The Best Super Bowl Spots From XLVIII

At least there were the ads. Here are some of our faves from last night... T-Mobile | #nocontract Budweiser | Puppy Love RadioShack | #inwiththenew

Learfield Snaps Up Nelligan To Shake Up College Sponsorship Landscape

Learfield Sports has significantly bolstered its portfolio of collegiate properties under representation, today announcing the acquisition of Nelligan Sports and its 41 schools under management. The deal means Learfield Sports will now own the multimedia rights for 97 collegiate athletics programs including with the acquisition Louisville and Marquette. “Learfield is a terrific company with...

NO-bani! Russia Won't Let USOC Sponsor Ship Product to Sochi

Strained greek yogurt may be the latest casualty of the tense relationship between U.S. and Russia. U.S.O.C. sponsor, Chobani, got the cold shoulder when it tried to send its product to Sochi earlier this week as part of the company's multi-million dollar sponsorship and with the Games just two days away, Russian customs officials are reportedly preventing the shipment from traveling through to...

Sochi's First Sponsor Infringement Lawsuit Has Been Filed

Well, that was quick. To celebrate the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics, the Canadian Olympic Committee has filed a lawsuit against The North Face and parent company, VF. The lawsuit claims that the outerwear apparel maker infringed on Olympic trademarks and attempted to mislead customers into believing that North Face was an official sponsor in the run-up to the Sochi games with its "Villagew...

What You Won't See At Today's Opening Ceremonies

iPhones. At least that's the rumor that's been floating around the past couple of days. Samsung reportedly asked that athletes (who were all given a Samsung Galaxy 3 as part of the company's sponsorship activation) not bring their competitor's phones to today's/tonight's opening ceremonies or if they must, cover up the apple logo. All of which kind of makes sense, what with Samsung shelling out...

Team Shoots Down $10MM Sponsorship Proposition

Ashley Madison can't buy a Valentine's date with popular australian professional rugby team, the Cronulla Sharks. The club has responded in no uncertain terms to a recent $10 million sponsorship proposal from the adultry matchmaking service, writing "even if it’s $50 million the Sharks still say NO!" Ouch. "We have built a strong commercial platform for the future, and yes we would be i...

Toy Maker Teams Up With SI For 'Unapologetic' Swimsuit Issue

SI's latest reinvention of the iconic swimsuit issue? A new marketing partnership with Mattel that will see the $3 billion Barbie brand prominently featured in this year's issue. The deal, the latest in a number of high profile partnerships, is part of Mattel's new #Unapologetic marketing campaign. “Unapologetic” is a word that Mattel executives use internally, Mattel SVP of Marketing Li...

Chobani Gives Up On Getting Yogurt to Sochi

Chobani, a USOC sponsor, has given up on its quest to ship its yogurt to U.S. athletes in Sochi. Instead, the upstate New York company will donate about 5,000 cups of yogurt that had been detained at Newark Liberty International Airport to local food banks. 'We decided that if we didn't have a resolution by today, we were going to donate the products,'' Peter McGuinness, Chobani's chief mark...

NFL Logos + Sponsorship = Artwork?

NYC designer Ryan K Fishman recently re-mixed all 32 NFL logos with corporate images. Not likely to happen anytime soon, but definitely interesting to see what could be with a few corporate tweaks and a boatload of $$$. Check it out: logoremix.tumblr.com. Here's a preview... H/T: Deadspin

Press Pass For Sponsor Mentions A Big No, No Says Journalist

PR folks and journalists don't always get along, but the dance gets ratcheted up in a big way when high paying corporate sponsors are involved. Sponsors that more often than not would like to see their name in press, too. So should sponsor mentions ever be a condition for the press pass? That's the topic Telegraph columnist Tim Walker took on when he was invited (seemingly with strings attached...