Oreo, Ritz Drive NASCAR Sponsorship Synergies

By Karlene Lukovitz

• Kraft Foods’ Oreo and Ritz brands are pushing the pedal to the mat to maximize consumer and retailer benefits from their NASCAR sponsorships — most recently via a sweepstakes to win a trip to a NASCAR race in the fall, take driving lessons in a real race car on a real track, and rub elbows with racers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.
• Kraft, an official NASCAR sponsor since 2000, announced early this year that in addition to re-upping its official NASCAR cookie/cracker sponsorships for Oreo and Ritz for two years, it had signed with Stewart-Haas Racing to make Oreo and Ritz the official cookie/cracker sponsors of that Sprint Cup Series team.
• This year, Kraft’s team sponsorship is off to a strong start, with Stewart winning the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13 (his fifth win of the race in six years), driving the #4 Oreo/Ritz Chevrolet. The race also marked the fourth time in 10 years that a team sponsored primarily by Kraft brands won, according to Michael Tilley, category manager of consumer and customer engagement at Kraft Foods.

(www.mediapost.com)

Slim Jim are back in the ring

By Peter Lauria

• Slim Jim maker ConAgra is expected to announce today a multi-million dollar promotional partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment to reintroduce the dried meat snack to consumers after a fatal explosion last summer. The blast, at the only plant in the country that made the beef sticks, halted production and forced the company to pull all its advertising and marketing.
• Slim Jim will serve as the presenting sponsor for WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, AZ, on March 28 — the pay-per-view event typically ranks as the largest audience event of the year for the WWE — and SummerSlam in Los Angeles on Aug. 15.

(www.nypost.com)

Kia Furthers Reach With Digital Print Buy

By Karl Greenberg

• Kia Motors America, which recently launched its largest campaign to date to support the 2011 Kia Sorento crossover, is continuing the campaign with a new digital media buy spanning 15 publishing groups through a collaboration with online media site Zinio and its Publisher Advertising Network, ZPAN.
• The Irvine, Calif.-based automaker is also the first advertiser on ZPAN, a cross-publisher ad network. Kia’s buy will be across some 45 digital publications in business, men’s lifestyle, news, sports and technology verticals.
• Michael Sprague, VP marketing at Kia, said in a statement that the deal with Zinio gives the automaker greater reach and furthers the tagline for the vehicle — “a departure from the expected” — by “exposing the Kia brand to a wide variety of readers across iconic magazine brands.”

(www.mediapost.com)

NBA, Adidas Set Up Courts In Malls

By Karl Greenberg

• Adidas and the National Basketball Association are hitting the malls. Adidas, which is the league’s official uniform provider, has inked a deal with the NBA and mall-based retailer Champs Sports for an “Official NBA Shop at Champs Sports.” The NBA Shop will debut in 69 Champs Sports stores this month and will be in the remaining 486 Champs Sports stores nationwide by the start of the 2010-11 NBA season, per the companies.
• The store will be a dedicated retail space with “adidas NBA” apparel, on-court products, fashion and co-branded accessories.

(www.mediapost.com)

Miles Away From The Beach: Corona Extra To Be Main ATP Sponsor

• The ATP announced that Corona Extra had signed a five-and-a-half-year contract to become the main sponsor of the men’s tennis circuit.
• In an interview yesterday, ATP World Tour Exec Chair & President Adam Helfant said about two-thirds of the tour’s more than 60 tournaments would use Corona Extra’s logo on their nets by ‘11, with the others choosing to retain their current beer sponsors.
• Helfant said Corona, America’s number one beer import, wanted to use the ATP as an international platform to export its brand globally.
• Sources pegged the deal’s value as similar to what Mercedes-Benz paid in the last three years of its deal, which expired in ‘08. The value of the Mercedes deal was about $13M annually. That would translate into a value of just over $70M for the ATP.

Olympics Sponsors Benefit, As Do Competitors

By Aaron Baar

• A few sponsors of the ongoing Winter Olympics are getting a boost (at least in terms of goodwill) out of their sponsorship … and so are their competitors. According to a survey from market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey in Boston, followers of the Winter Olympics correctly identified Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Visa as official sponsors of the Games. But many believed that companies such as Pepsi, Subway and American Express were also sponsors.
• “These are guys who have a big media presence, and it’s hard to get away from them,” Josh Mendelsohn, a vice president at Chadwick Martin Bailey, tells Marketing Daily. “It’s a good thing to sponsor, but you’re probably helping your chief competitor a bit.”
• Among the top sponsors, there is a wide discrepancy among official sponsors and mistaken sponsors. For instance, 60% of those surveyed named Coca-Cola as an official sponsor, while 51% named Visa and 46% cited McDonald’s. Beyond those three, however, the numbers drop off dramatically. Only 20% cited AT&T as an official sponsor; 12% named General Electric; 10% said Samsung and 7% named Panasonic.

