Coast to Coast

JetBlue’s homage to the Green Monster is a nod to the Sox and the Boston community. Photo by: JETBLUE

BOSTON
Travelers see ‘Monster’ sign
Boston Red Sox sponsor JetBlue debuted signage dubbed the Blue Monster at Logan International Airport, a play on Fenway Park’s Green Monster, according to a Boston Globe report. The airline’s display is painted on the wall behind ticketing kiosks and borrows the format of the Green Monster scoreboard. The wall, which lists cities that JetBlue serves out of Boston, was one aspect of the airline’s Phase 1 of renovations to the terminal. Future renovations include a connection to Terminal E helping to facilitate transfers from international flights.

BUFFALO
NWHL All-Star Game set
The National Women’s Hockey League scheduled its first All-Star Game for Buffalo’s HarborCenter on Jan. 24. The contest will pit a local player, Emily Pfalzer (Buffalo Beauts) versus two-time Olympic silver medalist Hilary Knight (Boston Pride) as player captains. This month, Pfalzer and Knight will choose 11 of the 14 total players on their respective teams. Fans will be able to vote for two players on each team via social media.

CHARLOTTE
Hornets sign bank, Libman Co.
The Charlotte Hornets signed Bank of America to a multiyear partnership. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the bank recently installed ATMs at Time Warner Cable Arena as the first part of what it promises will be a prominent branding campaign at the venue. The Hornets also reached a multiyear partnership with Illinois-based mop and broom firm The Libman Co. to serve as the team’s official hardwood floor care provider.

CHICAGO
Bears consider bunker suites
The Chicago Bears are exploring the possibility of adding bunker suites at ground level of Soldier Field, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report. The suites would be part of $300 million in capital improvements that could be bankrolled, in part, by a dramatic increase in stadium advertising granted to the team in exchange for losing the stadium’s south parking lot to George Lucas’ new interactive museum.

EUGENE, ORE.
Ducks going HD at softball stadium
Daktronics will provide a new LED video display for University of Oregon’s Jane Sanders Stadium. The video display coming to right field at the softball stadium will measure 12 feet high by 36 feet wide and feature a 15HD pixel layout.

HOUSTON
NPF expansion team named
An expansion National Pro Fastpitch team — the Scrap Yard Dawgs — will begin play next season. The new team will be based in The Woodlands, Texas, just north of Houston. The Dawgs will be the sixth team in the league, joining the Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Dallas Charge, Pennsylvania Rebellion and USSSA Florida Pride. Separately, French/West/Vaughan was selected as PR, marketing and sponsorship development agency of record for the league.

LOS ANGELES
Clippers call on Papa John’s
Papa John’s has become the official delivery pizza of the Los Angeles Clippers. The partnership will provide fans in Los Angeles with discounts from participating locations as well as opportunities to help support the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation this season.

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
Delta plans club at U.S. Bank Stadium
Delta Air Lines extended its Minnesota Vikings sponsorship through 2021, continuing as the team’s official airline. Delta will open the Delta Sky360 Club, a 21,000-square-foot, field-level club space at the new U.S. Bank Stadium.

OMAHA, NEB.
AVCA renews with 3PT for event
The American Volleyball Coaches Association renewed its partnership with 3 Point Productions to produce fan-experience aspects of the Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match, set for Omaha’s CenturyLink Center on Dec. 18. This marks the third consecutive year the association and the production group have partnered on the high school volleyball event.

PHILADELPHIA
Name change for Union’s stadium
Independent power producer Talen Energy (formerly PPL EnergyPlus) officially assumed the naming rights to the Philadelphia Union’s stadium, making Talen Energy Stadium the new home of the team.

Soul adds to ownership team
The AFL Philadelphia Soul added five members to its ownership team. The new investors are Stewart Anmuth, principal at Kistler Tiffany Benefits; Philip Jaurigue, president and founder of Sabre Systems; Nicholas Giuffre, president and CEO of Bradford White Corp.; Gil Peter, director of ForU Holdings; and Hal Brunson, an entrepreneur in the oil and gas industries.

PITTSBURGH
Stadium group OKs parking garage
The Pittsburgh Stadium Authority voted 4-1 to move ahead with plans to build a 798-space parking garage adjacent to Heinz Field, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report. The group also gave the MLB Pirates and NFL Steelers another year to start a development that would feature a 250-unit residential and retail complex near PNC Park. The garage will cost an estimated $15 million.

STILLWATER, OKLA.
OSU tennis center adds new displays
Daktronics partnered with Oklahoma State University to provide two new LED video displays for the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center. The displays were installed last month. The outdoor display measures 13 feet high by 25 feet wide. An indoor display is 7 feet high by 13.5 feet wide.

