Marketplace Roundup
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Higher-Paying Endorsement Opportunities Could
Lure Mauer To East Coast Team |
Twins C Joe Mauer, who won the AL MVP award yesterday, will be a free agent after the '10 season, and in St. Paul, Charley Walters wrote the "biggest obstacle" for the Twins in re-signing Mauer to a contract extension "might not be salary but the enormous endorsement opportunities [he] could get playing on the East Coast." Such "million-dollar endorsement deals, from Nike to Gatorade to automobiles to razors ... could be worth double and even triple what they would be playing in Minnesota" (TWINCITIES.com, 11/23).
COPYCAT LEAGUE: In Baltimore, Edward Lee notes the Ravens, "in an effort to rival the 'Terrible Towels' brandished by" Steelers fans, have "partnered with Under Armour and the Wounded Warrior Project to distribute purple-and-white rally towels to the more than 71,000 fans attending" Sunday's Steelers-Ravens game. The towels "display the Ravens' logo, Under Armour's logo and the company's slogan 'Protect This House' and an emblem for the Wounded Warrior Project" (Baltimore SUN, 11/24).
STAYING PUT: In K.C., Randy Covitz notes the NAIA yesterday "announced three-year extensions with Buffalo Funds to continue title sponsorship of the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship and with the city of Kansas City for the tournament to remain at Municipal Auditorium through 2013." The tournament, which was founded in '37, "has been staged in Kansas City for all but eight years when it was in Tulsa during 1994-2001" (K.C. STAR, 11/24).
CHILLY WINTER AHEAD: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's O'Connell & Bustill report consumers are being "generally cautious heading into the critical holiday shopping season, with preseason trends suggesting that electronics sales may be solid while sales of apparel, particularly women's styles, could get pummeled." A recent MasterCard SpendingPulse analysis indicated that U.S. shoppers "spent 6.1% more on electronics in the first half of November this month, through Nov. 14, than a year ago ... spurred by the release of a hot videogame" in "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" and "earlier-than-usual promotions on televisions." But a report released yesterday by The Conference Board indicated that U.S. households are "expected to spend about 7% less on gifts this season, shelling out an average of $390" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/24).
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