National Hockey League’s, the New York Rangers and Volkswagen of America, Inc. have announced a renewal to their multi-platform marketing partnership for the 2011-12 season, including in-arena, online and on-air activation.

The partnership is highlighted by the return of the in-arena fan contest, the “Shoot. Score. Drive.” Challenge, which will offer Blueshirt faithful the opportunity to win 10 different Volkswagen vehicles throughout the season, including the all-new 2012 Passat.

Greg Economou, executive vice president of revenue performance, Madison Square Gardens Sports, said: “We are excited to partner with Volkswagen once again to bring Rangers fans the ‘Shoot. Score. Drive.’ Challenge. The contest was a hit last year, providing Volkswagen with premium brand exposure at Madison Square Garden, on MSG Network and online, while also offering fans a fun, interactive opportunity to win a lease on one of ten different Volkswagen models.”

Mark Hammond, Regional Marketing Manager, Eastern Region, Volkswagen of America, added: “The New York Rangers embody athleticism, sophistication and competitiveness, all attributes that the Volkswagen brand can relate to. Our highly-engineered vehicles speak to the quality of our brand and the partnership with the Rangers not only allows us to reach and engage a broader audience, it exemplifies the spirit of Volkswagen.”

The fan favorite “Shoot. Score. Drive.” Challenge will return for the 2011-12 season. At ten select games one lucky fan will have the opportunity to take a shot from the far blue line for the chance to win a two-year lease on a Volkswagen vehicle. Volkswagen will highlight and offer fans the opportunity to win ten different models throughout the season. Fans can enter the “Shoot. Score. Drive.” Challenge by texting a keyword to a shortcode to be revealed throughout the season in-arena and on MSG Network, or by going online to NYRangers.com. 

As part of the partnership Volkswagen will also receive in-ice logo placement for the season, branded dasherboards and custom branding on a zamboni. In addition, the partnership includes exposure on MSG Network, where Volkswagen will promote the Rangers Power Play during games.

sale helvetica, discount sans-serif;”>The PGA Tour and Forbes Media have announced a renewal of their longstanding marketing relationship through 2013.

discount helvetica, sans-serif;”>The deal maintains Forbes’ designation as the Official Business Magazine of the PGA Tour while expanding participatory opportunities for the TOUR’s corporate partners. Forbes has been an official partner of the PGA TOUR since 2001.

Tom Wade, PGA Tour Chief Marketing Officer, said: “We value our association with Forbes and are very pleased to announce a continuation of a relationship that now broadens media opportunities for our other business partners to convey their business objectives. Forbes reaches a highly desirable readership through its media assets, so not only is it a strategic fit for the PGA Tour, but also for our sponsors. We look forward to continuing to work with Forbes to fully utilize this great resource.”

In addition to maintaining Forbes’ official designation and continuing with golf-themed advertorial special sections, Forbes and the PGA Tour are providing the opportunity for custom advertorials that will allow PGA Tour sponsors to reach Forbes’ desirable readership with refined messaging about their business.

Forbes Media Chief Marketing Officer Jack Laschever said: “Forbes is excited to renew our marketing relationship with the PGA Tour. Just as golf and business go together, this is a smart combination of two powerful and highly respected brands. We look forward to collaborating closely with the Tour and its corporate partners to promote their involvement with the Tour to the entire Forbes community.”

Data shows that Forbes has the highest circulation, largest and most affluent audience, and greatest reach with top-level management and decision-makers among major business publications in the U.S.

Best Buy Co. Inc. has signed on as the official technology retail partner of the National Football League (NFL) in the United Kingdom.

Under the deal, Richfield-based Best Buy will support various promotional events leading up to the Oct. 23 game between the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at London’s Wembley Stadium. 

As part of the promotion a pair of tickets for the 2011 International Series will be available to all customers who purchase over £30 worth of goods with Best Buy until October 16th, as well as through an in-store promotion running in all 11 Best Buy stores throughout October.

Marc Armstrong, Commercial Director at NFL International, said: “We are delighted to welcome Best Buy on board as the Official Technology Retail Partner for the NFL in the UK.

“Best Buy join a growing list of UK sponsors signing up to our commercial programme as we continue to expand our fan base in the UK and we look forward to building a successful partnership with them during the coming season.”

Best Buy has numerous sports sponsorships, including a deal as a Target Field founding partner for the Minnesota Twins and the company is no stranger to high-profile NFL marketing after running its first Super Bowl commercial, featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber, this past February.

US Highland, medstore Inc. have been granted a sponsorship opportunity in the Main Event with Gray Maynard at the upcoming UFC 136 on October 8th, 2011. The event will be broadcast live to a global audience from the Houston Texas Honda Center.

Robert Harris, Chairman of US Highland, said: “UFC events such as this are widely viewed and re-broadcast giving us great multi-national exposure. We thank Gray Maynard for allowing us to announce our re-entry into the market after a period of re-organization and re-capitalization.”

