In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg reported Novant Health "made a crucial last-minute commitment to sponsor the local organizing campaign to raise" as much as $6M for the city to host the '17 NBA All-Star Game. The city of Charlotte, the Hornets and the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority committed $5.9M in "private and public services and money to host the NBA." The Hornets, the authority and the Charlotte Sports Foundation "have set a goal of netting" $1.5M from "corporate packages including tickets and hospitality at the all-star game, the Saturday night skills competition, the NBA All-Star Jam Session fan festival and other events." Novant will "be the lead sponsor of the local campaign" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/16).
HONEY BADGER DOES CARE? In Phoenix, Andrew Joseph noted PETA and NFL Cardinals S Tyrann Mathieu "teamed up for the organization's latest spot to raise awareness about the dangers of locking pets in a hot car." Mathieu "agreed to attempt to sit in an SUV for 15 minutes with no A/C and the windows up." After eight minutes, Mathieu "couldn't take it any longer." The car's temperature "was 97 degrees after two minutes and rose to 120 degrees at the eight-minute mark" (AZCENTRAL.com, 7/16).
DOUGH CANADA: The FINANCIAL POST's Claire Brownell reported the NFL has "formally requested permission to explain to a Canadian court why it thinks new rules that prohibit the substitution of Canadian commercials over American ones during the Super Bowl are a bad idea." Documents show that the NFL "plans to argue the court should strike down the CRTC’s ban on the grounds that it was unreasonable and made without the proper jurisdiction." The NFL maintains that it "stands to lose revenue from Canadian broadcasters who might buy the rights, but will now have to compete with U.S. signals" (FINANCIALPOST.com, 7/16).