(www.mediapost.com)

BMW Joyfully Launches Awareness Campaign

By Karl Greenberg

• BMW of North America has launched a new global ad push that it calls its largest brand awareness campaign in its history. The effort, “Story of Joy,” began during the XXI Winter Olympic Games with an ad buy that BMW says is the largest of any advertiser in the Games.
• The effort — via Austin-Texas-based GSD&M Idea City, with Universal McCann of New York doing media buy — includes TV, digital, mobile and out-of-home platforms. The Woodcliff Lake, N.J. automaker did a nine-video panel home page takeover on MSN in mid-February.

(www.mediapost.com)

General Mills Targets Three Groups to Fuel Growth

By Emily Bryson York

• General Mills spelled out its recipe for profitable growth: Hispanics, baby boomers and millennials. The Minneapolis package-food company revealed products and marketing plans designed specifically for those segments at the Consumer Analysts Group of New York conference this morning.
• “We think our categories and our brands are well-positioned for strong future growth because they are on trend with the evolving consumer needs,” said Ian Friendly, chief operating officer and exec VP-U.S. retail. “We’re anticipating a rise in multicultural consumers, particularly Hispanics, plus a growing number of aging baby boomers and the emergence of millennials as the next generation with significant influence in the marketplace.”
• The marketer increased its Hispanic-targeted media spending 70% in 2009 and will boost support again in 2010. Marketing to the group begins with reaching mothers looking for ways to nurture their children. General Mills is also tailoring its approach with some successful general-market brands, such as Nature Valley, which is also popular with Hispanic consumers. Mr. Friendly added that Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Yoplait yogurt are particularly appealing to the Hispanic market.

(www.adage.com)

Kellogg Increases 2010 Ad Spend, Triples Social Media

By David Goetzl

• Multiple marketers, including Kraft, have recently spoken about lower pricing helping ad dollars go further in 2009. Now, Kellogg appears to be the first to signify that the more bang-for-buck trend will continue into 2010.
• That decision could be the result of pricing rollbacks in last summer’s upfront. Long-term deals made back then could benefit advertisers for the bulk of 2010.
• Kellogg COO John Bryant told analysts Wednesday that “media deflation” was mostly a boon in Europe in 2009. But in 2010, it will be titled toward the U.S. “due to the timing of the upfront buy.”

(www.mediapost.com)

Bob Arum In Talks To Move Foreman-Cotto Bout To Yankee Stadium

• Top Rank Chair Bob Arum is “in discussions with the Yankees to hold the first fight at the new Yankee Stadium this summer,” according to Ken Belson of the N.Y. TIMES.

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Multitaskers:  More Viewers Watched Super Bowl, Surfed Net

By Wayne Friedman

• Concerning the NFL big game this year, the Nielsen Company says there was a slight improvement in multitasking activity of those using the Internet while watching the Super Bowl.
• About 14% of those who watched the Super Bowl could be found on the Internet. This is up from 12% a year ago. Concurrent time amounted to 29 minutes of activity — watching the game and using Internet — up from 24 minutes a year ago.
• What were users doing? What marketers expected to see: social networking.

(www.mediapost.com)

Adult Swim To Fans: ‘Have It Your Way’

By David Goetzl

• Adult Swim is launching a promotion where fans have a say in what they watch — a stunt that dovetails with Burger King’s “Have It Your Way” tagline.
• The “Big Uber Network Sampling” promotion allows viewers to watch eight full pilots online and vote for their favorites — one of which will ultimately air.
• A face-off will take place each week — through March 8 — with viewers able to view two full pilots and vote between the two on a Burger King-branded micro-site.
• At the end, the one with the most votes will be scheduled to air the week of March 22. The pilot will remain a candidate to become a series on the Turner network, as will the other seven.

