Marketplace Round-Up

SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Andy Bernstein reports Fox has sold more than 90% of its available ad inventory for the World Series, “commanding a price increase in the [8-10%] range.” Buyers estimated that the cost for a 30-second spot is $325,000, “similar to published reports from previous years.” Bernstein notes new World Series advertisers include ExxonMobil and Ameriprise Financial. Sprint returns “after a brief absence” along with GM, A-B, BofA, Pepsi, Citibank, John Hancock, DHL, Nissan, State Farm and Verizon Wireless (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/19 issue).

FEEDING THE BEAST: Sporting News and Holiday Inn have teamed up to develop Sporting News-branded restaurants called Sporting News Grill for Holiday Inn Select hotels. The restaurants will begin to appear next year and will be in all 91 Holiday Inn Selects by the end of ’06. The deal represents a first-of-its-kind sports media partnership for Holiday Inn, and the first hospitality partnership for Sporting News (Sporting News). Like many in the late ‘90s, Sporting News jumped into the themed-restaurant space with their own plans to launch a Sporting News Grille in ‘97. A grill opened briefly in the DC area under the Sporting News name, but larger plans for the concept never materialized (THE DAILY).

URBAN MARKETING: The ORLANDO BUSINESS JOURNAL reports the Gator Network and Dairy Farmers Inc. are selling Gator Frosted Flakes featuring the image of Univ. of Florida football coach Urban Meyer. Over 25,000 boxes of the cereal are being sold at Publix Super Markets “in major Florida markets” (ORLANDO BUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/16 issue).