adidas yesterday announced that Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard's signature basketball shoe -- the adidas D Lillard 1 -- "will be officially unveiled Jan. 13 with a Feb. 6 retail debut." In Portland, Allan Brettman noted Lillard "has been coy about sharing details of the shoe, such as the launch and retail dates." Lillard's adidas-designed logo in recent photos "appears prominently on the rear of the left shoe with a giant Adidas logo on the rear of the right shoe" (OREGONLIVE.com, 12/29).
GOLDEN TOUCH: In S.F., Ron Leuty noted the Warriors going into the '14-15 season "had signed 17 new partners, including Sony PlayStation and MGM Resorts." The club also "won renewals" from Clorox, Kaiser Permanente and Stella Artois, among others. The Warriors noted that six team sponsors "are locked in at seven-figure rates." Those "upper-echelon deals" include Clorox, Visa, wearable fitness tracker Jawbone and venue naming-rights sponsor Oracle. The club only had "a single seven-figure sponsor" prior to co-Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber purchasing the team in '10 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/29).
RISING STAR: Steiner Sports Founder & CEO Brandon Steiner said that "plenty" of people "are interested" in memorabilia for rookie NFL Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. Steiner: "Next to [Derek] Jeter, he's been our top-selling guys this year. In a quick one month. It's been extraordinary. It's very rare to have a player come on and have that kind of impact that quickly" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 12/27).
MIXED MESSAGES? NBCSPORTS.com's Tony DiZinno noted Nationwide Insurance is "taking on a bigger role" in sponsoring the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in '15. The team on Saturday tweeted out an image of Earnhardt's new helmet, and it is an "interesting juxtaposition -- a skull and crossbones on the same helmet as an insurance company" (NBCSPORTS.com, 12/28).
