In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Terry Lefton cites sources as saying that spirits brand Diageo has "quietly jettisoned its leaguewide NBA sponsorship rights" after three seasons. Activation by Diageo "largely centered" on its Crown Royal (whiskey) Ciroc (vodka) brands. Diageo supported its league deal with a "number of NBA team deals, some of which will continue." Sources said that Diageo "found the league deal cumbersome to activate." Bacardi was the "previous NBA sponsor in the spirits category" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/7 issue).
DON'T BLINK: ADWEEK's Marty Swant noted BMW and MLS have been "quietly testing an ad unit that appears briefly across the screen before retracting back to the side of a publisher's website." Undertone, N.Y., which created the format, is "calling the cross-screen, mobile-first format an 'Expandable Teaser.'" For example, with the BMW ad, which the auto brand worked on with ad agency Universal McCann, two cars "roll across half of the screen before the ad automatically retracts itself from view, leaving only a sliver left on the edge" (ADWEEK.com, 11/5).
COVER GIRL: In Minneapolis, Neal St. Anthony noted local apparel brand Asiya CEO & co-Founder Fatimah Hussein plans a "line of sports hijabs that makes exerting in basketball or volleyball or other sports more comfortable without conceding modesty." Asiya recently "raised $100,000-plus in working capital this fall through the Minnesota Cup emerging-business competition and Kickstarter." The company also has "hired a local contract manufacturer to make its lightweight, sweat-wicking hijabs" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/7).