(www.mediapost.com)

Inside Pitch: Sponsors Activate Around JR Celski’s Recovery

By Jessica Collins

• U.S. short-track speedskater JR Celski may have won a Bronze Medal in Saturday’s 1500m event, but his Olympic dreams almost came to a crashing halt after he suffered a serious leg injury at the U.S. Championships in September.
• The 19-year-old, though, bounced back quickly, and the road to recovery presented a unique opportunity for some of his sponsors to activate around his comeback. “A lot of his sponsors are natural sponsors, like 24 Hour Fitness, that help him train and get back to where he is,” said Celski’s agent, The Agency Sports Management’s Brandon Swibel.
• 24 Hour Fitness CMO Tony Wells noted Celski’s story “represents our brand — the idea that something happens in your life that requires you to recommit yourself to an athletic or fitness-related goal.” Wells said Celski’s commitment, approachability and inspiring attitude is what attracted the company to want to sponsor him.

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Motor Madness: DirecTV Creates Driver Fantasy Tournament

By Michael Smith

• DirecTV is taking a page from March Madness and introducing its own fantasy tournament to NASCAR. The satellite operator will create a 32-driver fantasy tournament.

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

NBA All-Star Game Scores Big With 108,713 Fans At Cowboys Stadium

• The 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium was “a big win” for the league, as a record crowd of 108,713 made it “the place to be,” according to Jeff Caplan of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram.

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Rebranding: ESPN360 Becomes ESPN3 In April

By David Goetzl

• The online live sports hub, ESPN360.com, will be rebranded ESPN3.com in April. ESPN3 will be available in 50 million homes, free to subscribers of broadband providers that have agreed to pay ESPN a TV-style fee to offer it.
• ESPN has not used Web lexicon recently in referring to ESPN360 — classifying it instead as a network. In a statement, ESPN executive Sean Bratches, who oversees marketing, said the ESPN3 switch “closely aligns with the existing name convention” for ESPN channels. Expansion from the 1979 flagship began with ESPN2 in 1993.

(www.mediapost.com)

Target Makes Its Gift Cards Mobile, Scannable

By Sarah Mahoney

• Target Corp. says it has scored a first among retailers: Shoppers can now access their gift-card accounts using smartphones, and have the barcode scanned right at checkout.
• “Guests no longer need to carry their Target GiftCards in order to redeem them,” it says in its release. “All that’s needed is a mobile phone with Internet capabilities.” The Minneapolis-based chain claims it is the first major retailer with the ability to scan mobile barcodes in all of its stores. 

(www.mediapost.com)

Denny’s: Another 2 Million Free Grand Slams Served

By Karlene Lukovitz

• The dishes had barely been cleared when Denny’s issued a press release announcing that it had served approximately 2 million free Grand Slams during its second breakfast giveaway yesterday — roughly the same number served in the chain’s first post-Super Bowl giveaway last year.
• Denny’s estimated that tables turned every 15 minutes and that some restaurants served more than 200 breakfasts per hour — a rate apparently greater than last year’s average, although that increase “was offset by bad weather across the country.” The promotion ran between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Denny’s CEO Nelson Marchioli proclaimed the event “a great day for Americans” as well as for the chain. “We received an outpouring of the most genuine and heartwarming comments from our guests, servers and managers,” he added. “We hope to continue to connect with our guests with real affordable offers all year long so they can fall in love with Denny’s again.”

(www.mediapost.com)

Haier Leverages NBA Link To Launch TV Line

By Aaron Baar

• Being the official HDTV of the NBA has its perks. Just ask Haier America, which is using the entire All-Star Weekend as a platform to launch a new line of LED televisions.
• The company will serve as the title sponsor of the league’s Shooting Stars competition, will have a presence at the NBA All-Star Jam Session and will be the presenting partner of the Development League’s Dream Factory Friday Night.

(www.mediapost.com)

Tide Links Products To Venus Williams, Super Bowl

By Tanya Irwin

• Tennis star Venus Williams is endorsing Tide’s newest laundry product, which includes Febreze and is designed to clean sports apparel.
• While recent advances in clothing technology have yielded lighter workout wear, the downside is that those fabrics trap dirt and odors, according to Procter & Gamble’s Tide. The new product, Tide plus Febreze Freshness Sport, is geared toward those issues, but can also be used on non-sportswear.
• Williams will be used in TV, print, in-store and online advertising, including the product’s Web site. Cincinnati-based Tide is promoting the new product with an online contest where consumers can design a tennis outfit for tournament play. The winning look will inspire an outfit that Williams will wear at a major tennis tournament in 2010.

