In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg reports the looming expiration of the NFL CBA has not stopped the Panthers "from landing key contracts this off-season." The Panthers in recent weeks "renewed expired sponsorships, including the crucial beer category," in which incumbents Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors "agreed to multi-year deals." Terms of the new deals "weren't disclosed." The previous six-year deals with the two brewers "totaled $4 million and expired after the 2010 season." Spanberg reports OrthoCarolina and US Airways Group Inc. also "have come to terms with the Panthers on new contracts" (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/25 issue).
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RBC lands plenty of exposure during the
Accenture Match Play Championship |
BANK ON IT: The GLOBE & MAIL's Jeff Brooke noted RBC-sponsored golfer Luke Donald "won the Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday, wearing a black jacket emblazoned on the left sleeve with the Canadian bank's golden lion logo." Fellow RBC endorser Matt Kuchar finished third, while Morgan Pressel, who also promotes the bank, "took fifth place in the LPGA Tour's HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore" this past weekend. It was a "great week for RBC and its visibility," as the "TV time its logo received during this one week alone must surely make the folks at RBC think they made a wise investment" (GOLFCANADA.ca, 2/28).
WHAT A DEAL! Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) yesterday announced Groupon as the official and exclusive Daily Deal sponsor of the Wizards, Capitals, WNBA Mystics and Verizon Center. Groupon will offer team and arena deals to local subscribers, and the company will receive signage throughout the interior and exterior of the arena, including in-game signage during Wizards, Capitals and Mystics games. Ted Leonsis, who owns Monumental, is a Groupon investor and BOD member (THE DAILY).
FUN & GAMES: MARKETING magazine's Arif Durrani reports Visa is "turning to British Olympians past and present" for a US$8.1M ad campaign "to run throughout the build-up to the London 2012 Games." The campaign will feature former U.K. rower Sir Steven Redgrave, heptathlete Jessica Ennis and former paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson. The ads, via Saatchi & Saatchi, "will launch later this month" and "show the athletes using Visa cards in everyday settings" (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 3/1).
