In DC, Dan Steinberg noted Russell Athletic "celebrated" Redskins QB and brand endorser Colt McCoy leading the club to a victory over the Cowboys on Monday night "across their social media platforms." All merchandise on the company’s website will be 16% off until Monday "in honor of McCoy’s uniform number." The company also "printed special McCoy T-shirts and is giving 16 of them away three times this week." McCoy’s face is "currently the first thing you see at RussellAthletic.com, and he continues to be the focus of the company’s social-media presence" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/30).
JUST BLUE IT: Middle Tennessee State Univ. on Thursday "officially announced the signing of a five-year contract with Nike." The announcement means "all sports at the school are officially under the umbrella of Nike-sponsored schools." Prior to the new deal, terms of which were not announced, "all MTSU sports wore Nike apparel but not all sports were officially members of the Nike-sponsored tree." MTSU AD Chris Massaro: "We can order from Nike direct now and don't have to go through wholesale. We're going to have a big cost saving on every item we order, so there's going to be a big savings for us" (DNJ.com, 10/30).
FASHION FORWARD: WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY's Rosemary Feitelberg reported UFC fighter Ronda Rousey has landed an endorsement deal with apparel brand Buffalo David Bitton. Rousey said, "I purposefully have been holding out a long time on the apparel side of sponsorship. It was worth giving up lots of money that had been offered to me in order to pick exactly the right sponsor at the right time. Buffalo Pro was the perfect thing because they never had a woman, and there had never been any MMA athlete who had a sponsored fashion deal at all" (WWD.com, 10/30).
WHEELS & DEALS: Quicken Loans has announced that for the "third straight year, it will sponsor the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix." The company has "served as the presenting sponsor of the Dual in Detroit since the doubleheader race format first began on Belle Isle" in '13. This is the only doubleheader slated for the '15 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule (DETROIT NEWS, 10/31)....Tobacco spittoon company Flasr is partnering with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Reed Sorenson and his No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing team as the primary sponsor for the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix Int'l Raceway on Sunday, Nov. 9 (TBR).
