Rally Car Driver Goes Unique Rout To Secure X Games Sponsorship

Johnson Turns To eBay To Drum Up Sponsorship For This Weekend's X Games

Finding no sponsors in a tight economy this year, Rally Car driver Matthew Johnson turned to eBay to find financial support so that he could participate in this weekend's X Games 15. Johnson posted his sponsor opportunity on the auction Web site last Friday hoping to find enough bidders to cover the diesel fuel needed to get his box truck and rally car across the country from New Jersey to L.A. for Sunday's competition. Within five days, Johnson had raised five figures and netted enough support to cover his costs this weekend, as well as pay some outstanding rally bills. Among the sponsors are NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson, who bought space on the top of the car. Motocross rider Travis Pastrana also bought sponsorship space on the side of the car and will put a partially nude image of friend Andy Bell, who stars on Pastrana's MTV show "Nitro Circus." Johnson said, "It did exactly what we'd hoped it would do." Johnson has been rallying for years in premier Rally America Series, and placed 6th at X Games last year (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal).

ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF RYAN: BRANDWEEK's Elana Glowatz reported Wicked Fashions is launching its first celebrity clothing line in partnership with skateboarder Ryan Sheckler Friday at JCPenney in N.Y. before making it available "at other retail stores nationwide." The RS by Sheckler line will consist of "apparel for boys and young men." A marketing campaign, via Wicked and Sheckler's management team, includes a Times Square billboard, with a TV spot expected to launch on Sheckler’s MTV reality series (BRANDWEEK.com, 7/29).

COMING AT YOU: The film "X Games 3D: The Movie" premiered last night at the Nokia Theatre in L.A. for 3,000 invited guests. A slew of special guests were in attendance -- including musician Slash and actress Pamela Anderson -- as well as several athletes, including Shaun White, Tony Hawk and Ricky Carmichael. The movie received considerable in-broadcast promotion during last night's X Games coverage as ESPN flashed images of White and others showing up to walk the red carpet. The movie will be released to theaters nationwide August 21. The movie features White, Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, Danny Way, Bob Burnquist and Kyle Loza and tells the behind-the-scenes stories of the athletes as they pursue X Games success and work to progress their sports (Mickle). Way said, "I knew that the way they captured these moments and just how crazy everything looks with the real 3-D perspective is just so much more real. It’s so much more like you’re really in it, you’re really living it, versus just being outside of it. The movie is just so sensational" ("X Center," ESPN, 7/30).