NHL RE-UPS: The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Andy Bernstein
reports that officials from IBM and Pennzoil/Quaker State
say they have "agreed in principle" to extend their NHL
deals. IBM agreed to a "two-year sponsorship that will
include distributing to NHL players laptops with special
software that allows them to e-mail one another." Quaker
State "probably will break" new NHL-themed ads and a gift-
with-purchase promo in January. Meanwhile, NHL Enterprises
"has not come to a renewal agreement" with Yahoo!, but a
Yahoo! "insider" said that the company "probably will re-
sign with the league" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/18 issue).
NIKE STILL INVOLVED IN NIKE TOUR? GOLF WORLD's Sirak &
Rosaforte report on Nike ending its title sponsorship of the
Nike Tour and speculation that Buy.com will take over. One
source "involved in the business side of golf" said,
"Sponsorship of the Nike Tour is a perfect vehicle for a
company looking to establish brand awareness and name
recognition. That is not something Nike needs. They have
nothing more to gain from the relationship." Nike is "under
contract" to support the tour through 2000, and a source
"close to the situation" said that the "exact nature of
Nike's involvement next year was still being negotiated" and
that it was "possible that the tour could have co-title
sponsors next year." One source: "Perhaps the Nike Tour as
Presented by BUY.COM" (GOLF WORLD, 10/22 issue).
NOTES: Bills QB Doug Flutie, speaking at this week's
Women's Sports Foundation banquet, said that after watching
the Gatorade ad featuring Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan, his
daughter Alexa asked, "Who's the guy in the commercial with
Mia?" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 10/21)....The SOUTH CHINA
MORNING POST's Alvin Sallay reported that Perrier "pulled
out" as title sponsor of the Hong Kong Open golf
championship in March this year, but "climbed back on board
after the parent company in France decided to review its
sports promotion policy" (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 10/20).
