Marketplace Roundup
The Wizards Thursday confirmed that suspended G Gilbert Arenas has submitted paperwork to the NBA to "have his jersey number changed" from No. 0 to No. 6 next season should he return to the team. In DC, Michael Lee noted the No. 6 is "significant because Arenas's birthday is Jan. 6 -- which is also the day that the NBA gave Arenas an indefinite suspension." Wizards F Mike Miller has agreed to surrender No. 6, which he has worn this year in his first season with the team (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 3/11).
 |
Infiniti Has Replaced Pontiac As Official Car
Of NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament |
TO INFINITI AND BEYOND: Nissan's Infiniti brand has replaced Pontiac as the "official car" of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and Infiniti Senior Manager of Media & Marketing Operations Kathy Roznowski said, "When the property became available, we knew we wanted to go after it." CNBC's Darren Rovell noted in addition to advertising on CBS, Infiniti also will "sponsor brackets on CBSSports.com and have two 15-second commercials in every game watched" on CBS' March Madness on Demand. Infiniti is advertising its M series cars during the tournament, which retail at a "much higher price point" than Pontiac. Nissan is releasing the '11 Infiniti M nationwide next Thursday, coinciding the with the start of the tournament (CNBC.com, 3/10).
NO CASH-BACK BONUS: Members of EPL club Liverpool fan group Spirit of Shankly are "readying a campaign that calls for a boycott of The Royal Bank of Scotland if the government-owned bank agrees to refinance the club" for co-Owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The group reportedly e-mailed RBS Group Chief Exec Stephen Hester, warning if the bank renegotiated beyond this July a "campaign in protest against RBS will take place which will include billboards with anti-RBS messages encouraging Liverpool fans to boycott RBS” (MARKETINGWEEK.co.uk, 3/12).
READY TO SAVE THE DAY? BLOOMBERG NEWS' Scott Soshnick wrote Sabres G Ryan Miller is the "poster child for any desperate-for-attention professional sports league, especially at a time when supersized salaries have created a chasm between those who play and those who pay." Miller offers "humble when so many other athletes know only hubris." While he "isn't entirely comfortable with the idea of being the face of anything, let alone U.S. hockey, he accepts the notion that it’s his job to promote the game whenever and wherever possible" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 3/10).
|
