In Boston, Donna Goodison reports Puma on Thursday “became the latest company to announce it was ending its endorsement deal” with former Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez. Puma announced a “two-year deal with Hernandez in April and said he would be a face of its men’s training category.” Hernandez was to be featured in Puma’s “Nature of Performance” campaign. Sports nutrition company CytoSport also has “ended its deal with Hernandez” (BOSTON HERALD, 6/28).
LONE STAR KICKOFF: ESPN and AdvoCare on Thursday announced a four-year title sponsorship deal for the Texas Kickoff. The early-season college football matchup will be known as the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff, taking place on Labor Day Weekend at Reliant Stadium. The inaugural game will feature Mississippi State-Oklahoma State on Aug. 31 at 2:30pm CT, with coverage on ABC (ESPN). The company also sponsors the AdvoCare V100 Bowl in Shreveport, La. (THE DAILY).
BURNING RUBBER: SPORTING NEWS’ Bob Pockrass noted Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans “can not only buy T-shirts with their favorite driver’s car number (88) on it, but they can now buy them with tire rubber on it, too.” Burn Rubber Productions is “selling Earnhardt shirts that have race-used tire rubber as part of the design.” The shirts will be available “at the track and online.” They are “being sold as part of a licensing agreement between JR Motorsports, Earnhardt’s Nationwide Series team, and Burn Rubber Productions, which has a video on its website that shows how it makes the T-shirts” (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 6/26).
