EA SPORTS branding will be featured on all live on-screen broadcasts of Barclays Premier League fixtures, and EA SPORTS will work with broadcasters to develop enhancements for match day broadcast analysis and increased fan interaction. EA SPORTS will also sponsor the Player Performance Index and will explore new ways to utilise more in-depth Barclays Premier League statistics than ever before in future iterations of EA SPORTS Football products.

In the exclusive role as Official Sports Technology Partner of the Premier League, EA SPORTS will explore new ways to leverage actual match and performance data to deliver improved interactive football experiences that match the complexity, finesse and excitement of a real-world football match. Examples include:

The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index: EA SPORTS will sponsor the Premier League Player Performance Index that will soon expand to include new performance data that will now account for time and distance measurements. This will allow for detailed statistics such as the speed at which a shot is hit, the force of a ball as a keeper makes a key save, the height of a jump, the speed at which a penalty is struck and  more. This technology will be introduced at all Premier League club stadia this season. EA SPORTS will have direct access to the Player Performance Index to further extend the authenticity and depth of its football franchises including EA SPORTS FIFA in future versions.

EA SPORTS Team of the Week: Available at www.premierleague.com, the Premier League and EA SPORTS will publish the EA SPORTS Team of the Week. The team will be based on ratings from the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index after each round of the Barclays Premier League and will be integrated into EA SPORTS Football games.

Barclays Premier League Broadcast Branding: EA SPORTS branding will appear on-screen, linked with live match statistics, during all Barclays Premier League broadcasts in the UK and overseas.

Barclays Premier League Match Broadcast Enhancements: Using EA SPORTS graphics, animations and interactive technology combined with real-time, real world data feeds, EA will work with broadcasters toward enhancements for match day broadcast analysis that will bring football fans closer and deeper into the action direct from their sofa. (via EA Sports)

Every time I think EA Sports games reach the height of their popularity, they come along and do something like this to make me rethink everything.  How much longer before player performances, abilities, and injuries are updated in congruency with the games themselves?

For those looking for the next FIFA soccer title, expect FIFA ’11 out sometime later this year.

Well, maybe.

Numbers-wise, soccer looked very impressive during the month long World Cup,

An estimated 111.6 million U.S. viewers watched at least six minutes of the 2010 World Cup on English or Spanish language networks, according to an analysis by The Nielsen Company. The figure is a 22% increase from the reach of 91.4 million U.S. viewers during the 2006 World Cup.

…All told, 38% of U.S. viewers – and 50% of all U.S. households – tuned in for at least six minutes of this year’s tournament.

Nielsen’s research also found that 57% of the total audience reached by World Cup telecasts was male and 43% was female. Almost half (49%) of the total audience fell between the ages of 18 and 49. (via Nielsen)

Soccer has also managed to create a marketable star in Landon Donovan.  He had already generated a considerable buzz with his World Cup exploits, and once he returned to the MLS? Ratings didn’t only increase, they soared.  Furthermore, although you can argue their star power, the MLS does have some marketable foreign players that have made the move to America (ala David Beckham and Thierry Henry).

A couple of marketable stars and an extremely high, albeit short, increased interest in your sport.  Maybe not the perfect building blocks to a strong soccer foundation in the states, but they are building blocks…right?  And lets not forget the X-factor…the other sports.  The NFL and NBA are in the middle of serious labor issues, and although stoppages are less likely in the NHL and MLB, they have expiring collective bargaining agreements in 2011.  If football is in the middle of a lockout and baseball is arguing over things like HGH testing, and basketball’s talks stall…could we see a summer of soccer next year?  Granted, it is a huge “if”…but, what if?

Even without the 4-sport meltdown, soccer’s popularity is currently in uncharted territory.  Have we ever seen a player that is as marketable as Donovan is right now (Mia Hamm?)?   And we’ve already seen that ratings are the highest ever…All of that makes the MLS television ratings that much more confusing.

MLS’ average attendance jumped 7.7% to 16,627 fans per game through the first 117 matches this season.

