U.S. women's national soccer team G Hope Solo "will join Gatorade’s powerful promotional arsenal after signing a multiyear marketing deal with the beverage company," according to Fred Dreier of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Sources "peg the deal in the low six-figure range per year." A Gatorade official "would not reveal how they intend to use ... Solo in the company’s marketing, confirming only that Solo is part of Gatorade’s push to diversify its athlete base." Solo's agent, Wasserman Media Group's Richard Motzkin, said that he and Gatorade "began discussing a possible deal before the World Cup started, but he described interest in her after the World Cup as 'staggering.'" He hinted that "more individual deals are on the horizon, but would not discuss details." Gatorade "has sponsored the U.S. women’s national team since 1999, and has had an individual deal" with F Abby Wambach since '04 (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/1 issue).
NEED FOR SPEED: Solo drove the pace car at yesterday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She joked, "They don't want me to go a mile over 55 miles per hour (pit road speed). I thought this was a racetrack!" (USA TODAY, 8/1).
