Marketplace Round-Up

Concept Sketches Of Moss By Pony Collection Provide Hard Evidence Of Moss' Endorsement

SPORTINGNEWS.com's Chris Littmann yesterday published concept sketches for the Moss by Pony collection, the "first hard evidence" of Patriots WR Randy Moss endorsing shoe manufacturer Pony. Littmann notes the shoes' color scheme will not match Moss' on-field apparel, "given that the green doesn’t really match anything on the Patriots uniforms." Pony has not yet announced pricing or a release date (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 4/2).

PEN & TELLER: Sharpie Global Business Unit President Howard Heckes appeared on Fox Business this morning to discuss his company’s recent two-year endorsement deal with MLS Galaxy MF David Beckham. Heckes: “We believe that he’s creative, he’s bold, he values self-expression, just like Sharpie, and he’s the rare athlete who transcends his sport and is really a major celebrity with global appeal.” Sharpie has had endorsement deals with Terrell Owens, Steve Young and Dale Earnhardt Jr., among others, with Heckes noting, “It’s a big brand and one thing about those big-name athletes ... is they’re very prominent in the North American market. But David Beckham has global appeal.” Heckes noted the campaign "targets young adults -- sort of 16-25 -- and of course, young women" (Fox Business, 4/3).

APPROACH SHOT: LPGA golfer Lorena Ochoa said that she is "planning to speak to her sponsors about helping" the Safeway Int'l tournament in Phoenix find a new title sponsor. Safeway announced last month it was pulling its deal from the event. Ochoa: "I'm going to ask my sponsors to see if they want to support the tournament." Tournament Golf Foundation President Tom Maletis, whose company owns and runs the LPGA Safeway Int'l, said, "To get that kind of support from a marquee player is always a good feeling." Ochoa's sponsors include Banamex, Citigroup, Audi, Rolex, Lacoste, Ping and Aeromexico (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/3).

JUST RACING: Just Marketing Int'l has been retained by BMW of North America for motorsports partnership and strategic consulting. The deal includes support of a newly announced BMW M3 racing effort in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). Rahal Letterman Racing will develop and test the BMW M3 race car in '08 and will field a two-car GT2 class team for a full ALMS schedule in '09 (Just Marketing).