WME To Make Cuts at IMG

In the wake of its $2.2 billion acquisition of IMG, WME will lay off about 100 employees, or 3% of IMG's worldwide staff. The restructuring will come in the coming weeks, according to Variety. Here's the memo from WME co-CEO's Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitsell: In the seven months since WME acquired IMG, we’ve been focused on helping this company live up to its potential as the global lead...

Real Madrid Amends Logo For Marketing Partnership

One of the world's most famous soccer clubs has gone so far as to alter its own logo in some regions, in an apparent effort to win over sponsors and fans in the UAE. At a ceremony last week to announce the launch of its sponsorship deal with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the club's iconic logo is missing the cross on its royal crown. "Their logo will remain the same in Europe, but with a hug...

Team Partner Changes Promotion In Face of Winless Season

Papa John's changed its pizza promotion with the 0-14 Philadelphia 76ers so that fans now get 50% off when the team hits 90 points, rather than wins as previously promoted. That's according to numerous reports making the rounds.

The New SponsorPitch (v4)

Welcome to the new, improved SponsorPitch! Our mission to help you access on-demand sponsorship intelligence in a faster and more targeted manner hasn't changed; but our look and feel has. And that's thanks to the feedback of users like you - users who have helped us grow from just a handful of users to over 50,000 active members in a short time. We can't thank you enough. And that's why we're ...

Reebok Offers Sponsorship For Tattoo

Sponsorships are almost never permanent. These days there is always a term and an "out clause." That kind of goes out the window though when you get a gigantic tattoo of your sponsor. Reebok in Sweden is offering a $6,000 (40,000 SEK) crossfit sponsorship to the athlete that gets the biggest tattoo of Reebok's logo. Check out this crazy promotion...

UA Makes Bid For One Of Basketball's Biggest Stars

According to ESPN's Darren Rovell, Kevin Durant's representation, Roc Nation Sports, is mulling a massive offer from Under Armour worth between $265 million and $285 million over 10 years. The prospective endorsement deal, which would bring to an end a seven year relationship with Nike, reportedly also includes stock and other items such a community center built in his mother's name. Your move,...

ESPN Got Paid In Bitcoin For Latest Bowl Sponsorship

It may come as no surprise that BitPay elected to pay ESPN for its recent bowl sponsorship in bitcoin. Company execs confirmed on Friday...

Nascar To Name New Entitlement Partner Today

Nascar today will unveil a new title sponsor for the Nationwide series in a 1:30 pm est press conference. The 10-year sponsorship agreement between Comcast and Nascar is reportedly worth nearly $200 million and will rename Nascar's secondary series the Xfinity Series. Today's announcement will be made at the Nascar Hall of Fame and streamed live at NASCAR.com.

Levi's Gets Creative With Trademarks

Almost immediately after Levi's signed its $220 million, 20 year naming rights deal with with the San Francisco 49ers in March, pundits were proposing monikers for the new stadium. It seems fans aren't content with Levi's Stadium. Among the nicknames recently trademarked by the blue jeans maker are the following: "Field of Jeans" "Win one for the Zipper" What do you think? Got anythin...

Verizon Vies For Direct Value in NFL Deal

The Sports Business Journal is reporting that Verizon is close to announcing a four-year, $1 billion extension of its partnership with the NFL, a deal that will allow the company to “to stream every NFL regular season and playoff game to mobile phones.” The agreement is significant for two reasons. First, it shows the NFL’s power to command a premium price for league-wide sponsorship/media r...