Logo Athletic, "despite rampant rumors to the
contrary," will "continue to supply" nine NBA teams with
uniforms next season under the Puma brand name, according to
Andy Bernstein of the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Logo Founder
Tom Shine "renegotiated" the company's one-year old deal,
"asking for financial relief that acknowledged the slump in
the licensed-product market." This comes after Logo
renegotiated terms of its NFL licensing deal, and Bernstein
cites sources as saying that NFLP has been "deluged with
calls from licensees asking to renegotiate" their league
deals "just as" Logo did (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/28).
BRACKET UP: BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton reports on the new
NCAA Final Four ad campaign from Wieden & Kennedy, Portland,
for Nike, a "non-sponsor" of the NCAA. Lefton writes that
the campaign, titled "Bracketville," features "many
Swooshmeisters tied to college teams, especially ... Duke,
who live in a town that is a two-dimensional representation
of the NCAA hoops tourney, complete with an aerial shot of
twin brackets as boundaries; sort of Pleasantville meets the
Final Four." Other "team participants" include the
universities of Cincinnati, KY, Stanford, AZ and Georgetown,
"with female athletes also included." The campaign tagline
is, "Stay as long as you can" (BRANDWEEK, 2/28 issue).
FILA CONTINUES TENNIS PUSH: The SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL's Daniel Kaplan reports that Fila has signed
Slovakian tennis player Karol Kucera to an endorsement deal
that "could pay him -- including hefty bonuses -- a seven-
figure sum" over three years. Kucera, currently ranked No.
86 on the ATP Tour, endorsed Nike, but his agent, SFX Sports
Groups' Ken Meyerson, said that Nike "cut back its tennis
endorsements recently." Kaplan adds that Meyerson "worked
with Fila to structure an insurance package," as "companies
like Fila" are "using insurance to hedge against bonus-laden
contracts" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/28 issue).