(www.mediapost.com)

Avid Gamers Easy Targets For Sports Sponsors

By Aaron Baar

• According to the ESPN Sports Poll, conducted by TNS and Electronic Arts, more than a third of sports videogame players say they spend as much or more time playing the game than they do following the same sport on television.  Among these players, 75% of them said the in-game advertising helped reinforce the company’s real world sponsorship.
• “The fans, as part of the realism of the sport, expect it,” Robert Fox, senior vice president at TNS and director of the ESPN Sports Poll, tells Marketing Daily. “It takes them out of the game and the experience if it’s not there.”

(www.mediapost.com)

Kia Announces Bag Deal With Wie, Title Deal For LPGA S.D. Event

By Jon Show

• Kia Motors America has signed a pair of new sponsorships in women’s pro golf as it continues to grow its sports marketing portfolio. The Korean car manufacturer has a new deal with 20-year-old Korean-American Michelle Wie to serve as a brand spokesperson.
• The company’s logo will appear on her golf bag, replacing the spot previously occupied by Sony, which opted not to renew its three-year-old deal at the end of last year
• Meanwhile, the carmaker also has signed a new deal to title sponsor the inaugural LPGA event near San Diego. The Kia Classic Presented by J Golf will be held March 22-28 at La Costa Resort & Spa Golf Course.
• Terms were not available on either deal, but industry observers estimated the combined spending in the low-to-mid seven figures. The announcements comes three days after the growing car company ran its first Super Bowl ad. Kia became the official car of the NBA in ‘08.

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Social Studies: NLL Incorporating Twitter, Facebook Into Webcasts

By Eric Fisher

• The National Lacrosse League has begun to incorporate live Twitter and Facebook feeds into their live online video broadcasts of their games.
• While similar to many larger properties pursuing similar social media integration efforts, the NLL has also encouraged its broadcasters to incorporate the feeds into their announcing calls, and have begun to answer questions and liberally reference the social media content during those webcasts.
• The NLL, operating without a U.S. TV deal, is distributing its games online for free with the aid of digital video outfit Livestream.
• The NLL generated about 12 million minutes of online content consumption on its site, NLL.com, in all of ‘09, but in part through the new social media effort, recorded 5 million minutes in January of this year alone, and more than 250,000 unique visitors during the month.
• NLL Commissioner George Daniel said, “We feel this is an important instrument in our growth. Our [Web] numbers aren’t as big as an ESPN or an NFL, but for us, they’re up significantly, and a tool like this allows us to get our fans at home that much closer to the game.”

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Yahoo Expands Search Ad Platform

By: Mike Shields (Mediaweek)

• When Yahoo signed its search ad partnership with Microsoft last year, it promised that the deal did not mark the end of the Yahoo Search brand and that it would continue to innovate in the space.
• On Wednesday, the Web giant unveiled a pair of new search ad products that go a long way toward keeping that promise. First, during a special search marketing event held at the company’s Sunnyvale, Calif., campus, Yahoo announced it was testing Y!our Ads, a product that delivers text ads that take into account users’ previous search histories, rather than serving ads based solely on specific search terms.

(www.adweek.com)                          

MySpace Music Plugs In Audio Ads

By: Katy Bachman

• To offset sluggish revenue, MySpace Music is turning to in-stream audio ads, a first for the playlist-based Internet radio service.
• To handle ad sales, MySpace has signed with TargetSpot, which represents a network of both pure-play Internet radio providers and some of the largest radio groups.

(www.adweek.com)

The ‘Fix’ Is In at Stouffer’s

By: Elaine Wong (brandweek)

• Nestle is linking family dinnertime with healthy relationships in a new TV and Web push for its Stouffer’s brand.
• Now in its second year, the “Let’s fix dinner” challenge encourages parents to eat more Stouffer’s meals with their children. The move comes as consumers spend more time at home and turn to frozen and shelf-stable meals in a tough economy.

(www.adweek.com)

China’s Ad Spending Hits $120 Bil.

By: Erica Ng

• Advertising spending in China jumped 19 percent to approximately $120 billion in 2009 based on current exchange rates. China is now projected to become the fourth-largest global ad market in 2010.

(www.adweek.com)

Brands Reveal Music Strategies

By: Andre Paine

• Brands were the focus for several of the panels at this week’s Midem music conference in Cannes, France, with executives from Converse, Nascar, Carhartt and PepsiCo revealing details of their music strategies.

(www.adweek.com)

It’s Official: Mindshare Keeps Unilever in U.S.

By: Steve McClellan

• Unilever has confirmed keeping its U.S. media planning and buying assignment with WPP Group’s Mindshare. The shop also retained chores in Western Europe and picked up Canada. The decision came after a multiple-market review that the client initiated last July.

