DEALS & DOLLARS: Four NFL sponsors, AutoNation USA,
Coca-Cola, Progressive Auto Insurance and RCA, have joined
the Metro Atlanta Super Bowl XXXIV Host Committee team.
Terms were not disclosed, but "for their money, local
sponsors buy increased visibility in the marketplace." As
many as nine additional local sponsors are expected to be
named in the coming weeks (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 12/10).
....Budweiser has signed a three-year deal to become the
exclusive beer sponsor of SFX events (REUTERS, 12/10).
NOTES: A "Gatorade-brand bottled water called Propel"
is "soon to hit the grocery shelves." Quaker Oats "touts"
the product as "fitness water" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/10).
FSN's Keith Olbermann, on the NHL Wild having already sold
15,000 replica and authentic game jerseys: "Wait a minute.
They haven't played a game. They don't own a single player.
So how can they have an authentic jersey? In sports
memorabilia circles, authentic means 'game-used' or at least
a duplicate of an actual player's uniform. I get it,
'Authentic' is a brand name" ("Primetime," FSN, 12/9).