Marketplace Round-Up

George Mason Cashing In On Final Four Appearance

George Mason Univ. Assistant VP/University Services John Spaldo said that the school “sold only $663,000 worth of logo clothing all year,” but last week alone sales totaled $150,000 (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 3/28).

IMAGE COUNTS: In this week’s SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Terry Lefton reports Gatorade has signed a one-year renewal of its MLB sponsorship and added MLBPA rights under a three-year agreement. The latter deal means Gatorade “will be able to feature” its MLB endorsers, Yankees SS Derek Jeter and Cubs P Mark Prior, in uniform (SBJ, 3/27 issue).

NOT INTERESTED: Nike has rejected the opportunity to buy English Premier League club Sunderland. Nike, whose U.K. HQs are close to the team’s stadium, was “offered the club — valued at about [US$105M].” But with the team “reported to be about [US$66M] in debt, [Nike] rejected the opportunity” (THE PEOPLE, 3/26).

EXIT ROW: British Airways sources said that the airline “is yet to be convinced that it needs to be a sponsor [of the 2012 London Olympics] to derive a commercial benefit from the event.” Marketing experts put the price of the official airline designation at US$87-175M. A British Airways source said, “Our planes will be full at the time of the games anyway.” British Airways served as the official airline of the 2012 London bid (LONDON TIMES, 3/26).