This Week's Newsmakers: Jennings' Deal A Sign Of Things To Come?
THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers.
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Jennings Becomes Face Of
Under Armour's Basketball Line |
WIN: BRANDON JENNINGS -- The former high school basketball star is starting to reap the rewards of his controversial decision this summer to skip college in favor of playing professionally in Europe. Though it will be more than a year until Jennings can suit up in the NBA, Under Armour decides to make him the first, and undoubtedly foremost, face of its new line of basketball shoes and apparel. Under the guidance of marketing legend SONNY VACCARO, Jennings is making a name for himself, not to mention a reported $1M-plus for his nine-month Italian vacation.
LOSE: NATIONALS -- The inaugural year of Nationals Park has not gone as planned for the team, as the Nats already have reached one undesired landmark and are on the verge of another. The club's home attendance totals rank as the lowest for the first year of a new ballpark since the Twins opened the Metrodome in '82, as fans voice their displeasure at the gate for a team that is likely to hit the 100-loss plateau. To top it off, the WASHINGTON TIMES this week highlights the team's futility extensively, revealing a growing sense of frustration within the organization with the LERNER family's ownership.
DRAW: NIKE -- The shoe giant begins the week announcing plans to withdraw from the Olympic swimwear market, essentially admitting that it cannot compete with Speedo's record-setting LZR Racer suit, and later loses out on the two biggest unsigned young basketball players, Jennings and MICHAEL BEASLEY. Then, Nike reports diminished profits for Q1, due in part to the costs of Olympic promotions. But all is not lost, as the fiscal reports also reveal improved sales for the quarter, thanks mostly to the growth of the company's flagship brand, proving that Nike still is a major player when it comes to core athletic shoe and apparel sales.
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