Marketplace Round-Up
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adidas Likely To Make Durant (l)
Top Pick Over Oden |
adidas NBA Sports Marketing Manager Jim Gatto said adidas made a “significant” offer to F Kevin Durant, who is expected to be one of the top two picks in the NBA Draft. Gatto said that C Greg Oden, the expected top pick, “still has a lot of appeal, ‘but we feel Durant has more to offer. He’s a wing, or a guard, and big men in particular don’t sell product.’” Nike declined to comment on either player. Univ. of Oregon Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Managing Dir Paul Swangard: “So much of endorsement is built on aspiration. An athlete who is more apt to be copied at the playground pickup game probably has an inherent edge” (Portland OREGONIAN, 5/25). Durant, G Corey Brewer and F Al Horford appeared on ESPNews Thursday from Vancouver, where they were taking part in the development of EA Sports’ “NBA Live 08.” Durant wore a motion capture suit with a large EA Sports button on his chest (ESPNews, 5/24).
SODA FOUNTAIN: Jones Soda Founder & CEO Peter van Stolk, discussing his company’s new pouring-rights deal at Qwest Field, said of future plans in sports facilities, “Our goal is to create a fan experience. If we create the fan experience for the Seahawks, then we think that people will come to us and say, ‘Hey, that’s really cool. That’s what we want to do.’” van Stolk would not put a dollar figure on the deal, but did say “it was worth a ton to Jones because it gives us the credibility to play against the big boys” (“Street Signs,” CNBC, 5/24).
ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE: Massachusetts-based Saucony is launching a line of running apparel in the U.S. consisting of three performance clothing collections next spring, followed by lifestyle clothing and accessories in fall ’08. Saucony-sponsored athletes will wear the Hurricane Collection, one of the three performance lines. The lifestyle line will be designed to wear to and from athletic activities (BOSTON HERALD, 5/25).
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