(www.adweek.com)

Toys Based on Sequels Take Center Stage

By: George Szalai

• It’s play time again for Hollywood, as the annual Toy Fair kicks off in New York on Sunday with the traditional slew of product tied to movies, TV shows and entertainment characters.
• Among this year’s hot properties: “Toy Story 3,” “Iron Man 2,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” the latest installments of “Twilight” and “Harry Potter,” and TV favorite “Dora the Explorer,” who is celebrating her 10th anniversary. But overall, there are fewer movies than last year that are ripe for toy merchandising this year.

(www.brandweek.com)

Pizza Hut Gets Personal

By: Eleftheria Parpis

• Pizza Hut’s first campaign from The Martin Agency centers on customer choice and a $10 promotion available only at “Your Pizza Hut.”

(www.brandweek.com)

Armchair CDs Speak Out On Super Bowl Spots

By Laurie Sullivan

• Twitter and social media have become the water coolers, spitting out data on ads during Super Bowl XLIV. While most football fans munched on chips and salsa Sunday watching the Saints battle the Colts for the championship, marketers and ad agency executives monitored the Web for chatter.
• Advertisers that bought spots to air during this year’s Super Bowl experienced a massive surge in social media buzz, according to a variety of research and analytic firms.
• Bog posts about the Super Bowl rose from 15,702 in 2009 to 25,725 this year, according to research from Initiative’s social media strategy and activation business unit Prophesee. The blog posts, more than 3,600 across 57 countries — from Afghanistan to the United States to Venezuela — made specific references to advertising, instead of the football game.

(www.mediapost.com)

Super Bowl S*M*A*S*H*E*S* Record

By Wayne Friedman

• For the third year in a row, the Super Bowl has hit a record in average total viewership, now up 8% to 106.5 million viewers.
• The close game won by the New Orleans Saints over the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, also hit a record in total households — 51.7 million. The previous record was held by the “M.A.S.H.” finale, which had 50.2 million homes.

(www.mediapost.com)

Super Bowl Tops Ads, Promo Run

By David Goetzl

• CBS ran slightly more ads than NBC did a year ago in the high-rated Super Bowl, setting an all-time record. The network aired nearly 39-and-a-half minutes of ads — which was about 90 seconds more than what came in 2009.
• There were 66 ads run by 41 different marketers (excluding NFL “house” ads), according to Kantar Media.
• In addition, CBS was able to squeeze in about eight-and-a-half minutes of promos — also about 90 seconds more than 2009. That included four-and-a-half minutes straight after the half-time show, for shows such as “CSI: Miami,” but also parent-company properties, such as CBS Films and TV.com, according to a Kantar log.

(www.mediapost.com)

Social Media Platform Aim To Separate Signals From The Noise

By Laurie Sullivan

• Networked Insights plans to announce this week several features in its SocialSense platform that should give marketers more insight into chatter across social media channels.
• The benefits range from tighter integration with Twitter and Quantcast to date-range analysis, and trending based on insights and keyword tag clouds.
• Rather than having the ability to simply recognize signals from noise across social media, Networked Insights wants to assure that clients can identify the conversations and what each means.
• The company does this through its analytics platform SocialSense. The platform mines data from 300 million people, 17 million locations, and 1.5 billion conversations daily, according to Dan Neely, the company’s founder and chief executive officer.

(www.mediapost.com)

Study: Half of Top Web Retailers Have No Meaningful Facebook Presence

By Mark Walsh

• With 400 million active users worldwide, it’s hardly surprising that Facebook would be the best option for retailers trying to reach consumers via online social networking sites. More than half of all online shoppers use Facebook, and among those shoppers who engage in social media, 81% are on Facebook.
• But according to a new study by ForeSee Results, which specializes in customer satisfaction research, only a quarter of the top 100 online retailers by sales volume have a formal Facebook presence, and another quarter have less than 10,000 fans.
• In other words, half of the top online retailers have a minimal to nonexistent Facebook presence,” reads the study authored by Kevin Ertell, vice president of retail strategy at ForeSee. He suggests that this is a mistake, since far more people use social networks with retailers to learn about special offers (49%) and product information (45%) than, say, getting customer support (5%).