Meanwhile, MLS ratings on ESPN2 were flat through 14 telecasts, but viewership was down 1.6% from 255,000 viewers through the same period in ’09 to 251,000 this season. That decline comes “despite ESPN and the league’s decision to shift back” to a schedule which primarily consists of Thursday primetime telecasts. Telefutura, which broadcasts Sunday MLS games, averaged 93,000 viewers through eight games. Also, ratings remained flat on Fox Soccer Channel, but the network “failed to attract more than 100,000 viewers for a single one of the 16 broadcast games” (via Sports Business Journal, subscription required)

So, an increase in person, but a drop off on television?  Its like people stopped watching television and decided to go to the games in person!  Sure, there have been some other events that could explain the TV drop off; the World Cup, “The Decision”, baseball games featuring Steven Strasburg…maybe people just got their temporary fill of soccer? Yet and still, are all of those singular events enough to explain a ratings drop off over numerous telecasts?

Not really.

So where does that put soccer in America? Its certainly hard to argue MLS growth if the MLS can’t even become a viable television product; all of the big money is in television contracts, not in gate receipts.  And sure, Henry will provide a momentary ratings boost, the same way Donovan did, but that growth doesn’t seem to be permanent, much like the buzz from the World Cup.  And to everyone arguing that a move to Versus would fix the problem, things like production value or announcers could remedy the problem to an extent, but its also not hard to imagine beautifully produced broadcasts still going unwatched.

What does it take for soccer to truly catch on?

…and if it doesn’t catch on now, does it catch on ever?

Did I mention that the soccer team is in England? The English national team, to be exact.

Controversial social networking website Facebook are in talks with the Football Association about becoming the new sponsor of the England team.

They are one of four companies pitching for the contract, with the FA hoping for more than double the £20million on the table from England’s long-time sponsor Nationwide.

Facebook, the world’s largest social network with more than 400m users, is showing interest despite the national team’s woeful World Cup. (via The Daily Mail, by way of Sponsorpitch)

Wow. On its face, the partnership between the F.A. and Facebook seems to be tremendously advantageous to the F.A. Facebook already has a variety of available options to either drive fans to a particular point (i.e. through a Facebook ad) or solicit fan opinions (i.e. a fan page or a developed application).  All of these things, and presumably some never before seen Facebook options would be available to the English team were they to be sponsored by the social networking site.

Of course, Facebook does face a few hurdles in their quest to enter the sports sponsorship foray.  Namely, sponsorship competition from other competitors including current sponsor, Nationwide.  There is also a time constraint; England’s next match is on August 11th, and it would make sense to have a new sponsor in play before the match (especially if it is Facebook) for the sake of unveiling and generating attention.

But, yet and still…the idea of Facebook being a player in the world of sports sponsorship…I wonder if we’ll see other social networking sites (i.e. Twitter) potentially get into the mix as well?  If for no other reason than the fact that it seems easy to either generate or increase fan bases due to the fact that user interaction would pre-date the sponsorship deal…

That’s right, skater Rob Dyrdek’s Street League will be seen on ESPN 2 this fall, with skaters competing for over $1.2M in prizes.

Street League Skateboarding™ announced today that it will be entering a multi-year partnership with ESPN for worldwide distribution in more than 198 countries.  The 2010 Street League DC Pro Tour fueled by Monster Energy is a prestigious, invite-only, three-event series featuring the top 24 pros in the world.  Founded by twenty-year professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, Rob Dyrdek, Street League™ raises the bar of competitive professional skateboarding with the most prize money in skateboarding history, skate plaza course design in world-class arenas, and an instant-scoring format that makes every trick count.

Street League™  will air the first stop of the tour beginning Wednesday, September 15 at 8 p.m. PT on ESPN2 and will continue its coverage of each stop every Wednesday at the same time slot through September 29th.

Street League™  features the exclusive participation of 24 of the best street skateboarders in the world. To assist their transition into the league, each pro has been given the option to compete in two non-sanctioned wildcard events until the end of 2010. Beginning in 2011, the pros will compete exclusively in the Street League™ series and other Street League™ sanctioned events worldwide.  Street League™ will work in conjunction with ESPN to allow Street League™ pros to participate in ESPN-owned events for the duration of the partnership.

