Chinese Auto Turns To Table Tennis, Signs Major Partnership With ITTF

Chinese automaker, Guangzhou Automobile Group, commonly known as GAC Group, will be the title sponsor for two of the sport's premier global events: the World Table Tennis Championships and the 2013 World Team Cup. The GAC Group and ITTF officials announced the deal earlier today in Guangzhou, China. "We are exceptionally happy to be sponsoring the 2011 World Table Tennis Championships and t...

DeWalt Leverages UFC Tie-In To Drive Traffic To Channel Partners

DeWalt, the Baltimore, MD-based manufacturer of industrial power tools and accessories, is turning to a new tie-in with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to drive business for its local retail partners. "DeWalt's "brand slogan 'Guaranteed Tough' is a perfect match that represents what the league and fighters stand for in the Ultimate Fighting Championship Series," Scott Moore, DEWALT's VP o...

Ahead of the Curve: Xavier Cobos

Xavier Cobos Manager Partnership Development, Golden State Warriors SponsorPitch Profile: XavierCobos How long have you been in the biz? I have worked in a sales & marketing capacity for about 10 years and have spent the last 4 years in a partnership development capacity. How many deals have you done? Somewhere in the range of 30-40. You are in just your first year of selling a ...

O Co Cuatro

The Oakland Coliseum will receive its fourth naming rights partner, if The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum Authority approves a six-year, $7.2 million naming rights proposal with Overstock.com today, MercuryNews.com reports. The catch? Overstock.com has an "opt out" should either the A's or Raiders choose to play elsewhere when their leases run out in 2013. Read more on the deal at MercuryNews...

Heineken Makes Predictive Analytics Fun With Real-Time UEFA App

Heineken has launched a new app called StarPlayer, which lets fans watch UEFA Champions League matches on television while playing it in real-time on a computer, iPhone or iPod touch. The games lets players earn points by making in-game predictions based around the action they're watching on TV. The goal with StarPlayer, which was created by digital agency, AKQA, is to make watching the game on...

Discover Gives Away Stanley Cup

When Discover signed a 1 year deal as official credit card of the NHL last Fall, some wondered how the brand would fair in pulling together a league-wide activation around such a short term deal. One answer? Send the Stanley Cup on a sleepover. Check out the promotional video below for Discover's Win A Day With The Stanley Cup promotion. A winner will be announced next week in the contest, whic...

49ers Turn To CAA For Santa Clara Naming Rights Partner

The 49ers front office has had a busy week. A day after announcing that it has hired former Facebook CFO, Gideon Yu, as its Chief Strategy Officer, the team announced a major partnership with CAA to assist in the search for a naming rights partner for its Santa Clara stadium project. The new stadium is a 68,500-seat stadium currently scheduled to open in time for the 2015 National Football Leag...

NCAA Task Force To Review Bowl Sponsorship Standards

NCAA President Mark Emmert on Thursday announced the establishment of an NCAA Division I Bowl Licensing Task Force to examine the purpose, criteria, process and oversight of the NCAA licensing procedures for football bowl games. According to a statement released by the NCAA, the task force will examine governance and oversight by bowl sponsoring agencies, conflict-of-interest rules and polic...

3 Amigos Continues Push Into Motorsports With Darlington Deal

3 Amigos Tequila has been named “The Official Tequila” of Darlington Raceway, it's third deal in motorsports. The brand, headquartered in Arizona, has existing deals with Phoenix International Raceway and Talladega SuperSpeedway (3 Amigos 250). “Like Darlington Raceway, 3 Amigos Tequila is all about good times and fun,” said Darlington Raceway President Chris Browning. “We look forward t...

Power Balance Named Presenting Sponsor of Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Health Expos

Balance wristband maker, Power Balance, is the new presenting sponsor of 16 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Health and Fitness Expos throughout 2011. Terms of the deal, which was announced today, were not released. The 2-day expos will accompany each of the Rock 'n' Roll events, reaching 16 markets: New Orleans, Dallas, Nashville, San Diego, Seattle, Chicago, Virginia Beach, Philadelphia, San Jose,...