John Elway is featured in a full-page ad for the
National Milk Producers in USA TODAY (THE DAILY)....A
limited-distribution Wheaties box honoring the Broncos was
released after last night's game, featuring Elway, Neil
Smith, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe and Steve Atwater. The
package should appear on shelves within two weeks in CO and
parts of WY (General Mills)....In interviews on NBC's pre-
game show, many players wore turtlenecks bearing the logo of
EAS. USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke notes that it stands for
Experimental and Applied Sciences, a dietary supplement (USA
TODAY, 1/26)....Elway's "I'm going to Disney World" spot ran
this morning during NBC's "Today" show (NBC, 1/26).
QUALCOMM ON AIR: Qualcomm, which holds naming rights to
San Diego's stadium, was mentioned often throughout NBC's
broadcast. During the pregame show, NBC's Greg Gumbel
mentioned Qualcomm's $18M naming rights deal and said,
"Today marks the very first Super Bowl being held in a
stadium bearing a corporate name." NBC's Dick Enberg also
mentioned the stadium name during opening of the "Lay's
Kickoff Show," at the start of the second quarter and near
the end of the third quarter. Qualcomm was also identified
at least twice during the post-game show and the Qualcomm
scoreboard was visible throughout the game (THE DAILY).
NOTES: Ticket scalpers received "upwards of $2,000 for
the $275 seats" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/25)....Approximately
$75M in bets were placed on last night's game in Nevada
alone. The volume of illegal bets is "estimated to reach 50
times that figure," or $3.75B (Mult., 1/25)....The NFL
Experience was one of the week's "most-popular attractions,"
but on Saturday it "was too popular," according to Peter
Rowe of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Saturday's attendance
reached 45,000 and some ticket holders had to "wait up to"
two hours before entering the event (UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/26).
....Corporate hospitality around the Super Bowl was examined
by Greg Johnson of the L.A. TIMES. Some corporations "spend
freely to pamper top salespeople ... and send a message to
laggards watching the game at home" (L.A. TIMES, 1/25). In
DC, Jennifer Frey wrote that the game "is the greatest
sports marketing extravaganza in the world, an event so huge
and so popular that, in and of itself, it sets the NFL apart
from other professional sports leagues" (WASH. POST, 1/25).
NFL Dir of Corporate Communications Chris Widmaier:
"Corporations party with the NFL for a number of reasons.
With the Super Bowl, companies can decide what meets their
objectives" (O.C. REGISTER, 1/23). The San Diego C&VB
estimated that 60% of the 100,000 or so Super Bowl visitors
are here on corporate accounts (UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/22).
