YAHOO SPORTS' Josh Cooper reported Bridgestone "will no longer continue its partnership" with the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award through its new sponsorship with the NHL. The award has been given since the '06-07 season, and Bridgestone was "the award’s title sponsor." As of now, "no new title sponsor has been announced" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/19).
KING OF ALL (SOCIAL) MEDIA: ESPN.com's Darren Rovell cited data from social media endorsement evaluation firm Opendorse as indicating that a tweet from Cavaliers F LeBron James "has the highest value of any U.S. athlete." Each tweet from James, who has 23.2 million followers, "has a media value of $139,474." Rounding out the top five athletes whose single tweet would provide a company's product or service the most value "are Kevin Durant ($66,553), Kobe Bryant ($42,389), Floyd Mayweather ($34,924) and Dwight Howard ($34,290)" (ESPN.com, 8/19).
WHOSE TECH ARE YOU WEARING? The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Ray Smith reports Ralph Lauren "plans to launch a smart shirt for men embedded with sensors that read vital signs," and then "streams that information to an app" that will generate customized workout programs. Ralph Lauren "teamed up with OMsignal, a Montreal-based maker of wearable-technology products." The PoloTech shirt "made its debut last year at the U.S. Open tennis tournament worn by several ball boys and during practice by player Marcos Giron but wasn’t available to the public." The $295 shirt "will go on sale Aug. 27" on the company’s website, at its flagship store in N.Y., and at the U.S. Open (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/20).
