AEG lands Mastercard as sponsor of Beijing Arena

MasterCard Worldwide has obtained naming rights for Beijing’s Wukesong Arena, the basketball venue for the 2008 Olympic Games, Los Angeles-based entertainment giant AEG said Wednesday. It is the first 2008 Olympic Games venue to be rebranded commercially, AEG said, and the first arena in Beijing to be renamed in such a way. Read More >> photo credit

Castrol Announces Exclusive NFL Deal in Motor Oil & Lubricants Category

Castrol announced today a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the National Football League. The lead brand will be Castrol EDGE, which will maintain category exclusivity in the motor oil and related lubricants field. "Castrol is all about delivering engine performance. We see strong synergies with the NFL, which brings exciting on-field performance to millions of fans every week," said Sh...

How to Build & Sustain a Career in Sports

Looking for some tips on how to break into the business? Here's some free advice from the Twitterverse. Check out the transcript from last night's #sbchat, hosted by J.W. Cannon and Lou Imbriano. #jobs jobs #career

London Eye Gets 4th Name in 11 Years

EDF Energy, the UK’s largest producer of low-carbon electricity, has agreed to terms that will make it the naming rights partner for the London Eye over the next three years. The sponsorship negotiated with London Eye's owner, Merlin Entertainments, is reported to be worth close to £8m (~$12M). EDF Energy, a tier one sponsor and the first sustainability partner for the London 2012 Olympic an...

Sports Marketing Trends to Follow in 2011

Thomas Janca of Proximity Prague recently posted a terrific Powerpoint presentation on SportsMarketing20.com that details emerging trends in the global sports marketing landscape. The presentation featured some great insights that I wanted to share as key discussion points to monitor. Ten (10) sports marketing trends highlighted in the deck for 2011 included: 1. Digital In-Game Experience...

2K Sports and ESPN Reach Sponsorship Deal for NBA Coverage in UK

2K Sports has become the official sponsor of ESPN’s live 2011 NBA coverage in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The partnership will feature NBA 2K11 around ESPN’s live telecasts. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. ESPN will deliver nearly 100 games across the season, including the NBA Playoffs and the NBA Finals live. ESPN will also broadcast the NBA’s first-ever regular-s...

GameStop & IGN Team Up To Give Gamers More Content, Marketers More Access

GameStop, the world's largest brick and mortar video game retailer, and IGN Entertainment, the leading online media network for video game enthusiasts, have announced an exclusive, far ranging partnership that will apply IGN's gaming content and ad operations to GameStop.com. The move is aimed at transforming the retailer's website from an online store into a more comprehensive online experienc...

SanDiego.com Offers $250K & A Ten Step Process Towards Sponsorship

SanDiego.com has launched a sponsorship program that it says will infuse "some $250,000" into the local economy by supporting as many 100 events in Metro San Diego. In addition to any sponsorship fees, partner events will receive an email blast to the site's subscribers on the event's behalf, as well as significant media exposure on the site's website and social media platforms. Here's an FAQ ...

Are Sponsorships About the Cash? Or the Cause?

The SP Soapbox Series features expert "in the wild" commentary from leaders in the field of sponsorship. To have your commentary featured here, email your request to [email protected]. The Soapbox Series is supported by CrowdSPRING. ! Here’s a question: Is it about the cash or the cause? Where do we draw the line? Lancet, one of the world’s most influential medical journal...

Nike Projecting Oregon Logo on Mountains Above BCS Championship

If you're not in the sports biz you may not be fully aware that tonight's national championship game is not only a colossal match-up on the field, but also among apparel titans Under Armour (Auburn) and Nike (Oregon). So here's a special Monday morning BCS Championship Activation Tactic of the Week. Nike has come up with a way to use lasers to project its Oregon messages on Camelback Mountain i...