L.A. Gear reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $5.9M or
$.34 cents a share, compared with an $11.8M, or $.59 cents a
share, loss over the same period on '94. L.A. Gear "warned that
full-year sales may be affected after Wal-Mart Stores failed to
adhere to a minimum annual-purchase agreement." Wal-Mart will
buy only $45M in L.A. Gear footwear, not the expected $80M (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 7/18). ....Converse's acquisition of Apex One
will result in Converse-manufactured uniforms for the upcoming
college basketball season at the Univ.'s of Georgia, Nebraska,
Minnesota, South Carolina, and New Mexico (BRANDWEEK, 7/17).
....Advantage Int'l has a signed golfer Mark McCumber to a
management contract (GOLF WEEK, 7/15 issue)....20th Century Fox
has bought the rights to the screenplay for "The Curse of the
Bambino," a comedy about a Red Sox fan trying to break the curse
to help his dying father. Casting will begin soon, and shooting
will is scheduled for April (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/16)....Easton Sports
of Burlington, CA, has signed the Yankees' Paul O'Neil and the
Astros' Jeff Bagwell to endorsement contracts. They will both
use and endorse Easton batting gloves and wristbands (NSGA RETAIL
FOCUS, 7/95 issue).... Baseball FanFest will make its first
appearance outside North America when it goes to London next
month for three days (MLB)....Kraft, who has re-upped their NFL
sponsorship deal for a reported $3M, will run a national
promotion with Kraft cheese, Oscar Meyer, and Louis Rich tying in
21 NFL teams (BRANDWEEK, 7/17 issue)....The ESPN Chilton Sports
Poll announced the addition of Toyota as a Charter Sponsor of its
sports marketing research. Toyota is the first auto company to
purchase ESPN Chilton's research (ESPN Chilton)....PF Sports
Ventures, a subsidiary of Photo File, will run their annual
promotion offering fans a chance to win the title of "National
Baseball Trivia Champion." A scaled-down promo will be
introduced this month in USA Today's BASEBALL WEEKLY, with the
full program launched in '96 (Photo File)....The NFL's "Air It
Out" four-on-four flag football tournament, presented by
Budweiser, Gatorade, and Ocean Spray, will be in Detroit from
August 12-13 (Lions).
