Delta Air Lines yesterday renewed its long-term partnerships with the Mets and Yankees for eight years. The airline will maintain the 22,500-square-foot Delta Sky360 Club at Citi Field, as well as permanent signage on the left-field wall. A new element of the Mets deal is sponsorship of all cultural-themed regular-season home games. Delta also will maintain its Delta Sky360 suite at Yankee Stadium, as well as left-field, home-plate, baseline rotational and LED signage (Delta).
NOT BANKING ON IT: In Milwaukee, Rich Kirchen reports the departure of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers as a spokesperson for Associated Bank "seems to have energized the bank’s marketing efforts" tied to the Packers. The Green Bay-based bank has "upped its game in pursuing both consumer and commercial customers." The effort "includes traditional advertising as well as digital, social media, in-stadium programs at Lambeau Field -- where Associated Bank sponsors a gate -- and in branches." Rodgers "dropped several Wisconsin commercial clients" ahead of the '15 season. The bank "replaced him" with Packers WRs Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams. Associated Bank execs are "so pleased with the Packers sponsorship in Wisconsin that commercials featuring NFL players in the Chicago and Twin Cities markets will launch in mid-October" (MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/2 issue).
SCRUFF STUFF: In N.Y., fashion/style section columnist Alex Williams wrote under the header, "For Andrew Luck, An Unruly Beard Is A Commercial Asset." The Colts QB's "infamous neck beard," more than Luck himself, is "the star of two new television commercials, for TD Ameritrade and DirecTV." Sports fans "may wonder if the beard alone will transform this likable yet unassuming football star into the next endorsement juggernaut à la" Broncos QB Peyton Manning. Others "may ask a broader style question: When the beard becomes a jock staple and centerpiece of a mass-market ad campaign, has it lost its final shred of counterculture cool?" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/4).
BUY THE HORNS: In Austin, Brian Davis cited a source as saying that Univ. of Texas officials "cancelled a planned Sunday meeting with Under Armour executives and all signs indicate the school will sign a long-term extension with Nike" (STATESMAN.com, 10/5).