Even though the event will only air for three weeks total, its interesting to not only see ESPN taking a chance on street skatboarding, but also recognizing the sport as a viable primetime option (at least for those on the west coast).  Moves like this always seem exciting to me, mainly because it shows a willingness to put something other than the four major sports on television.  Accompanying that willingness is the fact that it must make sense as far advertising revenue and the like, or else the program wouldn’t air (right?).

Hopefully, this move can lead to an even greater showing of sports programming diversity in the future. If for no other reason that the fact that its nice to have options.

Donovan’s game winning goal, in stoppage time, has branded him as an American hero.  Of course, from a marketing standpoint, the question becomes what can be done with Donovan’s new found fame?  Octagon’s David Schwab summed it up best with this tweet:

“Landon may have just done what Lance, Mia & Phelps did.  Be marketable outside of his sport.”

…And maybe he has.  The first rule of being a nationally recognized endorser?  People have to know who you are.

Check.

In the minutes following Landon Donovan’s game winning goal in the 91st minute of action (which sent the U.S. to the round of 16), (Internet) traffic spiked to 11.2 million visitors per minute, which moves the event past the 2008 presidential election as the second highest traffic spike of all-time.

Today’s number was also likely pushed significantly higher because England and Slovenia were also playing a suspenseful World Cup match at the same time. The plethora of World Cup breaking news briefly knocked Yahoo Sports offline and also caused issues at Twitter –- though the latter has been somewhat of a regular occurrence during the World Cup (on a related note, tweets containing “USA” spiked to 6% of total tweet volume). (via Mashable)

Combine that with whatever number of people that were watching the game on television and did not use the internet, and it’s probably safe to assume that Donovan is in the consciousness of the general American public.

It’s also vitally important that the athlete be “in demand”.  The whole nation can know your name, but if they don’t actually want or believe in your brand?  Endorsers will not be beating down your door.  Needless to say, Donovan currently has that area covered as well,

Donovan, the face of American soccer, first appeared on a certified autograph trading card in 2004, pictured as a Los Angeles Dodgers fan as part of an insert set in the Playoff Absolute Baseball set.

That card, prior to Wednesday, was valued at a mere $40 but had been selling for as much as $75 during the first 10 days of the World Cup. In the moments after the U.S. national team’s victory over Algeria, one of the cards on eBay had eclipsed the $100 barrier with three hours still remaining while four new copies of the card had been listed within minutes of the outcome, with two sporting Buy It Now prices of $499.99 and the other two featuring $200 price tags. (via Beckett Blog)

Now, do I expect a Landon Donovan card to sell for $500?  Well, no. But the fact that anyone even had the audacity to ask $500 for the card says something in and of itself.

Finally, the athlete has to actually be marketable.  There are already a few well-known companies that believe in Donovan’s marketability; he currently has endorsement deals with Gatorade and AT&T among others, and was most recently spotted in Nike’s brilliant Write the Future commercial.  He also is an apparent endorser of the Mexican lottery,

Donovan appears to be relatively marketable, he’s well-spoken, talented, and after today, he’s well-known and in demand…even amongst non-soccer fans.  It certainly isn’t outlandish to see some more endorsement opportunities in the near future.  Will Donovan’s goal put him on a plateau with heavy marketing hitters like Peyton Manning?  Of course not.  But might he be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Phelps or Lance Armstrong?

Quite possibly.

So, is the MLS trying to drive up the price of their television rights or actually looking to move to a new network?

Apparently, the beginning of the answer to that question has already begun; as the MLS may be looking at a move to the Comcast owned Versus network.

Major League Soccer could be eyeing a move to Versus, as the two sides have begun very early discussions, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting.  Representatives from both sides have met once (though neither MLS Commissioner Don Garber nor Versus chief Jamie Davis were a part of the meeting), with another meeting tentatively planned to take place in the coming weeks.

