Gillette -an MLB sponsor since 1939 – will continue to have exclusive rights in several brand categories, including men’s and women’s pre and post wet/dry shaving products, antiperspirants/deodorants and men’s skin care products.

Gillette features New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter in several commercials for its premium Fusion™ line of blades and razors and Gillette Clinical Strength antiperspirants. Jeter is the latest in a long line of Major Leaguers who have endorsed Gillette including Hank Aaron, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Honus Wagner. Gillette ads featuring MLB players date back to as early as 1910.

Again, although its unecessary with Jeter’s notoriety, we have recently found MLB players in venues where MLB and/or the MLBPA can capitalize off of or promote the idea of a superstar player (rather than a usually team-oriented approach).  I’m also very impressed with the fact that MLBP has decided to take their sponsorship international,

Gillette has expanded its agreement with MLBP to include the territory of Puerto Rico where Gillette recently ran a Spanish version of the Gillette Clinical Strength antiperspirant commercial in Puerto Rico during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Additionally, it will remain the presenting sponsor of the American League and National League Rookie of the Month Award which recognizes the top AL & NL rookie each month of the regular season.

Honestly, it’d be impossible to explain to me why MLBP doesn’t go back and renegotiate any sponorship deal it has to allow for inclusion of the products, rights, images, etc. in Puerto Rico and Latin American countries in general (if they have not done so already).  Many of baseball’s stars are not from America, with a large number predominately being from a Latin American country…so why not cater to the increasing Latin American fan base?

MLB.com –  Major League Baseball announces extension of historic sponsorship with Gillette dating back to 1939

Effective immediately, Cash4Gold will be known as the “#1 gold buyer for the Milwaukee Bucks.” The sponsorship includes web and radio and TV broadcast media components for Cash4Gold during the Milwaukee Bucks season. As part of the agreement, Cash4Gold will run radio spots during the team’s broadcasts.

“It’s exciting for Cash4Gold to work with a great organization like the Milwaukee Bucks, who have such a die-hard fan base,” said Cash4Gold Founder and CEO Jeff Aronson. “We look forward to a long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with the Bucks, Bango, and the city of Milwaukee’s fantastic sports fans.”

Apparently, there are a lot of Milwaukee Bucks fans with a bunch of gold just sitting idly by in their jewelry boxes.  Who knew?  Maybe Cash4Gold put some ancillary digital rights into the contract, and Charlie Villanueva will be tweeting about it during the season?

AJAX World Magazine — Cash4Gold hits the hardwood (tip via http://spigital.blogspot.com)

In the NBA’s never ending quest to expand its league and enhance its brand on a global level, the NBA has partnered with the China Mengniu Dairy Co. and Shandong Satellite TV, to create the NBA’s first reality show, called ‘Mengniu NBA Basketball Disciple’ (because if nothing else, subtle stereo-types involving Asians and martial arts disciplines always work!).  More info from Ad Age,

The show will follow a three-month basketball competition starting with public tryouts in 64 cities in China. The players will compete in a variety of skills competitions and be awarded points based on performance in four rounds.

Following a final all-star game in the last round, the player with the most cumulative points will be crowned the most valuable player of the competition and win an all-expenses-paid trip to the U.S. for a tryout with a team from the NBA’s minor league.

Former NBA players such as Darryl Dawkins, who played with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, scouts and a coach will appear throughout the series to run competitions, evaluate players, award points and determine which competitors advance to the next round. An NBA mascot and dance team will also be on-site to provide entertainment for NBA fans.

Basketball in China...yes, I like it.

This may just be “Stern-ian” logic at its finest.  One of the hurdles facing Stern with any attempts to expand the NBA league, or to create sub-leagues overseas, is ensuring a basketball economy/marketplace exists in the areas he is seeking expansion.  China already has a large NBA marketplace (Thanks Yao Ming!), but why not try to bolster that marketplace before bringing an NBA team there?  Or, better point, why not put this sort of TV vehicle in a spot where you know it will thrive, so that you can use it as selling point in venues that may not be as receptive to the NBA product (i.e. countries in Europe).  This reality show kills both of those birds with one stone, because if nothing else…people love to follow reality shows with a winner at the end (see any season of American Idol), and the NBA will obviously have its brand plastered all over the show, so they get the brand enhancement and recognition they crave at the same time.

