Just as the NHL's all-star affair is reaching record numbers, since it's being played deep in heart of hockey country (Minnesota) this year, so is the NBA's All-Star Game; its Los Angeles location is attracting unprecedented activation and associated incremental income.
American Express is in the events game, staging a Magic Johnson tribute, with the slightly unwieldy working title of "AmEx Celebrates the Rewarding Life of Magic Johnson‚" which will also run on TNT as an hour-long show.
Also into showbiz is Anheuser-Busch, with an "All-Star Groove" party. At the "Jam Session" fan fest, 15 of the league's 21 sponsors are activating. Adidas will have an event on a downtown court to showcase its marquee NBA endorsers: Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. It will break new ads with that trio and run ads from a new brand campaign using Muhammad Ali.
Also breaking new creative will be Sprite. Got Milk?'s rookie game is now Friday night, which will allow stars such as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to play in that game and Sunday's main event.
Highlighting Saturday's events night are Foot Locker's three-point shootout, Sprite's Slam Dunk contest, 989 Sports' Skills Challenge and RadioShack's Shooting Stars competition. We're waiting to see how NBA corporate patron Novartis can find a fan-friendly way to activate its Lamisil athlete's foot remedy.
GATORS BIG AND SMALL: The fact that Gatorade has renewed its sponsorship with Major League Lacrosse for an additional year isn't the newsiest item of the week, but we thought it was interesting that a brand with property sponsorships that include the NFL, NBA, MLB and more than 60 Division I NCAA schools, including Michigan, Duke, Notre Dame, Kentucky and Ohio State, also sees the need to invest in niche properties. Aside from MLL, Gatorade also sponsors AVP beach volleyball.
"The cornerstone of Gatorade's sports marketing strategy is ubiquity at the point of competition," said Gatorade VP Sports Marketing Tom Fox. "The other reasons we like these properties are we are always trying to look for diamonds in the rough. The properties are accommodating because they know big brands are important as far as marketing their sport, and while the fan base for these sports is obviously smaller than something like the NFL, the loyalty of the participants and fans is so strong they often are involved to the point of excluding involvement with other spectator or participation sports."
MLL will start its season with Gatorade along with incumbent sponsors New Balance and Anheuser-Busch. MLL founder Jake Steinfeld said he hopes the fledgling league will reach break-even in the 2006 season.
CODE ORANGE: Sunkist's
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| Big-name pros in Little League uniforms grace new Sunkist cards. |
growers will leverage their new Little League Baseball sponsorship with an in-pack card promotion that will be splashed across more than 5 million bags of oranges in April. The card set, from
Upper Deck, will feature images of retired MLBers as Little Leaguers.
The six-card set includes some well-known players, such as Mark McGwire and Rollie Fingers, as well as lesser-known Mickey Morandini. Ad support includes a print buy in SI for Kids.
HERE & THERE: Todd Parker to Premier Partnerships, where he'll open the consultancy's Manhattan office, as VP, East Coast operations. The former NHL and USTA marketer was last with Genesco Sports Enterprises‚ Westchester County, N.Y., office. ... Hoping for some business from the new Disney movie about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, Octagon is repping Jim Craig, the team's goalie, for appearances and endorsements. ... Paragon Marketing has extended its agreement to be Continental Airlines' sports marketing agency of record for an additional three years.
Contact Terry Lefton at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
