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SHE'S THEIR VENUS: REEBOK LOCKS UP WILLIAMS IN MEGA-DEAL

          Under a five-year, $40M endorsement deal formally
     announced yesterday, Venus Williams will be featured in
     Reebok's new Defy Conventions ad campaign, which will debut
     after CBS' broadcast of Super Bowl XXXV on the first episode
     of "Survivor II," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y.
     TIMES, who writes that Reebok's "plan is to make [Williams]
     its leading athlete on a shrunken roster of athletic
     endorsers."  Williams' Reebok deal "dwarfs" adidas' $3M per
     year deal with Anna Kournikova and a "similar contract"
     Samsung has with golfer Se Ri Pak, which Burns Sports
     President Bob Williams called the "richest deals among women
     until now."  Williams: "It's the first time an advertiser
     felt that it had to pay top dollar for a female athlete. 
     This is more of a sponsorship than an endorsement" (N.Y.
     TIMES, 12/22).  Also in N.Y., Kristie Ackert writes that the
     Defy Convention campaign will promote Williams "not only as
     an athlete, but as a cultural and generational icon, similar
     to the way Nike helped make golfer Tiger Woods into an
     international star."  Williams will also "co-design a new
     Reebok collection," scheduled for a '02 debut, that will
     include both tennis apparel and "urban wear" (N.Y. DAILY
     NEWS, 12/22).  Venus' father, Richard, said that the deal is
     "actually a three-year arrangement with a two-year extension
     that could provide even more money if Venus reaches certain
     incentive clauses" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/22).
          KEY RICHARD: Williams' attorney Keven Davis said that
     Richard was the "key influencer in the room with Reebok CEO
     Paul Fireman at the final negotiations" for the deal
     (ESPN.com, 12/21).  Richard Williams, on the negotiations:
     "It took me awhile to convince them to go into grounds where
     they had never been before.  It was most difficult.  I told
     Mr. Paul Fireman that it would be a win-win situation. ...
     Everyone is going to get their money's worth" (USA TODAY,
     12/22).  But in NJ, Matthew Futterman writes that the deal
     is "not without risks," as Venus has "made her mark as a
     brash athlete who isn't afraid to raise the sensitive issue
     of race and voice her complaints about a sport that has
     always been dominated by the country club set."  But some
     sports marketing "experts" said that the deal was a "savvy
     move at a time when the audience for women's sports ... is
     growing far more quickly [than] the audience for men's
     sports" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 12/22).
          HEADLINE GRABBER: CBS' Dan Rather said, "Sports news
     makes the front page [with] a new record for tennis star
     Venus Williams" ("CBS Evening News," CBS, 12/21).  ABC's
     Peter Jennings also reported on the deal ("World News
     Tonight," ABC, 12/21).  CNBC's Ted David: "For $20 million a
     year, I'd anchor every show on the air here with those shoes
     on, not a problem" ("The Edge," CNBC, 12/21).  On his
     WinStar Radio segment this morning, Keith Olbermann said
     NBC's Katie Couric and Venus Williams "spent much of" their
     interview on the "Today" show yesterday (see THE DAILY,
     12/21) "discussing the mechanics of just when and how Venus
     decided to leverage her renewal [of] her endorsement deal
     with [Reebok].  And throw in all news organizations that
     treated the deal like the unveiling of the new Attorney
     General.  When exactly did that become news and when exactly
     did we stop asking our morning hosts to know the difference
     between news and free commercials?" (WinStar Radio, 12/22).

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