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Longtime USOC CMO Lisa Baird leaving LA28 joint venture....Rose Bowl adds points of sale, value-priced concessions....Pat Bowlen, Gil Brandt finalists for Pro Football HOF

Longtime USOC CMO Lisa Baird Resigns From LA28 Joint Venture

By Ben Fischer

Former USOC CMO Lisa Baird has resigned her position with the LA28-USOC marketing joint venture, just weeks after she transitioned away from the USOC to begin selling for the ’28 Games. She will remain with the Games marketing arm to facilitate a transition in the short term, with her last day being Sept. 7. She declined to share her future plans, but she will take a similar position at New York Public Radio. “I am incredibly grateful for 10 years with some of the most talented, committed people in the world who work on the Olympic movement,” Baird said. “It’s a bittersweet time to step away, but there are times you put your family first, and this is one of those.”

Baird spent more than nine years at the USOC, overseeing a period in which Team USA’s domestic sponsorship portfolio recovered quickly after the recession, and then expanded to 26 partners by the ’16 Rio Games. She signed brands including Nike, BMW, Hershey and Polo Ralph Lauren. However, six sponsors declined to renew after Rio, including stalwarts like A-B and AT&T, and L.A.’s successful pursuit of Olympic hosting rights kicked off a period of change as the entire portfolio will be up for review in the next two years.

One of Baird’s key priorities was developing the Team USA brand as an identity that remains in the public eye during the long stretches between Games. To that end, she developed a digital strategy, helped develop a reality show-style open tryout for Olympic teams and enhanced the pre-Olympics experiential campaigns that created new assets to sell to sponsors. Before joining the USOC, she spent time with the NFL, IBM and GM.

At the LA28 joint venture, Baird was going to be servicing existing USOC sponsors and aiding the organizing committee’s efforts to build a new portfolio. LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman said it was too early to say who would be taking over her duties. “She did an incredible job and obviously I’m professionally sorry to see her go and wish her continued success,” Wasserman said.

USOC Chair Larry Probst said Baird was a “dynamic leader and innovative marketer.” “We’re sad to see her leave but we wish her the best, and we know she will always be Team USA’s biggest fan,” Probst said.

Rose Bowl Adds New Points Of Sale, Lower-Priced Concessions

By Mike Sunnucks

The Rose Bowl and concessionaires Levy and Best Beverage Catering are adding 100 new points of sale and will offer some “value pricing” for the upcoming UCLA football season. Hot dogs, sodas and nachos will sell for $3 in two sections, including near the student section. They join the roster of sports venues and teams offering cheaper F&B prices -- a trend started by Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. BBC and Levy took over concessions at the Rose Bowl earlier this year.

In addition to more points of sale, they will offer a new outdoor food venue before games at the adjacent Brookside Golf Club. Fairway Eats will be in the 18th fairway of the Pasadena golf course, which is part of the Rose Bowl campus.

Pat Bowlen, Gil Brandt Finalists For '19 Pro Football HOF Class

Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen and longtime NFL scout Gil Brandt today were nominated as "contributor finalists" for the Pro Football HOF class of '19. Bowlen and Brandt will be "presented to the full selection committee Feb. 2" ahead of Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. Although not a "rubber-stamp for induction, Bowlen’s nomination is a huge step." In the last four years, five of the six contributor nominees "have been elected" (DENVERPOST.com, 8/23). Brandt, who worked in the Cowboys' personnel department for nearly 30 years, is "closing in on the 60-year mark for having worked in the league or around the game in some capacity" (DALLASNEWS.com, 8/23).

WNBA Mystics Shift To Smaller Arena For Playoff Games

The WNBA Mystics open their postseason tonight against the Sparks at George Washington Univ.'s 5,000-seat Smith Center while their "usual home, the cavernous, 18,000-capacity Capital One Arena," undergoes renovations. Mystics C LaToya Sanders: "It’s a nice change, going from the gigantic Capital One where the lower bowl usually has people but the upper is always empty." But G Kristi Toliver said, "It’s unfortunate to get to this point in the season and have to move around, but there’s so much on the line." The Mystics are "far from the first team in the league to be uprooted during the postseason" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/23).

