goodyear

Goodyear, the only title sponsor the Cotton Bowl has known since the start of the CFP, has renewed its agreement again. The company will announce a multiyear extension later this morning. The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, played annually at AT&T Stadium, will host Saturday’s Clemson-Notre Dame CFP semifinal. Goodyear originally struck the title sponsorship deal in '14, the first year of the CFP, and renewed it in '16. Goodyear’s contract is with ESPN, the media and marketing rights holder for the CFP. The agreement extends Goodyear’s six-decade association with college football that covers more than 2,000 games featuring the iconic Goodyear blimp. With the announcement today in Dallas, Goodyear unveiled sculptures made out of tires for the Fighting Irish and Tiger mascots.

Brian Lafemina is "no longer with the Redskins," after he was hired in May as President of Business Operations & COO "amid great fanfare." Also "gone from the team" are CMO Steve Ziff, Chief Commercial Officer Todd Kline and Senior VP/Consumer Sales Jake Bye. The new group of business leaders was "given less than a year to implement their ideas, and it will be hard to know if things improve next season." The ousting of the four execs "adds more drama to a Redskins 2018 campaign full of it" (NBCSPORTSWASHINGTON.com, 12/26).

Yesterday's Boston College-Boise State Servpro First Responder Bowl was "canceled due to weather-related public and player safety issues" following a "one-hour delay midway through the first quarter. There were "two weather systems in play, with the second and more powerful one" expected to reach the Dallas area by 3:00pm CT. After the "initial stoppage, all parties unanimously agreed that cancelling the game was the wisest course of action." The NCAA said that this was the "first bowl game canceled because of weather" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/27).

Boise State "will provide refunds to fans who bought bowl tickets from the school." The school had "about 2,000 tickets out for the game," priced at $75 or $100. Boston College AD Martin Jarmond on Twitter announced that BC fans "would receive a refund" as well as "one free ticket per bowl ticket to a home athletic event of their choice in the next 12 months." The First Responder Bowl said that ticket holders "can get a full refund or free tickets to next year's game, with two additional tickets per order" (IDAHO STATESMAN, 12/27).

The Cheez-It Bowl -- formerly the Cactus/Insight/Copper Bowl -- saw 33,121 fans for TCU-Cal last night at Chase Field, up from the event’s record low of 32,859 last year for Kansas State-UCLA.  Meanwhile, Minnesota’s win over Georgia Tech yesterday in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field drew 27,228 fans, up big from 20,252 for Duke-Northern Illinois last year. Two years ago, the game had a record low figure of 19,117 for Boston College-Maryland.

A-B InBev is "taking one of its signature advertising characters to the San Antonio streets" for tomorrow's Alamo Bowl featuring Iowa State-Washington State. "The Busch Guy," a "popular spokesman for the Busch line of beers since a successful 2017 Super Bowl ad campaign, will likely be making appearances throughout the city in the lead-up" to the game. In a short video posted on the Busch Beer Twitter account, the Busch Guy says, "Last year, (Iowa State fans) drank Memphis out of Busch Light. That's not going to happen again. Not in San Antonio" (DES MOINES REGISTER, 12/27).

🚨🚨Alert🚨🚨
Rowdy fans have arrived for the ⁦⁦⁦@valeroalamobowl⁩, threatening to drink San Antonio out of Busch Light. Luckily, we sent in our top guy. Use #BuschSafeHouse to share where you’ve found Busch Light, and Busch Guy might check in! 🔈🆙 pic.twitter.com/Ny5fjcJwlQ

— Busch Beer (@BuschBeer) December 27, 2018

Tiger Woods told organizers of the Sentry Tournament of Champions that he "would not be coming to Hawaii" for the PGA Tour event that begins next Thursday. Woods is "one of the few 2018 PGA Tour champions who did not commit early to the event," which is restricted to Tour winners from the previous calendar year. Golf Channel's Mark Rolfing, who has worked on marketing for Hawaii golf events, said despite Woods' absence, "This is the best field in a decade, maybe longer." It will include Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and others (HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER, 12/27).