TAMPA-ST. PETERSBURG
Lightning, Chase offer Apple Pay
The Tampa Bay Lightning partnered with team sponsor Chase to offer Apple Pay at all retail locations and concession venues at Amalie Arena. Lightning CEO Steve Griggs said in a statement that the new payment option is part of an ongoing initiative to make the game experience as easy and fun as possible.

      COAST TO COAST — BEYOND THE COASTS

BREMEN, GERMANY
Ladbrokes bets on German market
British bookmaker Ladbrokes entered into an advertising agreement with Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen. The deal, set to run until the end of the current season, marks Ladbrokes’ entry into the German sports market.

DUBLIN
The K Club adds rooms, amenities
As part of the preparations for the 2016 Irish Open, The K Club in nearby Straffan has undergone a $21.2 million renovation, according to an Irish Independent report. The property doubled its number of guest bedrooms from 70 to 140 and added a new bar and conference room in the process.

GENOA, ITALY
Team gets fashionable
Serie A side Genoa signed a shirt sponsorship deal with fashion brand AT.P.CO, according to a SoccerEx report. The club will wear the brand’s logo on the right chest of its match-day jerseys for the rest of the 2015-16 season. Financial terms were not released.

GUANGZHOU, CHINA
Team issues shares on exchange
Chinese football club Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao is seeking to raise as much as $400 million by issuing up to 66.2 million shares on China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations market, according to an AFP report. When it listed on the exchange in November, it reached a notional market capitalization of $2.35 billion. For comparison, New York Stock Exchange-listed Manchester United is worth $3 billion.

HAMBURG, GERMANY
Games bid narrowly rejected
Voters in a regional referendum Nov. 29 rejected Hamburg’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics, leaving only Los Angeles, Paris, Rome and Budapest, Hungary, in the running to host the Summer Games. With all votes counted, 51.6 percent said no and 48.4 percent said yes, according to the bid committee and public broadcaster NDR.

Tennis tourney seeks sponsor
The tennis tournament at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum is looking for a new naming-rights sponsor after Bet-at-home decided to end its deal, according to a Sponsors report. The betting provider was unwilling to renew its sponsorship deal with the ATP 500 event after five years. The deal had an estimated value of $529,000 annually.

Team buys out retail partner
Second Bundesliga side St. Pauli agreed to a deal to buy outright its merchandising partner, Upsolut Merchandising GmbH, according to a SoccerEx report. The club, which already held a 10 percent stake in the company, will pay just under $1.4 million to acquire the remaining shares from fellow co-owners Lagardère Sports and Entertainment and textile firm Miles.

LISBON
Team to operate China academies
Portuguese side Sporting Clube de Portugal will create a network of academies in China through a new partnership with Shanghai-based real estate developer ECADInt, according to a SoccerEx report. The parties plan to construct and operate 10 schools across China, adding to the club’s existing international academies in South Africa and Canada.

LIVERPOOL
PPTV, Liverpool sign 2-year deal
Liverpool FC signed a two-year contract with Chinese Internet broadcaster PPTV, a first-of-its-kind deal for any Premier League club in mainland China. PPTV will become the club’s official TV partner in China, and PPTV’s 190 million monthly visitors will have access to exclusive Liverpool footage.

LONDON
Chelsea signs Thai drink company
Chelsea FC signed Carabao as a new principal partner and its new official training wear partner starting next summer. Carabao, an energy drink company in Thailand, will expand its global presence and market share by appearing on Chelsea’s training kit over the next three seasons.

MUNICH, GERMANY
Bayern Munich signs Goodyear
Bayern Munich added another company to its network of associates, announcing a platinum partnership with Goodyear, according to a Goal report. The multiyear agreement, which includes perimeter advertising at all Bundesliga home games, will kick off Jan. 1.

SHANGHAI
Arsenal, partner plan schools
Arsenal FC and new official football schools partner iRena announced a new program to drive grassroots football across China. Initial plans are to open schools in five cities, first in Shanghai and Chongqing and an additional three by the end of 2016.

TOKYO

Toyota with IPC through 2024
Toyota Motor Corp. signed a sponsorship agreement with the International Paralympic Committee through 2024, according to a Kyodo report. During the period through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Toyota will serve as a worldwide Paralympic partner, the highest level of global sponsorship available for the Paralympic Games.

City to pay portion of stadium cost
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is reportedly likely to agree to shoulder more than $33 million of the $1.3 billion price tag for the new National Stadium, according to a Japan Times report. Final talks are underway to spell out the metro government’s share of the costs. The stadium is being rebuilt in the same spot it was in 1964.

New logo competition begins
The competition to select the new logo for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is open — with 10,000 entries expected, according to an Inside the Games report. Organizers were forced to start the logo process from scratch after accusations of plagiarism led to their initial emblem being scrapped. The process is open to all citizens over the age of 18.

For more international news, visit www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/global.