Marketplace Round-Up

Mexican driver Jorge Goeters has formed Latin American Racing to field a full-time NASCAR Busch Series team in ’06. The Charlotte-based team, for which Goeters will drive, also includes Goeters’ brother, Eduardo, and Mexican TV personality Adal Ramones. Goeters: “Even though we don’t have a sponsor yet, we’re studying our options. It doesn’t have to be a Mexican or Latin company necessarily, but someone who wants to contribute with this Latin project for Latin people” (SPEEDTV.com, 12/12).

Fiat Utilizing ’06 Torino Olympics To Help Launch New SUV

FIAT: Fiat Chair Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said the company’s new Fiat 16 SUV “has been conceived with the Olympics in mind.” di Montezemolo, whose Torino-based company is a sponsor of the ’06 Games, said that the Olympics “will be used to help launch the new vehicle” (AROUND THE RINGS, 12/9 issue).

BOXING APPAREL: The FINANCIAL TIMES’ Colin Cameron noted boxing apparel companies now “are as much fashion brands as sports wear,” and the “reach of boxing brands and popularity as women’s wear has been boosted” by films such as “Million Dollar Baby” and “Cinderella Man.” London-based Lonsdale Int’l Brand Manager Julie Paul: “Women’s expenditure on sportswear is growing faster than men’s. We’re benefiting from pastimes like boxercise” (FT, 12/10).

HORSE PLAY: The National Western Stock Show, Rodeo & Horse Show has launched a new ad campaign, via Denver-based Andrews/Birt, that includes a billboard comparing the show’s horses to the Broncos, with the tag, “These Broncos will never ask for a signing bonus.” Other celebrities parodied in the $150,000 campaign include Donald Trump, Paris Hilton, Jay-Z and Arnold Schwarzenegger (DENVER POST, 12/13).