WELCOME TO THE BIG TIME: TX-based video game maker
Midway Home Entertainment has signed a four-year deal with
the AFL to develop licensed football titles for multiple
platforms, with domestic and int'l distribution. Midway was
also a sponsor of ArenaBowl XIII (Midway).
NCAA NOTES: CBS SportsLine's Dennis Dodd, on American
Suzuki's sponsorship of the Heisman Trophy: "Somehow it was
determined that the reputation of the great Heisman Trophy
had been soiled. ... Can't we all get past the sponsorship
thing? Even the Rose Bowl is 'presented by AT&T.' ... If
not for Suzuki, there might not be a Downtown Athletic Club"
(CBS SportsLine, 8/22). But MI-based General Sports &
Entertainment President Andy Appleby said the Downtown
Athletic Club "should have been more selective" in choosing
a sponsor. Appleby: "Suzuki makes sense for sumo wrestling,
not college football" (THE DAILY)....Independence Bowl Exec
Dir Glenn Krupicka said that "within a month" he expected
"tickets to sell out" and planned "to wrap up all
sponsorships" for the game (BRIDGE NEWS, 8/20).
MORE NOTES: In Atlanta, Mark Schlabach wrote that the
Lions "are using some interesting marketing campaigns" in
the wake of RB Barry Sanders' retirement, including the team
placing its logo and a picture of LB Stephen Boyd "on a
massive billboard that says, 'I stayed here to win'"
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/22)....Adams Golf has selected TX-
based ad agency Temerlin McClain for the creative portion of
its $10M account. Media duties remain at L.A.-based Carat
ICG (BRANDWEEK, 8/20)....EA Sports will affix demo-disks of
its Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf game to the front of two
million boxes of General Mills' Wheaties brand. The promo,
which runs through September, also includes coupons for
discounts on EA Sports titles (EA Sports)....America True,
the S.F. Yacht Club's America's Cup 2000 challenger, has
inked Itronix as its exclusive supplier of on-ship computing
solutions (America True)....TN-based footwear manufacturer
Georgia Boot will title sponsor the November 20 ARCA race at
Atlanta Motor Speedway, which will now be called the
"Georgia Boot 400" (AMS)....CNN/SI's Vince Cellini, on
Friday's D'Backs-Pirates game: "Futuristic uniforms, and
undoubtedly, the Pirates have the worst of the lot. ... I
mean, it's cartoonish" (CNN/SI, 8/20).
