AD AGE’s Rich Thomaselli reported it “took less than two weeks” after the NFL lockout ended for CBS and Yahoo Sports “to sell all the online ad inventory around their fantasy football properties.” CBS Interactive Chief Client Officer David Morris “cut a three-year deal making Volkswagen the exclusive auto sponsor of Fantasy Football, a deal that carries over into other platforms on CBSSports.com.” Volkswagen Group of America GM /Digital Marketing Charlie Taylor said that the auto company “wanted to use the NFL to support its 2012 Passat, one of its biggest introductions in more than a decade.” Meanwhile, Yahoo Sports “has seen a 15% increase in player sign-ups for its main fantasy football game” (ADAGE.com, 8/31).
WEATHERING THE STORM: Atlanta Motor Speedway VP/Sales Greg Walter said that while the economy “has affected sports sponsorship sales in recent years,” the track has been "able to weather the downturn.” He noted that “more than 100 companies have marketing or sponsorship deals” with AMS in conjunction with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 on Sunday. The event’s “biggest sponsor is AdvoCare,” which signed a three-year contract in May “to succeed Emory Healthcare as the race’s title sponsor.” AdvoCare VP/Marketing Jan Wold said, “I just felt, instead of buying a bunch of TV commercials for one or two nights, this would get us more value.” She said the company is “always trying to do something to build the brand, become a household name” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/31).
3D PROJECTIONS: MEDIA POST’s Karl Greenberg reports the Univ. of Texas is “launching a campaign promoting the university on the new Longhorn Network and on broadcasts of UT games, as well as at school events.” The ads feature “footage of a video projection on UT Tower that spotlights famous alumni and uses 3D graphics to make the building look as if it is made of spinning blocks that fit together like puzzle pieces.” The campaign, via GSD&M, Austin, and Klip Collective, “comprises five spots extending the university's 10-year-old ‘What Starts Here Changes the World’ tag.” The first of the ads aired Aug. 26 during the launch of LHN. The spots will continue to “air in-game on stations like FSN, ABC and ESPN, the UT JumboTron, and online at www.UTexas.edu” (MEDIAPOST.com, 8/31).
BOBBLEHEAD TOUR: CABLEFAX DAILY notes Turner Broadcasting will bring its “MLB Postseason on TBS Bobblehead Tour” to eight cities this month “to hype postseason play, which begins on the net Sept. 30.” Baseball fans “can get their photos taken with Postseason Pete, a 12-foot bobblehead statue decked out in the home teams’ uniform” (CABLEFAX DAILY, 9/2).
