ESPN.com's Darren Rovell noted the 76ers' D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers, this season will "wear the logo" of e-sports club Team Dignitas on its jerseys. The 76ers acquired Team Dignitas in September (TWITTER.com, 12/30). THE COMEBACK's Matt Lichtenstadter wrote it is "not the cleanest looking sponsorship ad ever placed on a jersey, but it shows" that the 76ers are "at the forefront of a couple of trends that figure to grow quite a bit" this year (THECOMEBACK.com, 12/30).
IT'S MORE THAN FOOTBALL: BROADCASTING & CABLE's Jon Lafayette cited Nielsen data as showing that college football is "one of the nation’s most popular sports" and its fans have the "buying power to make it attractive to luxury advertisers." According to a Nielsen Sponsorlink study, college football fans are 23% "more likely to make more than $70,000 a year and are 11% more likely to be college graduates than the general population." College football fans are also 42% "more likely to take action after seeing a sponsorship." Nielsen found that of the top 10 brands advertising on TV during regular season college football games, "most of the advertisers were in non-luxury categories" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 12/29).
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: The FINANCIAL TIMES' Matthew Garrahan noted new F1 owner Liberty Media "plans to overhaul the elite motorsport, including selling race naming rights and staging ancillary events" around its 21 grand prix with the aim of making each one "the equivalent of the Super Bowl." Liberty "intends" to turn each int'l Grand Prix into a week of events. Liberty is also "exploring expanding" F1's U.S. presence with the "launch of new Grand Prix in big media markets." N.Y., L.A., Las Vegas and Miami are "under consideration" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 12/29).