Even if that logic inexplicably fails, and I would be surprised if it would, the show will also help to increase the NBA’s foreign fan base (or bolster it).  The winner gets a shot with a D-League team?  Does anyone else think that a Chinese player who won an American Idol-type competition who now plays on a D-League squad would maybe garner some attention for the D-League?  And with the potentially large number of Chinese people who would follow a Chinese player, could we potentially see the NBA contracting with ESPN or some provider to show D-League games on their network?  Sure, Americans would probably not be that interested, but if you had a few million Chinese people that would definitely tune in to see that one winner of the show…how could the networks pass that up?  The NBA has the ability to create what is possibly a lucrative revenue stream in an area where I’m assuming little revenue is currently being generated…all by expanding their audience on a global scale.

That all being said, how can you argue that sports shouldn’t go global?  And even if you did argue that, how would your argument not fall on deaf ears?  I don’t know if David Stern is going to be able to hear you while he’s diving into his Scrooge McDuck money-swimming pool.

Ad Age — NBA creates its first reality show in China

Just when you thought the jobs of mascots everywhere were safe, saddening news comes out of Tampa Bay, informing everyone that the Tampa Bay mascot, Thunder Bug, has been laid off (actually the guy inside ThunderBug, who is named Matt Hitchcock was laid off).  More from TampaBay.com,

“The Tampa Bay Lightning today announced a restructuring aimed at creating more efficiencies and eliminating redundancies by reducing the size of its workforce. When the current ownership purchased the team, it elected to take a full hockey season to observe and analyze the business before making major decisions regarding its long-term direction.

“With the 2008-09 season completed, the franchise feels it is necessary to form a structure that best supports the business going forward. Today, in a toughening economy, we certainly understand the impact that these decisions have on the lives of the families affected which doesn’t make the decisions any easier. However, we feel an obligation to our fans and sponsors to create the best possible organization to ensure our success in the future. We appreciate all the hard work and service these dedicated employees have performed for this organization and we wish them all the best moving forward.”

Besides ThunderBug, the Lightning also released 19 other employees, which brought the yearly total up to 27 employees (yes, we are in April, why do you ask?).  As mentioned in the press release, OK Hockey (the 8 person collective that took over ownership of the Lightning in 2008), spent the last year analyzing the current situation, and they are now seeking to maximize profits with the hockey team.  The rush to “right the ship” is apparent; the downward spiraling economy, and a $105 million loan, used to finance the purchase of the team and due in 2011, has accelerated the panic in Tampa Bay.  This year’s 24-40, 66 point performance (14th in the Eastern Conference) probably didn’t help matters much.

The panic is definitely real when six-foot lightning bugs wearing hockey jerseys find themselves without jobs.

Tampa Bay.com — Some layoffs at OK Hockey, including ThunderBug

ESPN is reporting that the Steelers have resigned Steelers linebacker/2008 DPOY James Harrison to a contract extension.  Details below,

Steelers linebacker James Harrison cashed in on his incredible 2008 season by agreeing to a new contract Monday that is worth $51.175 million over the next six seasons, according to a source.

He was scheduled to make $1.4 million this season, the final year of his contract.

Included in the contract is about $20 million in bonuses, the source said.

Living in Pittsburgh, and having the opportunity to be around Harrison at the MDA MuscleTeam event, I’m  happy to see that we were able to keep him.  He’s obviously great on the field, and seems to be involved in some great community events off the field as well.  Even more surprising is how much the Steelers, who are notorious for frugal spending, spent on his contract.  Even though I’m sure a lot of the money is coming on the back end, the Steelers paying someone an average of in between $9 and $8 million a year is pretty impressive.  Compare that to safety Troy Polamalu’s deal a few years ago, and it looks like the Steelers are willing to spend the extra money on their superstar players.