While the talks are completely in their infancy and no deal is remotely on the table or has been discussed, MLS executives are said to be impressed with the way Versus has treated its coverage of the National Hockey League, which is a banner property for the cable sports network.  Versus often talks of its ability to “super-serve” fans of the sport, and has seen a solid uptick in numbers since its deal to return to DirecTV and into this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.

….Sources put Fox’s current layout in the low-to-mid-seven-figure range per year for a package that includes MLS and other soccer games sold by MLS’ prominent Soccer United Marketing. (via Broadcasting & Cable)

The MLS can currently be found on ESPN and the Fox Soccer Channel (a channel I can never find on my television, personally).  The deal with Fox is set to end this year, and apparently a potential deal with Versus would serve as the Fox replacement.  Of course, everyone is aware that interest in soccer, even in America, should increase over the next few weeks, due to the 2010 World Cup…maybe the MLS is just looking to take advantage of the increased demand so as to drive up the price of a television deal?  Or maybe they’re looking to actually switch to Versus due to their “super-serving” ability?

Its kind of hard to figure out what exactly the MLS is looking to do here.  As far as subscriber bases go, the move to Versus would make sense, as they have roughly 65 million subscribers in comparison to FSC’s 35 million.  Of course, a larger subscriber base doesn’t always equate into larger numbers, in part because FSC is hyper focused on soccer (and hence, people go there to watch soccer matches) and its not like the MLS had outstanding ratings on the 100 million subscriber base channel that is ESPN.  Furthermore, as Mark points out over at SportsBiz, even though the NHL’s numbers look decent right now, the sport wasn’t anywhere near as prevalent during the regular season, which could make the MLS leery about the move.

Of course, at the end of the day, it really all comes down to demand.  If American’s want to watch soccer, I’m sure that the MLS will be able to find a deal that pays out decent television rights, and they’ll get proper distribution.  On the other hand, if interest in American soccer stays stagnant, or wanes?

The channel and distribution will be of little importance.
(h/t to SportsBiz)

Tobacco sponsorships are going “gentle into that good night” in the world of NASCAR due to new rules and regulations by the Food and Drug Administration.  Specifically, the FDA has passed new regulations which will prevent cigarette and smokeless tobacco sponsorships in any sporting event.

The rule goes into effect June 22 of this year.

Although the move doesn’t have a huge effect on NASCAR sponsorships generally, the last big tobacco sponsor, R.J. Reynolds, ended its sponsorship run in 2003, it will have an effect on those cars (and trucks) individually sponsored by tobacco companies,

Two teams backed by smokeless tobacco will be affected: the Longhorn-sponsored truck of Kevin Harvick Inc. and the Nationwide Series car of Baker-Curb Racing backed by Red Man. Harvick says his truck will run the rest of the season (and has found second-half sponsorship).

The future is less certain for Baker-Curb’s No. 27 Ford, which is eighth in points (with Greg Biffle starting 10 of its 12 races) and has two more races with Red Man. Team co-owner Gary Baker says the company considered staying with the team by using the same paint scheme without its logos but worried it would bring government scrutiny.

Baker says the team is in a mad scramble for funding. “It’s a Herculean task,” he says. “I’ve been in the business side of racing since the 1970s, and it’s never been this brutal. That’s not an indictment of NASCAR; it’s still the best return on investment when properly done.” (via USA Today)

Ouch.  Its incredible how much the tobacco industry landscape has changed even in the last 30 years.  From being heavily involved in sponsorship and promoted everywhere, to now being a cancer (literally) and being banned from being involved in sports sponsorships.

An all too subtle reminder that today’s source of revenue may not be there tomorrow.

Lets just lay the cards out on the table.  Golf as a televised sport has some problems.  Its slow-paced, even the excitable action sequences are tempered (see: the man with the “Quiet” sign, ensuring silence before every shot of any importance), and it is heavily reliant on Tiger Woods (TV ratings fell nearly 50% when Tiger Woods wasn’t playing last year during his knee surgery).

So…how do you make up for some of golf’s shortcomings?  One possible answer is…The Club Cup.

The Club Cup is an event-in-the-making in which two LPGA Tour golfers and two PGA Tour golfers would play actual tourneys alongside each other.  The brainchild of a group of Boston entrepreneurs who believe that television is so yesterday, the event would broadcast live on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets.

