Pac-10 Gets Personal Car Insurance

Esurance, the San Francisco-based personal car insurance firm that now offers service in 30 states, has signed a deal to become the official car insurance partner of the Pac-10 Conference. The sponsorship will have a heavy media component through the Pac-10's affiliation with Fox Sports Network. Terms of the deal were not released. To support the car insurance company's national environmental ...

Ryan Newman Asks Sponsorship Supporters To Write Their Congressperson

Nascar driver Ryan Newman put out a message on his facebook page that asks fans to tell Congress that they support the U.S. Army’s involvement in motorsports. The plea is in response to an amendment being proposed by Minnesota Representative Betty McCollum that, if passed, would ban the military from spending money to sponsor NASCAR race cars through Sept. 30, the end of this fiscal year. In ...

Seattle Mariners Book Hometown Cruise Line

Seattle-based cruise line, Holland America Line, has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with the Seattle Mariners. Terms of the deal were not released. The private suite level at Safeco Field will now be known as the "Holland America Line Suite Deck." There will also be an annual Mariners-themed cruise onboard Holland America Line beginning in 2012, and a naming sponsorship for the annual F...

Deloitte Looks For Solutions By Sponsoring Kaggle Competition

Professional services firm, Deloitte, is sponsoring a competition with Kaggle.com that aims to remake the famous ELO chess rating system, which the World Chess Federation uses to determine player rankings. The winner of the Deloitte/FIDE Chess Rating Challenge will not only win the opportunity to present their findings to the Federation, but they'll also walk away with a $10,000 prize provided ...

Icquired

UK experiential firm, The Icon Group, has been bought by Chime Communications for $17.7 million (£11 million). Customers of the firm which began operations in 1949 include UEFA, FIFA, the Ryder Cup, the Boat Race, Abu Dhabi Motor Sports and LTA Wimbledon. Chime said it "sees significant growth opportunities for Icon resulting from the Olympic Games in London in 2012 and in Rio in 2016 and in ...

Bud Light Signs Up For More UFC, Plans Co-Branded Bottle

Bud Light and Zuffa, LLC, owner of the UFC brand, have agreed to a multi-year renewal of Bud Light's original 3-year deal as official beer of the UFC. As part of the renewal, Bud Light will continue to receive logo placement throughout all UFC events, including in the Octagon, round cards, press conferences, weigh-ins and locker rooms. The extension will increase the number of featured Pay-...

Ahead of the Curve: Josh Silva

Josh Silva Account Supervisor, GMR Marketing SponsorPitch Profile How would you describe your career to date? I’ve been in the sports marketing business for about five years. I started off as an intern with Real Salt Lake in Major League soccer after obtaining my Masters in Sport Psychology at the University of Utah. I was able to transfer my internship into a full-time position within abou...

State Farm Activates Music Awards with "Celebrity Music Teacher for a Day"

As part of its 22nd Annual Billboard Latin Music Conference and Awards sponsorship, State Farm is hosting Latino singer/songwriter, Gustavo Galindo, to serve as "Celebrity Music Teacher for a Day" at various high school music classes around the nation. State Farm's "Celebrity Music Teacher for a Day" activation is taking place in 5 markets in conjunction with the Latin Billboard Awards concert ...

How Do You Play Sponsorship?

When I first concluded sponsorship was held to a higher standard of performance than advertising or media buying, I was perplexed. Everyone always wants sales to result from any marketing initiative, but it seemed advertising and media were considered more legitimate because they could be measured, however imperfectly, by the number of eyeballs - potentially - reached, even focus group feedba...

OK Go Stars In Spurlock's Doc With The Greatest Song I Ever Heard

OK Go, the same band that came up with this awesome music video financed by State Farm, has created the anthem for Morgan Spurlock's product placement documentary, POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Titled The Greatest Song I Ever Heard, the single is scheduled for release on iTunes today. In addition to making the single for the film, the band drops in for an interview in Spu...