ESPN — Source: Harrison gets $20 M in bonuses

The Montreal Canadiens hockey club — winners of 24 championship Stanley Cups since 1916 — is for sale, local media said Wednesday.

Owner George Gillett, an US businessman who co-owns the English Premier League football club Liverpool F.C. and a NASCAR auto racing team, asked bankers in March to evaluate his options, including an asset sale, to repay loans.

Gillett hopes to sell the team and a hockey arena in downtown Montreal to pay back 75 million dollars in loans due in July.

Gillett bought an 80.1 percent stake in the hockey franchise for 275 million dollars (223 million US) in 2001.

Forbes magazine estimated the value of the team and the Bell Centre arena last year at 412 million dollars (334 million US).

Interest in pop stars buying hockey franchise aside, the bigger question might end up becoming, what’s going to happen with the English Premier Soccer club, Liverpool FC?  Both Gillette and Denver Broncos owner Tom Hicks are majority owners in the franchise, and both are experiencing some financial hardships (see: Tom Hicks looking to sell parts of Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers).  Might a sale of one of the UK’s most popular soccer clubs be next?

Back to Dion though, pretty interesting investment opportunity.  She’s already extremely wealthy and extremely famous but she could seemingly transcend her current levels of wealth and publicity by becoming the owner of a sports franchise by possibly opening herself up to a new audience (I assume that every Canadiens fan isn’t a Dion fan…but what if she brings them a championship?) and new revenue streams (why not pay yourself to sing the national anthem at hockey games?).

Still, not to beat the idea of the “recessions effect on sports”  into the ground but would we see moguls like Gillett and Hicks looking to invite minority owners into their clubs if the recession was not in its present downturn? Probably not.

Google News — AFP: Canadiens hockey team for sale

MLB this week will open the ’09 season by breaking its first new tag line in three years: “This is Beyond Baseball,”…

MLB Senior VP & CMO Jacqueline Parkes indicated that the multi-media ad campaign is the league’s “largest ever, with MLB rights holders slated to dedicate the equivalent of $65[M] in asset media to the campaign over the course of the season.” MLB’s ad agency, McCann-Erickson, “assisted with the work, which grew out of research that showed the bonds – on and off the field – that baseball fans have for the game.”  Twenty ads “will run nationally on MLB rights holders Fox, ESPN, TBS and the MLB Network, and locally on broadcasts of MLB teams’ rights holders.” More than 10 spots “will focus on star players,” starting with Giants P Tim Lincecum and Phillies 1B Ryan Howard.

Wow.  I personally didn’t expect MLB to roll out a shiny new ad campaign this season, especially with the economic situation, and the fact that MLB revenues have been climbing fairly steadily, for various reasons, with the “I Live For This Campaign” for the last 6 years.  I personally haven’t seen the commercials yet, but the “will focus on star players” line leads me to assume they will continue to try and play up the “individual baseball superstar” angle, something that the MLBPA is trying to establish with their player-only merchandise stores.

Aside from the money spent on the campaign (not that $65 million is going to break baseball’s piggy bank anyway), ad campaigns like this were always amusing to me because I can’t figure out how they’re beneficial.  Does the fact that baseball now has a new tagline really make people go and watch baseball?  Did the NBA’s “Where ____ Happens” make people go out and watch basketball?  Probably not.  Especially since all of these ad campaigns are usually shown during the games for which they are advertising.  Showing me a baseball commercial when I was already committed enough to watch baseball in the first place doesn’t really do much.  Maybe it makes some people buy tickets for an actual game?  Or maybe its just a pretty commercial for people to look at.  I personally am not  convinced that a majority of today’s advertising dollars actually generate anything other than nominal business for the advertising client, and fully expect the way businesses advertise to be revamped in the next couple of years, using social networking.