The Club Cup is quietly building Facebook and Twitter followings for matches that would pit two players from each major tour against golfers from their own tours.  The attention-getting gimmick would be that they would all play on the same course at the same time. (via Examiner)

It is an interesting concept.  A concept clearly trying to attract those heavily involved in social media and not necessarily very big on golf (see: young people.).  But will it work for any sustainable amount of time?  Personally, I’m intrigued by the gimmick of men and women playing on the same course, but once I see it once or twice, will I still be tuning in for the third time and beyond?  That much remains to be seen.  What we do know is that there are some  golfers that are entrenched in the social media world that are available to promote and push the idea of a Club Cup (assuming they’re chosen; the cup is invitation only).  PGA’ers Ian Poulter and Stewart Cink are hovering right around 1 million followers on Twitter as of the writing of this post and LPGA’ers Michelle Wie and Natalie Gulbis are well past the 10,000 follower mark themselves.  Obviously, an intrinsic connection between social media, the golfers, and the event itself will be key to the event’s success.  Fortunately, it appears as though there are enough golfers involved in the social media space to at least make the even a feasible attempt at something different.

That being said, when can we expect to see the Club Cup?  Sometime next year.

The inaugural one-week event, which Smith said he hopes to launch in the Orlando, Fl, region in the fall of 2011, would also involve activities aimed at attracting women and young players to the game of golf.  Additional activities might include “Learn to Play” lessons from caddies and pros at the events, a golf-themed fashion show, and a golf gear pavilion and product demos targeting women.  Tourney director Doug Hollandsworth will run the actual events.

In the end, I don’t know if the Club Cup will be successful or not.  But I do find it interesting to note that this is another step away from the old model (radio/television/newspaper) towards the new model (internet/social media).  If the Club Cup is successful, how long before we start to see other fringe sports relying on social media networking and internet-only events?

Maybe this is a glimpse into the future of sports broadcasting? We will begin to find out next year.

So…how do you spice up a horse race?  Sexual Innuendo!

No, I’m serious.  This year the Maryland Jockey Club wants people to enjoy their time on the infield at Pimlico.  So much so that they’ve decided to go racy for this year’s marketing campaign.

Who’s ready to “Get Their Preak On“?

The Maryland Jockey Club is turning to a controversial marketing campaign built around the phrase “Get Your Preak On” (a play off of a Missy Elliott song entitled “Get Your Freak On” –Ed.) The sexually suggestive slogan has been plastered on billboards and bus stops across the city, and featured on TV and radio stations and online.

…But so far, the campaign seems to be serving its purpose. Infield ticket sales are up 5 percent compared to this time in 2008 — the last year patrons could bring their own beer and wine to the infield — according to Maryland Jockey Club President Tom Chuckas.

“I think this is cutting-edge,” Chuckas said. “It reaches the demographic we’re trying to reach. … It gets them energized and involved.”

Conceived by Washington-based advertising agency Elevation, the campaign is in concert with a new all-you-can-drink alcohol policy, which gives patrons the option of paying $20 for 16-ounce mugs of beer with unlimited refills. The price of admission for the infield will be $40 — $10 less than last year — and individual beers will go from $3.50 to $3.

The “Get Your Preak On” website uses social marketing to encourage visitors to design their own Preakness poster using a web cam and a design program. It’s been steadily growing in popularity since the campaign started several weeks ago, according to Mike Marting, Elevation’s creative director. Last week, the site received 62,000 page views. (via Baltimore Sun)

See, sex sells…even in horse racing…at least, maybe.  I’d love to know how many people were buying tickets based on the edgy campaign slogan, and how many were buying tickets based on the various price cuts and the all you can drink special.

In any case, there should be a lot of people getting their preak on

hat tip to J.W. Cannon.

Sony Pictures Television has scored a brand partnership for its global soccer doc “How to Win the FIFA World Cup” with lubricant giant Castrol. The deal was unveiled Sunday on the eve of MIPTV by SPT chief creative officer Mike Morley.