(www.mediapost.com)

Super Bowl Ball Now In Marketers’ Hands

By Karl Greenberg

• Last year, the Super Bowl racked up $213 million in ad revenue. This year? Who knows. And who knows if it was worth it? One thing is for sure: the way advertisers take the ball and run with it this week and in weeks to come will determine how successful they will be with their Super Bowl ads.
• Dodge, for instance, used the game to promote its ad for the Charger R/T car with creative (”Man’s Last Stand”) about how men give everything up to their wives and significant others in exchange for a tryst with the car. The company is furthering with a “Super Beard” contest that challenges people to grow a beard over six weeks, then post their photos to be judged by members of Dodge’s car-brand Facebook page. The winner gets a weekend for two to a 2010 Dodge Motorsports race of choice, per the company. The Super Bowl ad, via Dodge’s agency Wieden + Kennedy of Nike fame, is also on www.Dodge.com.
• First-time advertiser Papa John’s, which hoped to sell three-quarters of a million pizzas during the Super Bowl, is furthering its buy with a three-free-toppings for $9 promo this week, an extension of its “Toppings for Touchdowns” promotion, announced last week.
• Jim Sanfilippo, COO of Hyundai’s agency Innocean, says it isn’t enough for Super Bowl ads to be interesting — or entertaining, for that matter. He says that, particularly for the car business, they have to be actionable on some level at retail.

(www.mediapost.com)

Most Meaningful: Snickers. Least: GoDaddy

By Karl Greenberg

• Marketing firms are weighing in on how well the Super Bowl ads did this year in terms of buzz and consumer opinion. Mars’ ad for Snickers won big, according to Allen & Gerritsen’s 7th annual Meaningful Messages Super Bowl Ad Survey, which ranks commercials by performance, rather than popularity, with a basic question: “Will the ad make you buy the product or consider buying it?”
• Based on the survey, the top five ads were Snickers; Denny’s; Anheuser-Busch’s latest Clydesdale ad featuring a cow that wants to be a horse; HomeAway.com, featuring Chevy Chase, and Hyundai’s Bret Favre ad.
• The least meaningful were GoDaddy; Bridgestone’s “Your Tires or Your Life” spot; the Vizio Forge spot, another GoDaddy spot and the Diamond Foods Awesomer ad.

(www.mediapost.com)

Sun Life Financial Scores Big During Super Bowl

By Tanya Irwin

• Sun Life Financial received over $26 million in media value during the Super Bowl through 68 sequences that included verbal mentions, on-screen text, and stadium signage due to their recently completed naming rights agreement for the Miami stadium, according to FrontRow-Marketing.com.
• “The amount of broadcast exposure that Sun Life Financial has received in the past has proved to be a great asset for the company and with the new naming rights deal they will continue to increase their competitive edge within their market,” said VP of Project Management for Front Row Marketing Services Eric Smallwood.

(www.mediapost.com)

CBS’ Super Bowl XLIV Pregame Show, Segments Earn Mixed Reviews

• CBS‘ pregame show for Super Bowl XLIV was “what we’ve come to expect from ‘The NFL Today:’ Safe, smartly produced and occasionally nonsensical,” according to Richard Deitsch of SI.com.
• The Washington Post’s Leonard Shapiro noted “not a discouraging word” on any of the critical NFL issues — such as labor talks, a possible uncapped season in ‘10 and the long-term effects of concussions – “found its way into the four-hour CBS pregame show or the four-hour game telecast.”
• In Miami, Barry Jackson writes the first two-plus hours of “The NFL Today” “dragged, with James Brown’s poignant report on New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina among the few highlights.” Jackson: “One problem: too much intrusive, sponsor-driven editorial content — more so than past Super Bowls.” CBS “displayed pizzas on set to promote Pizza Hut” and then had analyst Boomer Esiason “stuff his mouth with crackers to promote Ritz.” The network also “aired a worthless Gatorade segment.”

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Brees Expected To Cash In From Super Bowl MVP Performance

• Drew Brees could see many deals like one with Unilever in wake of Super Bowl win.

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Crown Royal Expands Sponsorship Of Roush Fenway, Matt Kenseth

• Roush Fenway Racing Friday announced that Crown Royal has expanded to 35 the number of races in which it will be the primary sponsor of the No. 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford driven by Matt Kenseth in ‘10.

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)

Jimmy Johnson Inks Deal With Male Enhancement Brand ExtenZe

• Fox NFL analyst Jimmy Johnson has signed a deal to be the new spokesperson for male enhancement brand ExtenZe.
• Johnson will appear in a series of ads advocating ExtenZe for “maximizing what you already have.”

(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)