Names & Faces: Gretzky Appears At Opening Of Ford Plant

Gretzky (r) Appears At Opening Of Ford Plant In Ontario

Coyotes Managing General Partner and coach Wayne Gretzky appeared yesterday at the opening of a new Ford plant in Oakville, Ontario, which will produce Ford Edge and luxury Lincoln MKX cross-over utility vehicles. Gretzky, a Ford spokesperson, has already appeared in TV ads for the Edge (TORONTO STAR, 10/17).

WHAT’S IN A NAME? England and Manchester United F Wayne Rooney has won ownership of waynerooney.com after the World Intellectual Property Organization, a branch of the United Nations, said that Rooney “prov[ed] his name was a registered trademark.” The ruling found that Huw Marshall, a fan of Everton, Rooney’s former team, “had registered the site in bad faith in April 2002 and had ‘no rights or legitimate interests’ in it.” Arbitrator Tony Willoughby wrote in the ruling he was “unable to accept that Marshall had no eye to the potential commercial benefit” (REUTERS, 10/13).

VIVA EDUARDO! In Denver, Marc Spears reported Nuggets F Eduardo Najera, a Mexican native, is expected to earn $1.5M in endorsement money this season, second on the team only to F Carmelo Anthony. Najera has deals in Mexico with Gatorade, adidas, Telcel, Wonder Bread, Corona Extra and Stanford Financial Group. He also has deals with Qwest and First Bank of Colorado. Najera’s games are covered in Mexican newspapers, and highlights “are always shown on television.” Over 50 people attended a news conference Friday featuring Najera in advance of the Warriors-Nuggets preseason game in Mexico City Saturday (DENVER POST, 10/15).