Holiday sales grew 5.1% this year to more than $850B, "making it the best season in the last six years," according to data from Mastercard. Also, online sales were up 19.1% "compared with last year." The Mastercard SpendingPulse report tracks "retail spending across all payment types" from Nov. 1-Dec. 24. Apparel and home improvement "saw the most growth." In contrast, "electronics and appliances dropped" 0.7% (USA TODAY, 12/27). Meanwhile, Amazon said that it "sold more products throughout the holidays this year than ever before" (WWD.com, 12/26).

Litecoin has signed on as the UFC's first official cryptocurrency partner and will have placement on the Octagon for Saturday's UFC 232 PPV (UFC).

Santa Anita drew an "opening day crowd" of 41,373 yesterday for the start of the horse track's winter-spring meet (L.A. TIMES, 12/27).

A crowd of 16,417 attended Canada's opening game of pool play in the IIHF World Junior Championships at the roughly 19,000-seat Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The host country "cruised to a 14-0 shellacking" against Denmark (VANCOUVER SUN, 12/27).

"We are a performance brand. That is what we're going to be and going to stand for, becoming the best in the world at that" -- Under Armour Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank, on the brand looking to return to its roots and pivot away from "athleisure" products (FINANCIAL TIMES, 12/27).

"He will be missed greatly by a lot of people, and on behalf of the soccer community here in Seattle, I can say we would not be where we are now without him" -- Sounders Owner Adrian Hanauer, in a statement on former coach Sigi Schmid, who died Tuesday (SEATTLE TIMES, 12/27).

"When I think of revolution, I think of people like Che Guevara, Ivan Illich, Lenin. ... I don't really think of Jokic as quite a revolutionary. ... A bit hyperbolic there. But he is one heck of a player" -- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, when asked about how Nuggets C Nikola Jokic has "revolutionized" the role of the big man in modern basketball (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/27).

The TORONTO STAR goes with the header, "Boxing Industry Finds Itself At A Broadcasting Crossroads." A major question in the sport is whether it is "more lucrative to chase a large but dwindling fan base still willing to spend on premium pay-per-view events, or is it better to try and monetize a massive online audience often reluctant to pay for content?" Fighter pay also "matters, because as broadcast platforms change, the risk to boxers remains constant."

Also: 

• NFL's decision to go with Fox in '94 "continues to reverberate on a number of levels."
• EA Sports recreates many tattoos for FIFA, UFC games, "only a handful" for "Madden."
• Orange Bowl remains one of college football's "preeminent events" amid playoff overhaul.
• Would fans of Rams, Chargers travel to Atlanta for an all-L.A. Super Bowl matchup?
• Former longtime SI writer Austin Murphy discusses his new job.

The amount of people who think I control the weather is impressive. I can't even control the remote at the house as long as Hallmark Christmas movies are on.

— First Responder Bowl (@FRBowl) December 26, 2018

UCF has declared itself the winner of The First Responder Bowl.

— Paul Schneider (@PaulJKBOI) December 26, 2018

Thus concludes the 2018 #CheezItBowl.

Teams combined for 9 interceptions and the No. 1 trending topic in the US. You’re welcome, America. #CheezINTBowl pic.twitter.com/8TLK99QZQm

— Cheez-It® Bowl (@CheezItBowl) December 27, 2018

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

It’s not the holiday season without bowl games!

In honor of the 2018 @PinStripeBowl at @yankeestadium, our tower will shine in red & white on the east/west sides for @BadgerFootball and green & orange on the north/south sides for @CanesFootball. 🏈

Who are you rooting for? pic.twitter.com/tUlCCj04F0

— Empire State Bldg (@EmpireStateBldg) December 26, 2018

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was "Historical Geography."

"Most of the land fighting in the First Punic War between Rome & Carthage was on this island."

"What is Sicily?"