Names In The News

Rawson Appears On YES Network's "SportsMoney"

Thursday night’s episode of YES Network’s "SportsMoney" profiled golfer ANNA RAWSON and boxer FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. as two “sports brands that are attempting to diversify their revenue streams." Rawson said she tells other female golfers who ask for advice, "You got to have a great story. That's the start of everything … and that's what you're selling." Rawson earns $3M annually in endorsement and licensing revenue, and Forbes National Editor MICHAEL OZANIAN noted she is "becoming one of the most recognizable female golfers, if not athletes, in the world, slowly but surely." Meanwhile, Mayweather said of building his brand through his out-of-the ring activities, including competing on ABC's "DWTS," HBO's "24/7" and participating in WWE, "Whatever it takes to entertain and just be on the top of my game, that's what I'm trying to do” ("SportsMoney," YES Network, 10/15).

GETTING POLITICAL: Opponents of former WWE CEO LINDA MCMAHON expect her to "spend as much as $30[M] of her own money" on her campaign for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by CHRIS DODD (D-CT). McMahon has "launched a major television advertising blitz with commercials on the season premiere of 'Saturday Night Live' and during a Notre Dame football game." McMahon's campaign Tuesday said that she spent $2.05M for the period ending September 30 and has $1.45M in "cash on hand" (COURANT.com, 10/13)....Celtics Managing Partner STEVE PAGLIUCA, who is running for Massachusetts' vacant U.S. Senate seat, through September had spent $1.4M on the race, "more than twice as much as the combined spending of his three major opponents in the Democratic primary" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/16).

LASTING LEGACY: A trust fund set up by the family of late NASCAR driver ALAN KULWICKI will "fund scholarships and build a student center at the engineering school" at the Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his alma mater. The trust "will award about $630,000 in need-based scholarships over the next 25 years." Kulwicki's estate also will "fund scholarships and a building project" at UNC-Charlotte, where the "motorsports research lab will be renamed in his honor" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/16).

NAMES: MLB Cardinals P CHRIS CARPENTER is featured in the second episode of Golf Channel's new online series, "Infuze My Game." The program, which appeared Thursday on the network's Web site, is "part of a 12-month series in which different celebrities and amateur players undergo a golf makeover" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/16)....Tennis player VENUS WILLIAMS Wednesday "visited the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida to shoot the cover for her upcoming book 'COME TO WIN' by Amistad/Harper Collins." The book is "set to arrive on shelves in the summer of 2010" (TENNISWEEK.com, 10/15)....Former NHLer SERGEI FEDOROV filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Michigan-based Hyman Lippit PC, alleging that they "shared responsibility for 'tens of millions' of dollars that he invested and lost" with Michigan resident JOE ZADA, who "also was a client of the law firm" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/16)....Dolphins RB RICKY WILLIAMS and free agent RB RUDI JOHNSON have "signed on as co-owners of Proof on Ocean Drive,  a health-conscious restaurant and lounge set to open next month in the Z Ocean Hotel South Beach" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 10/15).