GOLF DEALS & DOLLARS: PGA Tour golfer Justin Leonard
has signed a contract extension to continue playing
Spalding's Ben Hogan clubs through 2004. Leonard, whose
original deal would not have expired until 2001, will play
Hogan Apex irons, wear a Hogan-branded hat and carry a
branded bag.....Copley-Rose, the apparel manufacturer that
designed the U.S. Ryder Cup uniforms, is planning to launch
a new apparel line, called the "Crenshaw Collection" after
Ryder Cup team captain and company partner Ben Crenshaw
(GOLF WORLD BUSINESS, 10/29 issue)....Spalding, owner of The
Ben Hogan Co., "cut the ribbon" Monday on a permanent,
40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the "southside"
of Ft. Worth, TX (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/26).
DEALS & DOLLARS: EA Sports signed Dick Vitale and
Rockets rookie G Steve Francis to participate in the
development and marketing of EA Sports' NCAA March Madness
2000 video game. Vitale's deal is for the next three years,
and EA holds exclusivity for 2000 and 2001 (EA)...IMG will
stage the inaugural State Farm Women's Tennis Classic
presented by US West in AZ February 28-March 5, 2000 (IMG).
...Dallas-based Hicks Muse Tate & Furst will title sponsor
the Dallas Cup's "showcase" Super Group, a TX youth soccer
tournament. The firm is "also getting involved" in the
tournament's Diversity program (DALLAS MORNING NEWS,
10/27)....CFL Alouettes President Larry Smith said that his
team now has 10 major sponsors, which contribute "upward of"
C$150,000 each annually, and 54 additional "partners," which
"chip in lesser amounts of cash and/or services." When
Smith took over in '97, corporate sponsorships "totaled only
about" C$250,000 (Montreal GAZETTE, 10/25)....Midway has
inked a multiyear licensing deal with CART that will add
CART racing games to the company's video game line (Midway).
NOTES: About 5,000 fans attended the NBA concert series
featuring Destiny's Child last Saturday at the NBA Store.
The 5,000 represented maximum capacity for the store (THE
DAILY)....Avalanche players hope that Endurox R4, a "potion"
that "looks like Pepto-Bismol, but smells exactly like
Nestle Strawberry Quik," will give them a nutritional "edge
on and off the ice this year." The "nationally distributed
product" is endorsed by "reputed exercise physiologist" Dr.
Edmond Burke (DENVER POST, 10/25).
