EA Studios Exec VP Patrick Soderlund said that the end of the company's relationship with Tiger Woods was "more business than anything else." He said, "It's more normal course of business and actually not so dramatic. To me, it's, 'Okay, we're making a golf game. Tiger's not going to be on the cover of it. That's fine by me.'" Regarding the company's "Madden NFL" franchise, he pointed out that "nothing in that relationship had changed." He said EA remains "very, very committed to football and our ambition is to keep making football games" with no plans to change the Madden affiliation (POLYGON.com, 11/2).
JOHNNY LAWSUIT: In Dallas, Jeff Mosier reported the family of Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel and a local T-shirt maker "appear to have settled their differences over trademark claims." JMAN2 Enterprises, a company controlled by Manziel's family, sued Eric Vaughan last week "over his 'Keep Calm and Johnny Football' T-shirt." A federal filing in the Eastern District of Texas indicates "the parties have settled their differences on a 'confidential basis.'" The lawsuit, filed in February, claimed that Vaughan did not "have the rights to profit off Manziel’s Johnny Football nickname" (DALLASNEWS.com, 11/1).
NOTES: Toyota recently signed a one-year deal with IMG College, establishing a sponsorship between the automaker and the Univ. of Michigan. The deal spans the '13-14 school year and involves radio and Internet promotions for Toyota during the school's football, men's basketball and hockey seasons (Toyota)....Golf HOFer Gary Player and Germany-based bank Berenberg on Friday announced a three-year partnership in which he will serve as a global ambassador for the bank (Berenberg)....Perry Ellis Int’l confirmed that it will expand its apparel licensee partnership with Callaway Golf to design, manufacture and sell golf apparel across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Perry Ellis).
