MLB Properties and Bayer HealthCare on Thursday formally announced an expansion of their sponsorship agreement involving both the Bayer Advanced Aspirin and One-A-Day brands. One-A-Day will remain the official multivitamin of the league, a designation it has held since ’08, while Bayer Advanced Aspirin becomes the official pain reliever of MLB. The multiyear agreements expand Bayer HealthCare's exclusive rights in the categories, and Bayer will soon announce an MLB-themed promotion for Bayer Advanced Aspirin. In addition, both Bayer Advanced Aspirin and One-A-Day will make significant media commitments to national MLB TV rights holders. Both also will sponsor featured attractions at MLB All-Star FanFest in Phoenix starting Friday (MLB/Bayer). The extension with Bayer was first reported by SportsBusiness Journal.
TALK OF THE TOWN: In Portland, Allan Brettman reports Nike will “open a larger, updated flagship store in downtown Portland in time for holiday shopping, replacing the 21-year-old NikeTown a few blocks away.” The new store, called “Nike Portland," will feature “more products, updated design and a fieldhouse theme.” By December, Nike will have opened "seven new or renovated stores" in the U.S. since last year (Portland OREGONIAN, 7/8). In Las Vegas, Laura Emerson noted Nike will “reopen its retail store inside the Forum Shops at Caesars on July 28.” The remodeled 30,000-square-foot location “will reflect the athleticwear brand's newest store concept, one of five such locations nationwide.” In addition to the Las Vegas store, Nike's new design “can be seen in Santa Monica, Calif.; Garden City, N.Y.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Bloomington, Minn.” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/7).
WHAT'S IN A NAME? SPEEDTV.com’s Adam Cooper reports the “oldest and most famous team in F1 has changed its name this weekend,” as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro “has reverted to its traditional moniker of Scuderia Ferrari.” The change “doesn’t make any difference to the logos on the cars, but the new name will appear on the official FIA entry list, and things like signboards over the pit garage.” The move has been made “in light of ongoing pressure from anti-tobacco interests around the world, although the team maintains that it didn’t have to change” (SPEEDTV.com, 7/8).
SUNNY SKIES AHEAD: BROADCASTING & CABLE’s Jon Lafayette reported media buyer GroupM for ’12 is “forecasting a 6.8% increase in ad spending” to $540.3B, contributing the growth to the ‘12 London Games and a presidential election year in the U.S. GroupM Chief Investment Officer Rino Scanzoni said, "For the summer Olympics, the broadcasts will attract substantial advertising investment, but the majority of this will be displaced rather than new funds" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 7/6).
