Coast to Coast

Atlanta
Berkshire Hathaway buying Russell Corp.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is buying Atlanta-based Russell Corp. for about $600 million, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The acquisition, which includes the assumption of $400 million in debt, must be approved by regulators and Russell shareholders.

Live among your ‘Team Colors’
Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc. launched a sports-themed paint line called Team Colors. Through the program, customers can purchase paint in the exact colors of their favorite professional and college sports teams. Created in partnership with ICI Paints and the Glidden brand, the Team Colors program is available exclusively at The Home Depot stores nationwide.

Fans cool off under the Margaritas Fiesta Tent at a Reds day game last week.

Boston
NESN desk gets presenting sponsor
F.W. Webb Co. will be the first presenting sponsor of New England Sports Network’s “SportsDesk.” The show has been renamed NESN “SportsDesk” presented by F.W. Webb. NESN will integrate the company’s name and logo into all on-air promotions for the program, including nightly news updates during Boston Red Sox and Bruins games. F.W. Webb is the official distributor of plumbing, heating, HVAC and pipes-valves-fittings supplies for the Red Sox.

Cincinnati
Postgame shows add to Reds ambience
The Cincinnati Reds have scheduled postgame concerts for 22 weekend nights during the season. Taco Bell will underwrite the events. Additionally, the team’s new Margaritas Fiesta Tent can hold as many as 200 people in the Fan Zone. A $53 ticket to the tent includes a seat in section 139, down the right-field line, along with food, drinks and two beer tickets.

Detroit
Expansion soccer team’s logo revealed
The Ignition, Detroit’s new entry in the Major Indoor Soccer League, unveiled its logo. The team will begin play in November at the 3,500-seat Compuware Sports Arena in nearby Plymouth, Mich. The logo was designed by New York-based branding firm SME.

East Rutherford, N.J.
Nets take on turnpike tolls
The Nets paid the tolls for all motorists exiting the New Jersey Turnpike at 16W for one hour leading up to the Nets-Knicks game on Fan Appreciation Night at Continental Airlines Arena last week. Motorists handing their turnpike tickets to toll collectors were informed that the tolls were courtesy of the Nets. Motorists did not need to show game tickets to receive the free toll, also known as “NetsPass.”

Fort Mill, S.C.
Knights games heard on cable TV
A majority of the Charlotte Knights radio broadcast audio feeds also will be available on select stations on both Time Warner Cable and Comporium Communications. The Class AAA team’s broadcast from WFNA 1660-AM can be heard on Time Warner’s digital channel 199 and channel 21 for Comporium Communications subscribers.

Indianapolis
Season tickets swallow RCA Dome
The Indianapolis Colts’ 2006 regular season is five months away, but fans interested in buying tickets for home games already face a difficult task. Nearly 55,000 season tickets have been sold, essentially assuring sellouts for the eight home games in the 55,506-seat RCA Dome. All 105 suites also have been sold. Last year the Colts sold 48,500 season tickets.

Ballclub planning suite improvements
In an effort to draw more corporate business, the Indianapolis Indians are planning $300,000 in suite and other improvements at Victory Field, its home in downtown Indianapolis’ west side. The improvements will include new flooring and improved seating in suites and improvements to an electronic billboard in front of the Class AAA baseball franchise’s home venue.

Jacksonville
Jags adding to season-ticket stats
The NFL Jaguars are on pace to sell 59,000 season tickets for this season, up from 55,000 last year, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Last month, the club said that only 65 percent of season-ticket holders had renewed for 2006. The demand for season tickets is causing the team to set aside roughly 4,500 tickets per game for groups, down from 5,000 last season, according to the report.

Louisville, K.Y.
Verizon adding capacity for Derby
Verizon Wireless will beef up its network capacity during Thunder Over Louisville and the Kentucky Derby by activating two temporary cellular sites. The temporary cell sites are fully functional, generator-powered mobile sites that enhance wireless capacity in a given area. Verizon Wireless will place a COLT (Cell on Light Truck) along the Ohio River for the Derby Festival’s Thunder Over Louisville daylong event, and a COW (Cell on Wheels) outside Churchill Downs for the Derby itself.