On sale to broadcasters at MIPTV, where soccer fever is no doubt building, the doc will include FIFA footage from World Cup tournaments over the past 20 years and exclusive research into the performances of national sides from a Dutch university.

Thanks to the just-signed sponsorship, the research will be enhanced by in-depth data from the so-called Castrol Index. This survey uses analysis of more than 2,000 players and games to give deeper insight into winning performances of some of the world’s best footballers.

The brand partnership agreement was facilitated by branded entertainment sales agents Krempelwood, working closely with Castrol’s media agency Mindshare and with SPT.

“How to Win the Fifa World Cup” examines the “DMA” — Defense, Midfield, Attack — of all 32 nations in the upcoming tournament and also produces quirky facts that could help a country win or lose the World Cup.

In addition to the doc, SPT is selling the format rights in Cannes. The format is strippable as a series of talk shows before or during the tournament. (via THR)

You know, there are some people that say that the trading card industry is down…well, they’re right, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t keep trying new things to bring revenue in the door.

Its probably with that mind set that Topps Trading Cards entered into a deal with the Indian Premier League (IPL) to produce all things related to cricket collectibles in 2011.

Topps will produce stickers, albums and trading cards that will be sold both at retail and online. A substantial marketing campaign is planned that includes television and sampling initiatives as well as a nationwide “Game Play demonstration tour” to help children learn how to play and swap their IPL collectibles.

“This alliance with Topps – the world leader in collectibles, is part of our effort to actively engage IPL fans across multiple platforms,” said Sundar Raman the IPL’s Chief Operating Officer. “Collectable trading cards are an integral part of any fan experience globally and through this partnership we are happy to introduce Indian fans to this unique and exciting global concept.” (via Beckett Blog)

“A substantial marketing campaign is planned that includes television and sampling initiatives as well as a nationwide “Game Play demonstration tour” to help children learn how to play and swap their IPL collectibles.”

Its an interesting concept.  The trading card market in America is bad, so Topps is essentially building a trading card market from scratch over in India.  Granted, I have no clue how popular cricket collectibles are or will be, but you obviously have a strong interest in the sport so it doesn’t seem like a transition from watching cricket to collecting cricket collectibles is a far stretch.

This by no means is Topps first foray into foreign markets, just its most recent; they already have trading cards with Germany’s Bundesliga football and Italy’s Serie A football, among others.

“Neither rape allegations, marijuana pipes, pleading no contest to double murder, or vehicular homicide shall keep athletes from signing their endorsement deals.”

- Athlete Credo

Add Michael Phelps to the growing list of athletes who can not only overcome a PR nightmare, but can still turn a profit after its all said and done.  Phelps recently signed a multi-year endorsement deal with the apparel company Under Armour, to wear their apparel outside the pool (he has a contract with Speedo when he’s in the water).

The deal is expected to continue at least through the 2012 Summer Olympic games and has an estimated value of around $5 million.

The arrangement with Under Armour is Phelps’ highest-profile deal since a picture of him with a marijuana pipe surfaced in a British tabloid in January 2009.

Phelps, who will be making appearances in Vancouver on Thursday, says he already worked out in Under Armour gear. In addition, he lives near the company’s offices in Baltimore, his hometown. “It seemed like the perfect fit,” he says.

His first national TV commercial for Under Armour will co-star UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings and former Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant. It will premiere during coverage of the NFL scouting combine. (via USA Today)

Kudos to Michael Phelps.  If he can sign a lucrative endorsement deal in spite of his previous issues, I’m all for it.  America is the land of the second chance.  We’ve seen it with Kobe, we’ve seen it with Ray Lewis, Charles Barkley…any and everyone.  Although I’d argue that he was already on it, Michael Phelps can now officially be added to the list of athletes who have moved on after a scandal.

…I heard a rumor that some golfer guy is doing a press release on Friday.  Wonder how long before we see him on this list as well?

U.S. Olympic Snowboarder Hannah Teter is all about giving back.

Having already pledged to give her recent winnings to support Haitian relief efforts, she has now taken her giving one step further.

