EPL club Chelsea has confirmed a "new partnership" with Nike until '32. The long-term deal is worth US$74M a year, eclipsing the $37M a year contract the club had with adidas. Chelsea's Nike contract is twice what Arsenal is paid by Puma and "is more than three times" what Manchester City earns from Nike (London TELEGRAPH, 10/13).
LET'S GO PLACES: Jeep has extended its partnership with the Big East, becoming the presenting sponsor of both the men's and women's basketball tournaments in addition to 20 Olympic sport championships beginning this month. Jeep also has committed to a large media buy supporting Big East basketball games on Fox. Other returning sponsors for the Big East include Nike, Gatorade, Geico, Primesport, Sunkist, Continental Tire, Westwood One and SiriusXM Radio. Both Primesport and Continental Tire have extended their partnerships for three years (Big East).
HERE EVERYTHING'S BETTER: In San Antonio, Joshua Fechter notes former NBAer Tim Duncan will appear in a "new series of H-E-B commercials featuring an elite group of Spurs 'legends.'" The first ad shows Duncan being "invited to a 'secret retirement club'" with David Robinson, George Gervin, Bruce Bowen and Sean Elliot, who are all shown "lounging around in black slippers and silver robes." They are surrounded by H-E-B's brand of ice cream, the Spurs' Coyote "grilling up meat, a basketball ice sculpture and ... a violinist" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 10/14).
RUMBLE TIME: Thunder G Russell Westbrook is featured in a new NBA ad released online Thursday titled "Zeroes." The spot, which is part of the NBA's "This Is Why We Play" global campaign, debuted Thursday night during TNT's preseason doubleheader of Raptors-Cavaliers and Trail Blazers-Clippers (NEWSOK.com, 10/13).
