Roller Hockey Int'l (RHI), a 20-team in-line skating hockey
league, is set to begin its second season. RHI COO David
McLande: "The key this year will be our marketing. We'd like to
see a lot of sampling of the game because if people see it, they
like it -- and they come back." The league has initial
agreements to sell sponsorship packages, including signs, ads
during games carried on ESPN and ESPN2, patches on player
uniforms and tickets. Cap Cities/ABC, part owner of ESPN, owns
an undisclosed stake in the league. The first two of a planned
four-six sponsorships have been sold at $400,000 each to two
units of PepsiCo: Pepsi-Cola and Taco Bell. Pepsi-Cola's
VP/Media & Entertainment Marketing Rick Rock said they were
intrigued by the "kids playing in driveways and parking lots and
playgrounds": "It's a grass-roots type of opportunity, and we
like that." EMCI, a marketing consulting company that
specializes in entertainment promotions, is working with RHI in
pairing sponsors with the league (Stuart Elliott, N.Y. TIMES,
3/22).
