THAT'S THE TICKET: In a poll by TheFemaleAthlete.com
that asked, "What do teenage girls most want to receive for
Christmas," 34% of respondents said tickets to a sporting
event and 12% said sports equipment (USA TODAY, 12/20).
DEALS & DOLLARS: AutoNation has cancelled its Super
Bowl ad buy in a move that "comes in the wake of" the
company's "sudden closure" of 23 stores (AD AGE, 12/20).
...Sandbox.com has enlisted VA-based The Martin Agency as
its first agency of record. Billings are "estimated" at
$15M (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/20)....In Minneapolis, Jay
Weiner reported on sponsorship around the college bowl
games. CA-based Wells Fargo is paying $550,000 for its Sun
Bowl sponsorship and receives its "name on just about
anything that can be seen" in the El Paso stadium. The bank
"also gets 10 30-second spots valued at about" $350,000, but
will give four of the spots to the city of El Paso "to
promote itself" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/19)....Fox's
Terry Bradshaw led Sunday's "Fox NFL Sunday" with the
introduction of the action figures based on each of the
show's studio announcers. Bradshaw: "They've got 5,000 of
me, 5,000 of J.B, 1,500 of Cris and 25,000 of Howie." Fox's
Jimmy Kimmel was later shown shopping in a toy store for
what he called the "hottest toy this Christmas ... the Fox
NFL Pregame announcer series." Kimmel asked a little girl
if she wanted a Bradshaw doll. The girl ran off crying,
"It's ugly! Mommy!" ("Fox NFL Sunday," 12/19).
