The Cotter Group Chair Tom Cotter gave his "90-some
employees" a $250,000 bonus "to be split among them" after
his firm was recently acquired by SFX in an "eight-figure"
deal (see THE DAILY, 8/7). Cotter also treated his
employees to an "all-night party on an 85-foot boat" near
Charlotte earlier this month (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER,
8/14)....Mike Cutino, whose company Billboard on Wheels
sells ad space on trucks, is "working out another yearlong
contract" with MLB "to promote teams on trucks" throughout
the U.S. (NEWSDAY, 8/14).
DU MAURIER: In Ottawa, Lisa Burke writes that this past
weekend's LPGA Tour de Maurier Classic "might just have been
the push needed to convince" a potential new title sponsor
to back the tournament, as "players of all nationalities
spoke" about "how much they loved" the event and "crowds
showed up in droves. ... Organizers couldn't have asked for
a better scenario." Additionally, "every time a player
spoke they always referred to the tournament as the du
Maurier" (OTTAWA SUN, 8/14). Also in Ottawa, Don Brennan
reports attendance figures "challenged best-ever marks of
the other 26 Classics." While "exact records are not kept,"
Tournament Dir Jocelyne Bourassa estimated the four-day
crowd at 50,000-60,000 (OTTAWA SUN, 8/14). Also in Ottawa,
Gord Holder reports that Jean-Paul Blais, who has been
searching for a new sponsor for the event since February,
did not attend this weekend's event (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 8/14).
SWIMMING: Phillips Petroleum has renewed its
sponsorship of USA Swimming through 2004. Phillips has
sponsored the organization since '73 (Phillips)....In
Boston, John Powers reported that "more than four-fifths" of
the competitors at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in
Indianapolis have worn the new full-length bodysuits (BOSTON
GLOBE, 8/13). Speedo VP/Sales & Marketing Stu Isaac, on his
company's $300 bodysuit: "Competitive swimming is one of the
most popular participatory spectator sport in the country,
so we feel that we have a product that will be marketable to
a large number of people" (AP, 8/12).