Although her feet aren’t the body part that is taking relief efforts to the next level.

Teter this past weekend launched “Sweet Cheeks,” a personally designed line of underwear, and she used the photo spread (in Sports Illustrated — Ed.) to quietly debut the first pair — “Make Love Not War.” The initial effort, aided by her brother and agent, Octagon Associate Dir of Action Sports Amen Teter, benefits relief efforts in Haiti. For each pair of the $15 panties purchased, Hannah will donate $5 to Doctors Without Borders. “Sweet Cheeks is Hannah’s brainchild,” Amen Teter said. “She wanted to find a fun, sassy way of giving back and making a statement about it with your underwear.” The line at the moment is available exclusively online at SweetCheeksPanties.com, but could partner with a retail distributor in the future, Amen said. (via Sports Business Daily)

This is certainly one of the more interesting ways I’ve seen to raise money for the Haitian relief efforts, although maybe that’s what will help make the campaign successful; its not the usual money-raising campaign.

For those thinking that Hannah’s charitable efforts were going to stop with Haiti and one pair of underwear…think again.

While Hannah hopes to parlay the exposure from both the Vancouver Games and the Swimsuit Issue appearance into a successful launch of the “Make Love Not War” panties, the foray into underwear design will not stop with the first pair. Sweet Cheeks has plans to unveil a new design each month for at least the rest of this calendar year, with every pair targeting a different charitable cause, Amen Teter said. The goal is to raise $100,000 by this spring.

Lofty goals for the gold medalist.  Especially since the goal benefits such good causes, I am very much hoping that she is successful.

Even though NBC is losing money on the American coverage of the Olympic games, it looks like the American Olympic committee itself, the USOC, is doing pretty well.  It was announced today that BP signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the USOC, paying the committee upwards of $3.5 million dollars over the next 4 (four) years.

BP will pay an eight-figure sum as a partner of the US Olympic Committee, after agreeing to partner the USOC for the next four years.

The deal, signed during the winter Olympic Games currently underway in Canada, sees BP become one of the USOC’s major backers. It is in addition to BP’s existing Olympic contracts, including a sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympic Games. (via Sports Pro Media)

Not bad.  According to Tripp Mickle of SBJ, its unclear whether or BP would be the USOC’s exclusive petroleum partner or if their definition will expand to something more broad within the energy category. (via Sports Business Daily)

I guess I’ll put the pre-requisite “Go USA!” to end this post.  Go watch the Olympics.

(Thanks to Christian Matthews of Taylor PR)

If you’re the parent of an Olympian, you’ve undoubtedly put up with a lot over the years.  Early morning practices, shelling out money to buy equipment, dealing with the highs of your child’s successes and the lows of their defeats…The Olympians realize what their parents did to put them in this situation.

…and now, thanks to Proctor & Gamble, they’ll get a to say “Thanks, Mom”

In support of P&G’s Team USA partnership, the company is introducing its first-ever corporate campaign titled: “Thanks, Mom.”

The main focus of P&G’s “Thanks, Mom” is to help Team USA moms get to Vancouver to see their child compete. Utilizing pre-loaded debit cards that the moms can use towards their travel and accommodations, P&G is actually the first company in Olympic Games history to provide this level of support to the moms of Team USA.

The “Thanks, Mom” campaign celebrates that special person in the lives of Team USA athletes who cheer them on and support their dreams.  For some, that person may be a mom; for others it may be an aunt, grandmother or even dad.  The campaign is all about the love and the care that has been shown over the years, from driving future Olympians to practice to doing more than 5,000 pounds of laundry.  The campaign, which features a television commercial that will air on NBC during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games, focuses on moms and their stories as they relate to raising an Olympian.

Proctor & Gamble has “Thanks, Mom” commercials running throughout NBC’s Olympic coverage.

Below, are two Olympic mothers discussing the campaign on the Today Show

Great campaign by Proctor & Gamble.  Parents give so much to get their kids to the Olympics, its nice to see a campaign like this afford the parents an opportunity to get to the games themselves to see the fruits of their own, and their kids labor.