Former NFLer Ray Lewis' Ray Reserve Bourbon will sponsor '16 Horse of the Year California Chrome at the inaugural $12M Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Saturday. It will be the final race for the horse and is billed as the richest thoroughbred race ever. Under the deal, Ray’s Reserve branding will be on pants worn by jockey Victor Espinoza and present on Team Chrome’s and Lewis’ social networks. The deal was engineered by Leverage Agency, N.Y., the exclusive sales and marketing agency for California Chrome (Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large).
BOAT SHOES: Western Michigan and former football coach P.J. Fleck continue "working on terms to release" the "Row the Boat" phrase to him. WMU Trustee William Johnston said, "It's just a matter of negotiating the terms of the release of that intellectual property." Fleck has "made it clear" since first becoming Minnesota's new coach he "wanted to take the phrase with him." WMU owns the rights to the term, and school AD Kathy Beauregard has said since Fleck's departure that they "would be open to discuss the term since it has to do with legal contracts" (MLIVE.com, 1/24).
BEAUTIFUL SPORT: Lacoste will dress both teams at this year's Presidents Cup, the first time one company will supply apparel for both golf teams. The U.S. collection is inspired by the American flag and features a red, white and blue palette. The international team's apparel are similar to their Presidents Cup team flag colors with blue and gold. Lacoste created uniforms for all seven days of competition, as well as silhouettes for both opening and closing ceremonies (Lacoste).
SUPERSIZE ME: Michigan-based QSR Halo Burger has named Pistons C Andre Drummond its "first-ever spokesperson and brand ambassador." Drummond's "signature burger is expected to be ready in the spring." He will "hit the test kitchen in February to start the process" (MLIVE.com, 1/26).