Furniture Row Could Sell Assets To NASCAR Team GMS

By Adam Stern

Furniture Row Racing is discussing a possible deal with NASCAR Xfinity/Truck series team GMS Racing that, if completed, would see FRR Owner Barney Visser sell FRR's assets to GMS. Sources said that the No. 78 Toyota will be running again in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in '19, but it was unclear whether GMS would buy FRR’s charter and assets right away or whether the two could form an alliance in '19 before GMS acquires the charter in '20. Sources said the deal was still being worked on and not yet completed. If it was consummated, it would find a way for Visser to keep the No. 78 operation going, as GMS Owner Maury Gallagher’s Allegiant Airlines could become a primary sponsor for the car. Both teams declined comment.

Visser had insisted that he did not want to use his own funds from his Furniture Row retail chain to sponsor the team anymore, and GMS needs a charter to move up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. GMS lost out on bidding for the now-defunct BK Racing charter that instead went to Front Row Motorsports. Sources said in recent days that FRR’s confidence was rising that the No. 78 would be back with driver Martin Truex Jr. and Toyota next year, but that funding was unclear. This appears to be one way, if not the main way, that FRR is looking to make that happen.

Richard Sherman Launches Fantasy Sports Site As Co-Founder

49ers CB Richard Sherman is "entering the daily fantasy sports business," announcing today that his new site, Daily Number, will be "launching paid contests in 23 states." Sherman is the co-Founder, along with CEO Tom McAuley, and will be Chief Brand Ambassador, "appearing in an upcoming video ad campaign." Sherman is "believed to be one of the first, if not the first, to have a founding stake in a fantasy game." Daily Number's "unique twist" on fantasy sports allows entrants to create "seven-player rosters that attempt to eclipse a predetermined total amount of fantasy points, set by the site and known as the 'daily number'" (ESPN.com, 8/23).

Speed Reads....

Tickets for the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush are "sold out." The tournament in July '19 will mark the "first time the event has been held in Northern Ireland" since '51 (GOLFWEEK.com, 8/23).

The Coyotes signed a multiyear deal with Streets of New York, which becomes the team's official pizza (Coyotes).

The Heat and Baptist Health South Florida today broke ground on a new health care center -- the Miami Heat Sports Medicine Center at the Miami Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute -- as "part of a multiyear partnership between the NBA franchise and the nonprofit health system" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/23).

Firearms brand Henry Repeating Arms announced a primary sponsorship deal for DGM Racing's NASCAR Xfinity Series No. 90 Chevrolet driven by Andy Lally in the upcoming Johnsonville 180 at Wisconsin's Road America (Henry Repeating Arms).

Henry Repeating Arms

Quick Hits....

“It’s an opportunity to communicate with guys on another level. And at some point, we won’t be soccer players anymore and speaking another language is going to be a plus” -- DC United G David Ousted, on the Spanish-language classes the club is offering (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/23).

“You wear it well. Of course, it’s so important” -- NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, to gymnast Simone Biles, who wore teal at the U.S. Championships this past weekend as a tribute to sexual abuse survivors (“Today,” NBC, 8/23).

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Tonight's Events....

The Citi Taste of Tennis takes place at Cipriani's in N.Y. ahead of the U.S. Open. The event will be highlighted by a live cooking demo by defending champ Sloane Stevens and Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Venus Williams, the Bryan brothers, John Isner, Gael Monfils and Nick Kyrgios also will be in attendance.

Daily Download....

The NHL looks at players' off-the-ice pet peeves in the latest installment of the league's Puck Personality series.

Daily Digit....

40% -- Year-over-year increase in demand for tickets to NFL games in London on the secondary market, according to data from StubHub, with one fewer game being played this year. Over the past five years, demand is up 333% (StubHub).