Marketplace Roundup

Subway Says Deal With NBC Sports A First

Subway CMO Tony Pace said that the QSR's new marketing partnership with NBC Sports is "not the first with NBC, but it is the most comprehensive." Pace, whose company previously has worked with entertainment programs like "The Biggest Loser," said, "This is the first time we have done a deal with this scope within the sports arena." He said that the partnership "developed from conversations" with NBC execs, including Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol. Pace: "We talked about the fact that there are lots of things we have a shared interest in, and that this was a way of doing something bigger for both of us" (MARKETING DAILY, 10/2).

THE POWER OF CHEESE: Packers WR Greg Jennings has signed on as a spokesperson for A&W Restaurants in Wisconsin, and "soon will be featured in television commercials and billboards promoting the chain's new Snack Bite Pack," among other promotions. The restaurant made a $10,000 donation to Jennings' foundation (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 10/2).

ROUNDUP: MLB plans to feature Twins C Joe Mauer in its national TV ad effort, airing a spot that is "expected to include video of Mauer as a youngster playing in St. Paul" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 10/2)....NFL Players Inc. recently released the NFL Players Caricature line, its first exclusively licensed collection featuring illustrations of NFL players on various products, including T-shirts, mugs and water bottles. There are 17 NFLers featured in the collection (NFL Players).