Minneapolis - St. Paul
Board OKs higher ballpark cost
The Hennepin County Board voted 4-3 to approve the agreement for a 42,000-seat Twins ballpark in downtown Minneapolis that pushes the overall cost to $522 million, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Under the deal, the county would use a 0.15 percent sales tax to pay for a $392 million contribution toward the facility’s construction.

Arena floor to be auctioned
The University of Minnesota expects to spend between $114,000 and $180,000 to replace the floor at Williams Arena, the basketball venue, after the 2006-07 season. The school hopes to offset some of the cost by auctioning pieces of the existing floor, which has not been replaced since the 1940s or ’50s. Construction likely will start in April or May 2007 and be completed by July.

Naples, Fla.
Merrill Lynch teams with Greg Norman
Merrill Lynch agreed to a multiyear title sponsorship of PGA Tour player Greg Norman’s Nov. 8-12 postseason golf event at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., that will be known as the Merrill Lynch Shootout. TV coverage of the tournament will air on USA Network and CBS.

NewOrleans
NFL to help fund dome renovation
Louisiana officials and the NFL may close a deal in which the league will contribute $20 million to help repair and upgrade the Superdome, which is undergoing a $180 million renovation, according to a report in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. NFL owners approved the grant more than two months ago, but the league, the state and Saints officials have been negotiating marketing and advertising rights at the facility.

Quack, quack! Take Buddy to Broadway …

New York
Mets unveil ticket resale service
The New York Mets launched the Mets Ticket Marketplace online ticket resale service. Mets Ticket Marketplace provides fans the opportunity to purchase premium seats on Mets.com directly from Mets season-ticket holders unable to attend games. Ticket buyer membership is available to all Mets fans for $50 for the 2006 season and is complimentary for Mets season-ticket and plan holders.

Mets anthem hits stadium speakers
“Our Team. Our Time,” a new fan celebration song, will play at Mets games during the 2006 season at Shea Stadium. The song debuted last week at a three-game homestand against the Atlanta Braves. TJS Marketing Group of Smithtown, N.Y., and BreakThru Productions of Orange, N.J., created the new song for the Mets following the offseason excitement and interest in the team and the Mets’ best start since 1985. Fans can hear the song at Mets.com, the team’s official Web site.

Ballclub offers trips to Broadway
The Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League and Theatermania.com have a unique online promotion dubbed “Broadway with Buddy.” Fans can register online at www.liducks.com to win one of two trips to see a Broadway show with New York baseball icon Bud Harrelson. The goal is to assist in generating membership and business for Theatermania.com, a Web site founded in 1999 to connect the theater industry with a mass consumer audience.

Oakland
Athletics jump into secondary ticketing
The Oakland A’s are in the secondary ticket market. The team is now allowing season-ticket holders to resell their unused tickets on the team’s Web site. The reselling service, called A’s Replay Ticket Window, lets sellers offer tickets for at least their face value. The A’s collect a fee on each transaction. The San Francisco Giants were among the first in the industry to launch a resale site.

Philadelphia
State shifts gears for troubled bike race
The Pennsylvania state government is providing $400,000 in state funds to support the continuation of a professional bicycle racing event in Philadelphia. The 22nd annual International Cycling Championship will be held June 11. The future of the event, which generates an estimated $15 million for the local economy, was in jeopardy after Wachovia Corp. of Charlotte announced last year it was not renewing its title sponsorship.

Phoenix
Nash earns cereal honor
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns is being recognized with another honor — his own Wheaties box. Nash is the first Suns player to appear on a Wheaties box. The new 12- and 18-ounce Steve Nash Wheaties packages will be sold nationally by the end of April.

Planned complex invites MLB clubs
Officials from Goodyear, Ariz., mailed invitations to several MLB teams, asking them to consider the city’s planned 240-acre spring training complex, according to a report in the Arizona Republic. The report noted that several teams that train in Florida are nearing the end of leases and looking for improved facilities, including the Indians and Orioles.

The Crown Royal Ford crew celebrated victory at last year’s Richmond race.

