record and is "consolidating its golf
business at" MA-based Greenberg Seronick O'Leary & Partners.
Greenberg Seronick adds the Strata, Top-Flite and Ben Hogan
brands to Spalding's Etonic brand, which it handles.
Combined billings for the Spalding account are "estimated"
at $15-20M (ADWEEK, 8/10 issue)....FL State Univ. has
extended its nine-year relationship with USA Collegiate
Group, its exclusive marketing partner, through 2003 (FSU).
OTHER NOTES: Investors "snapped up shares" of Callaway
Golf Wednesday, "boosting" the company's stock price $1.50,
or 16%, to close at $10.81, in trading of 1.6 million
shares, "more than triple the three-month daily average."
Analysts said that Callaway's stock "caught fire because it
was viewed as a bargain" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/12).
Yesterday, Callaway closed down 1/16, to 10 3/4 (THE DAILY)
...The WNBA and AmEx have created the "American Express
Small Business Services-WNBA Entrepreneurial Award," which
will recognize a WNBA player who has established a
successful small business or foundation and a female small
business exec who best "embodies entrepreneurial spirit."
Each winner will receive $10,000 and an IBM laptop at Game
Two of the WNBA finals. The four players nominated as
candidates are Jennifer Azzi, Edna Campbell, Dawn Staley and
Penny Toler. Fans can vote for the players on WNBA.com
(WNBA)....The Breeders' Cup souvenir print by Andre Pater is
available for purchase in the '99 Officially Licensed
merchandise catalogue and on the Breeders' Cup Web site by
mid-September. The print will also be sold at the Breeders'
Cup at Gulfstream Park. A signed limited edition print is
$175, while an unsigned edition is $40 (Breeders' Cup).
DO SPONSORS MAKE IT HAPPEN? A Fox Sports/ROI Poll asked
1,230 U.S. respondents to "rate how important (on a 5-point
scale) sponsorship involvement was in making various
sporting events happen." The percentage of respondents
answering "very" or "extremely" important: Olympics - 73.0%;
NFL - 59.1%; NBA - 51.2%; Auto Racing - 48.4%; MLB - 47.7%;
College Athletics - 46.4%; World Cup Soccer - 41.7%; NHL -
40.0%; Little League - 39.7% (Fox Sports/ROI Poll).