In the meantime, maybe I’ll watch some baseball?  I mean, I wasn’t going to at first, but then I saw this cool new ad campaign…

Sports Business Daily — MLB Breaking Ad Camaign With “This is Beyond Baseball” Tag Line

Just last week, I posted an article about the future of communication in sports and sports business, and how services like twitter are going to essentially eliminate the middle man.  Then, on March 26th, Shaq did this on his Twitter page…

Yes, Shaq just announced his endorsement deal over Twitter.  No traditional media was involved, and the press release regarding the deal came out a few days later.  So, why is this a big deal?  Darren Rovell explains,

What’s groundbreaking about O’Neal “breaking” the endorsement deal on Twitter is that it’s believed to be the first time an athlete has reported such a deal without the typical middleman, the media…

As a journalist who reports on endorsement deals, I have to be honest, I’m already pretty concerned about the Twitter way.

Why?

Well, think about the fact that with a couple words O’Neal has announced to everyone who has cared to follow him that he is now with Enlyten.

The potential for reaching O’Neal’s fans faster than one of my blogs or articles is certainly out there.

And think about what the endorsement relies upon. It relies upon the athlete having purchasing power sway and that normally happens with people who are fans of the star.

So essentially, Shaq was able to instantly inform the world (or at least his 500,000+ followers) about his endorsement deal with no cost.  Seems a lot cheaper than paying a marketing company millions of dollars for a promotional campaign that is definitely wasted on a large majority of people because they aren’t interested in the product, right?

Regardless of whether people believe it or not, or whether they fear it or not, the shift to instantaneous transactions between the sports fan and the athlete has begun and will increase in their frequency.  I reiterate, it is going to be up to traditional media to figure out a way to monetize this shift, or they will be left behind (two companies which seem to be fairly forward thinking?  Intuit and Google).  How far away are we from Darren Rovell or any other reporter asking Shaq or another athlete questions on their Twitter page in order to write their articles?  And again, if we reach that point, doesn’t that completely destroy any relevancy of the traditional sports reporter?  Sure, I could wait and see how Rovell uses the information in his article, but when I already have the piece of information that I really seek, “The answer”, right in front of me, why wait days or hours or even minutes for all of the accompanying prose?

Sports Business Digest — The Future of Sports and Sports Business:  Communication

Sports Biz w/Darren Rovell –  The Tweet Heard Around  the Endorsement World

The outlet will be called The Players Clubhouse: A Players Choice Store and is being billed by the union as a prototype for future retail stores. The union has not said where its next stores may be, but one of its goals is to put outlets in other stadiums.

The Players Clubhouse inside Citi Field will carry goods made by VF/Majestic, Nike, Twins, Topps, Upper Deck, WinCraft, Forever Collectibles, PhotoFile and Rawlings. Everything in the store, from bobbleheads to coffee mugs to team jerseys, will have a player’s name or likeness on it, thereby producing licensing revenue for the union. The union will test new products in the store, including the possibility of products designed by Mets players.

Goods with team names or logos but no player names or likenesses produce licensing revenue for only Major League Baseball, which is why items with players’ names are also more expensive than similar products without them.

MLB superstars are obviously going to be pushing for the success of these stores, in part because all active players share in surplus MLBPA revenues and any superstars that are able to become “household names” are obviously going to be making a decent chunk of change.  Although, are MLB superstars really pressed for money?  Baseball’s luxury tax (in comparison to a salary cap) usually allows baseball players to make more money than superstars in other sports (anyone else making A-Rod money in any sport?).   So, if an MLB superstar isn’t really a household name…is he really suffering?  Hopefully the $20 million a year deal he just signed will placate him long enough to forget that everyone in America does not know his name and complete backstory (add to that the fact that you can be a baseball superstar for 20 years, and that most superstars would have long since retired in baseball or basketbal).  But, I digress.  This store, and others in the future, represent a new way of marketing for MLB players, which should lead to new opportunities in the products, and advertising fields, at the very least.  So kudos to you MLBPA for finally getting this idea to come to fruition.

Wonder if they’ll have any Dustin Pedroia Salsa?  One can only hope.

New York Times — Union to Open Ballpark to Promote Star Players