Xavier Univ. athletics yesterday announced a new five-year deal with Nike that covers all 18 of its intercollegiate sports programs. Xavier men's basketball has been a Nike program since '01-02 and in '10 was elevated to Nike NTS Promo status, representing the highest Nike tier for a hoops program without winning a national championship (Xavier). Several of Xavier's other sports "have had their own deals with other sporting goods providers." The school "didn't say how much the Nike deal is worth" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/26).
BEGINNER'S LUCK: First-year NFL corporate sponsor TD Ameritrade has signed Colts QB Andrew Luck to a two-year endorsement agreement. Under the deal, Luck will appear in national ad campaigns, do social media and make promotional appearances for the NFL's official brokerage house. The agreement with Luck is coterminous with the one signed with the NFL before this season started. Intersport identified Luck, repped by WMG, as the right endorser after two months of research, negotiated the deal and will manage activation of the deal as part of TD Ameritrade's larger NFL strategy, much of which will be played out next season (Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large).
BLONDE OVER BLUE: Maria Sharapova defeated Eugenie Bouchard today in the Australian Open quarterfinals, improving her record to 4-0 against Bouchard. But in London, Barry Flatman noted the players head an "alternate rankings list based on their lucrative collections of endorsement contracts," and Sharapova sees Bouchard as the "biggest threat to her continued dominance in this respect." If Bouchard begins winning some head-to-head matches, it is "sure to have an effect on their relative marketing values off the court" (LONDON TIMES, 1/26).
WHEELS & DEALS: Joe Gibbs Racing announced that GameStop will sponsor the No. 20 NASCAR Xfinity Series Toyota driven by Erik Jones for 10 races in ’15. This season marks GameStop’s eighth year partnering with JGR (JGR)....NASCAR team Richard Childress Racing has signed a five-year renewal with digital printing company Roland DGA, extending a partnership that began in '10 (RCR).
