Pepsi Sports Marketing Dir JUSTIN TOMAN said BRITNEY SPEARS will "not" perform at Super Bowl LII. The N.Y. Daily News earlier this week reported that Spears had discussions with TV and ad execs about performing at the game. Toman "did reveal a bit about the process" in finding a halftime show act. He said, "It’s us, the artist and the NFL, and at the end, everybody has to align.” He said the NFL “contracts the performance” and “no money is exchanged" (VARIETY.com, 7/12).
MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO: Allen & Co.'s Sun Valley Conference is happening this week, and CNBC's Julia Boorstin noted "mergers and acquisitions and questions about business" in the TRUMP era were "top of mind" among CEOs at the event. WPP Founder & CEO MARTIN SORRELL said several of his largest clients are "focused on bottom line cost" of their ad spending. Sorrell: "Generally, the world is one of slow growth" ("Squawk Box, CNBC, 7/12). IAC Chair BARRY DILLER added of the White House's agenda, "This administration will have difficulty getting anything done" ("Power Lunch, CNBC, 7/12). Discovery CEO DAVID ZASLAV said he "expects to see many more media deals with less regulatory overnight from the Trump administration and pressure from cord cutting." Zaslav: "It feels like there's more pressure on the cable, satellite and mobile players around the world to merge" ("Fast Money, CNBC, 7/11).
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Former Ole Miss football coach HOUSTON NUTT yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, the university itself, and the BOT, citing "breach of contract and breach of good faith and fair dealing." Attorney THOMAS MARS said that there was a "breach in Nutt’s severance agreement with Ole Miss, which allegedly stems from 'certain false and defamatory statements made by and on behalf of the Defendants in connection with an NCAA investigation of the Ole Miss football program.'" The complaint targets current Ole Miss football coach HUGH FREEZE, Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletic ROSS BJORK and Associate AD/Communications KYLE CAMPBELL, specifically (Jackson CLARION-LEDGER, 7/13).
ROUNDING THE BASES: Minneapolis Star Tribune sports columnist PATRICK REUSSE is "one of three finalists for baseball writing's highest honor, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award." A winner will be "announced at baseball's winter meetings in Orlando this December." Nominated with Reusse are longtime Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Rangers writer JIM REEVES and the Akron Beacon Journal's SHELDON OCKER, who "covered the Indians for three decades" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/12)....Former Detroit News sportswriter TERRY FOSTER is this year’s "recipient of the Ty Tyson award from Detroit Sports Media, formerly known as the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association." Foster "retired earlier this year for health reasons" (DETROIT NEWS, 7/13).
NAMES: The Legends HOF induction ceremony July 8 at the French Lick Resort in Indiana was to honor two top golfers in SANDRA PALMER and NANCY SCRANTON, but there were actually “four new members instead of two, including the first men accorded the honor.” Cook Group Chair STEVE FERGUSON and French Lick Resort Dir of Golf DAVE HARNER also were named to the HOF as a “tribute to their leadership in creating the first Senior LPGA Championship,” which concluded yesterday (DAILYHERALD.com, 7/9)....Symetra Tour player HYEMIN KIM yesterday announced she is donating her entire winnings from her victory at the POC Med Golf Classic ($15,000) in April to LPGA*USGA Girls Golf (Symetra Tour)....PETE FRATES, the inspiration behind the Ice Bucket Challenge, yesterday “returned home” from Massachusetts General Hospital (BOSTON HERALD, 7/13).