Raleigh
Girls’ hoops tourney fills hotels
The 2006 Adidas Deep South Classic, a girls basketball all-star event held on the campuses of N.C. State, North Carolina and Duke over Easter weekend, featured a record turnout of 192 teams from 35 states. The event generated nearly 5,000 hotel room nights and had an economic impact of more than $1 million, according to the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Richmond, V.A.
Track, Crown Royal OK title deal
Crown Royal and Richmond International Raceway agreed to a multiyear title sponsorship deal for the track’s spring NASCAR Nextel Cup race, beginning with this year’s event on May 6. The race, which will be known as the Crown Royal 400, was sponsored the previous two years by Chevrolet. Crown Royal’s integrated motorsports marketing plan will include primary sponsorship at 18 races during the 2006 season, including the Daytona 500.

Sacramento
Fans shaded with help from mattresses
The Sleep Train Inc., a large mattress retailer based in Citrus Heights, Calif., and a new sponsor of the Sacramento River Cats, will put its name on the sunshade that the Class AAA baseball team will build atop the third-base side of Raley Field in West Sacramento. The River Cats expect to complete the sunshade in mid-May.

San Antonio
Marlins must commit by May 15
Bexar County (Texas) Judge Nelson Wolff imposed a May 15 deadline for the Florida Marlins to commit to a plan to move to San Antonio, according to a report in the San Antonio Express-News. Wolff said that the date was based on the need to formulate plans before an Aug. 15 deadline to get a measure on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

Navy won last year’s Poinsettia, and San Diego wins on the economic front.

San Diego
Poinsettia Bowl kicks off postseason
San Diego’s Poinsettia Bowl, scheduled for Dec. 19 this year, will now have the leadoff spot in college football’s postseason. The game, in its second year, matches a Mountain West Conference team against an at-large team at Qualcomm Stadium. A study conducted by the San Diego State University Center for Hospitality and Tourism Research estimates the Poinsettia Bowl and the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl combined to produce an economic impact of $43.7 million for the San Diego region last holiday season.

San Francisco
Diamond extends Emerald Bowl deal
Diamond Foods Inc. announced a three-year extension of its title sponsorship agreement with the Emerald Bowl. Diamond Foods, which specializes in processing, marketing and distributing culinary nuts and snack products, has been the college football bowl’s title sponsor since its inception. The extension adds three years to the previous agreement, which ran through 2006.

Bonds debated for 49ers’ mixed-use plan
The San Francisco 49ers might try to fund a long-stalled new stadium project without the use of $100 million in revenue bonds approved by San Francisco voters in 1997. The franchise is looking to develop a mix of housing and retail projects near its present location at Candlestick Point in conjunction with a new stadium. Team officials said they think San Franciscans would prefer the team not use the 1997 bonds.

San Jose
Sharks’ club seats get Comerica branding
The club level at the NHL Sharks’ HP Pavilion will be named the Comerica Bank Club under a seven-year naming-rights deal the team signed with Comerica. Unlike the arena naming-rights deal with HP, the Sharks will not have to share the estimated $800,000 from the deal with the city of San Jose or any other teams using the facility.

St. Louis
MLB clubs trying cooler protection
Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. and Major League Baseball introduced a highly ventilated helmet to be worn by at least seven MLB teams in 2006. The Rawlings Coolflo Batter’s Helmet features new technology and allows for updated paint schemes, and will be available to all 30 MLB clubs in 2007. With 15 individual vents, the helmet allows air to flow through for a more comfortable feel without sacrificing protection.

Tampa
Forum adds to championship agenda
The St. Pete Times Forum was selected for the 2009 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball championship. The University of South Florida and Tampa Bay Sports Commission will co-host the tournament finale that year. The event adds to a collection of college title games to be staged at the downtown Tampa arena in years to come, including the Women’s Final Four basketball championship in 2008 and hockey’s Frozen Four in 2012.

Toronto
MLS seeks expansion-team trademark
Major League Soccer has applied for a U.S. trademark for the name Inter Toronto FC, believed to be the leading contender for Toronto’s expansion Major League Soccer franchise that kicks off in 2007. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which will own and operate the team, applied in mid-March for the Canadian trademark for Inter Toronto FC, Toronto FC and Toronto Northmen.