Leverage, Top Rank partner for boxing upfront presentation
By Jon Show
- The Leverage Agency and Top Rank will partner this Saturday on what they are calling the first advertising and sponsorship upfront in the history of boxing.
- Other boxing promoters and networks like ESPN aggregate the rights to multiple fights as part of advertising and sponsorship sales, but industry insiders believe this is the first time a promoter has partnered with an agency and television networks to package rights for a formal upfront-style boxing presentation.
- Under a multiyear relationship, Top Rank and the Leverage Agency are pooling sponsorship and advertising rights to 48 fights in 2010, including 12 pay-per-view events and 36 events on FSN or Fox Sports en Español. The 12 PPV events will feature three “super fights,” including Manny Pacquiao’s bout at Cowboys Stadium against Joshua Clottey on March 13.
(www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)
Sun Life Financial takes naming-rights at Dolphins Stadium
By Terry Lefton
- The Miami Dolphins on Wednesday will announce Sun Life Financial as the new naming-rights partner for their home stadium, just four days before the Pro Bowl and 11 days before Super Bowl XLIV are played at what will be called Sun Life Stadium.
- Sources said the five-year deal averaged about $7.5 million annually.
- It was unclear whether Sun Life category rights will be restricted to insurance or be more broadly-based to include financial services categories.
(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)
Evangelical Pro-Life Spot To Air In Super Bowl
By David Goetzl
- Colorado evangelical group Focus on the Family said it has purchased one of the remaining spots on the CBS broadcast of the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.
- The group indicated that the spot will carry a pro-life message, raising a key question: How will it meet CBS’ long-held policy of refusing advocacy ads?
- Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother Pam will be featured in the 30-second ad with a “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life” message, according to the religious group.
(www.mediapost.com)
Scott’s Miracle-Gro Seeds Major League Baseball
By David Goetzl
- Talk about grassroots marketing. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a deal with Major League Baseball to sell seed blendsand fertilizers akin to those used on the fields at iconic venues such as Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.
- The arrangement is part of a broader link that pitches Scotts as an “official lawn care company” of MLB.
(www.mediapost.com)
Pacquiao-Clottey Gives Cowboys Stadium A Big Debut Bout
- While the March 13 Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey bout at Cowboys Stadium “isn’t the hoped-for mega showdown” between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., it still is a “good, big-time boxing start for the house that Jerry Jones built,” according to Gil LeBreton of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM.
- The stadium will use its “basketball configuration for the bout.” The top deck will not be opened, and the center-hung video board “will be lowered to 30 feet over the ring.”
- Ticket prices to the fight will range from $50-700, and Top Rank Chair Bob Arum is “excited about being able to offer what he called ‘reasonable prices’ for a world-class boxing show.”
- Jones yesterday said he envisions as many as “four or five significant fights a year” in the new stadium. Jones: “Las Vegas has its aura, and we can do things here to capture our own aura.” The ring will be placed at midfield, and Arum and Jones noted that they are “hoping to fill 40,000 seats.”
- In Ft. Worth, Tobias Xavier Lopez notes there were “comparisons to the Roman Coliseums” throughout yesterday’s press conference at Cowboys Stadium, and Arum suggested that the Dallas facility “could replace Madison Square Garden or Caesar’s Palace as the ‘new Mecca of boxing’” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/20)
- Jones said, “With the stature of Pacquiao, we’re going to be able to put on a unique fight.” While the plan is to fill 40,000 seats, Arum indicated that a “60,000-seat plan can be arranged if necessary.” Arum also announced that HBO PPV will televise the fight (L.A. TIMES, 1/20).
(www.sportsbusinessdaily.com)
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