Cingular, Send Cash: NCAA Near Deal With Cingular Wireless

Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless "is close" to signing an NCAA corporate sponsorship valued at up to $3.5M for the '01-02 academic year, according to sources of Lee & Bernstein of the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Cingular would replace Verizon Communications as the telecommunications company of the NCAA. Verizon, which inherited the NCAA sponsorship from GTE, did not renew its deal with the NCAA. GTE had been an NCAA sponsor since '96. In the Cingular deal, the company "will get rights to the NCAA and its championships' marks, licensing and merchandising rights, the ability to create promotions around NCAA championships, presence at competition-related events, ... and recognition in NCAA print publications." Lee & Bernstein note an NCAA deal would be Cingular's first national sponsorship of any league or governing body (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/20).