Mr. Harris added: “We have put together a winning management team to deliver our amazing products to OEM customers. To the credit of the strength of the brand and former management, we currently have solid OEM driven opportunities in development that we anticipate being able to announce soon. We at US Highland are excited about our future.”

Tiger Woods has agreed a sponsorship deal with luxury watchmaker Rolex Group, link his first major sponsorship deal since the scandal that followed the car crash in November 2009 that led to his admission of marital infidelity and divorce.

TAG Heuer, the Swiss watchmaker owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA , ended its endorsement agreement with Woods when their contract expired in July.

In the previous 19 months, Woods lost endorsement deals with companies including AT&T Inc., Accenture PLC and PepsiCo Inc.’s Gatorade brand. The 14-time major champion has maintained commercial contracts with Electronic Arts Inc, Nike Inc, Upper Deck, Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets Inc., and TLC Vision Corp. He began promoting a muscle-relief heat rub made by Japan-based Kowa Co. in June.

Woods, 35, this week dropped out of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time since October 1996. He hasn’t won a tournament since the 2009 Australian Masters, a week before he crashed his car near his home in Florida and started off the series of events that have led many to question his morale compass and his decline from the game.

Hampered by Achilles tendon and knee injuries, Woods failed to qualify for the U.S. PGA Tour’s playoffs this season.

For his career, Woods has 71 PGA Tour wins, third all-time behind Sam Snead (82) and Jack Nicklaus (73). The 14-time major winner will return to action at the Frys.com Open at CordeValle Golf Club today.

“Rolex is convinced that Tiger Woods still has a long career ahead of him and that he has all the qualities required to continue to mark the history of golf,” said the company, which also has had relationships with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

Other Rolex endorsers include fellow golfers Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler and Lorena Ochoa, and tennis professionals Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki.

With the NFL Pepsi Max International Series on the horizon, order Virgin Atlantic has become an official sponsor of the NFL in the UK and can now use the tag, sale pills “Official Airline Partner of the NFL.”

The agreement stipulates that Virgin Atlantic will be flying the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears for the NFL International Series game taking place on Sunday 23 October 2011 at Wembley Stadium.  This is the third year running that the airline has worked with the NFL to transport the teams for this prestigious game.

Virgin Atlantic will bring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over from Tampa, pharm Florida arriving into London Gatwick, while the Chicago Bears will fly from Chicago arriving at London’s Heathrow airport.  Virgin Atlantic’s award-winning cabins, including Upper Class and Premium Economy seating, will ensure both coaches and players will arrive well-rested in advance of the game.

During the flight, the teams will enjoy Virgin Atlantic’s signature inflight service and amenities complete with customised menus tailored to fit the players’ diets, 10.5” personal screens featuring a media library with more than 300 hours of on-demand audio and video, including 60 curated movies, more than 100 hours of television, 150 full-length CDs, 20 video games and an assortment of audio books.

Paul Dickinson, Director of Sales & Marketing at Virgin Atlantic, said: “Sponsoring the NFL offers the perfect opportunity to align our brand with one of the most recognizable sporting entities in the world. This is the third year that we have partnered with the NFL and this year we are joining huge brands including Pepsi Max, Visa, and Gatorade as an official NFL UK sponsor. We look forward to this year’s match-up and are excited to host our guests at the game.”

In addition to flying both teams to London, Virgin Atlantic will implement a range of sponsorship activities in the UK.  This will include engagement with NFL fans at the NFL Fan Rally in Trafalgar Square, the pre-game Tailgate party and the official UK Super Bowl party (Super Bash), hosting a hospitality event for key customers and guests at Wembley Stadium in true Virgin fashion plus various customer promotions around the International Series, regular-season games in the US and the Super Bowl in February 2012.  Virgin Atlantic will also sponsor an exclusive Saturday Night event in Central London for NFL guests and the International Series teams.

Marc Armstrong, Commercial Director of NFL International, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our excellent relationship with Virgin Atlantic as we prepare for our fifth International Series game in London.  The partnership continues to grow and Virgin Atlantic have once again stepped up to increase their level of support for the NFL with an enhanced package of rights and activities.  We look forward to working with them and our other UK sponsors as we continue to expand our presence in the UK.

Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club loyalty programme is offering its members the chance to experience the Wembley game in style and has three pairs of VIP tickets to giveaway via Well Red, the e-newsletter for Flying Club members. Virgin Atlantic’s new website for travel agents and tour operators, vsflyinghub.com, is running a similar promotion with two pairs of VIP tickets to giveaway to lucky agents.

NFL’s Houston Texans has named BMW as their “Official Luxury Car” as part of a four-year partnership, kicking-off this weekend with the Texans’ game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and continuing through July 2015.

Gene Donnelly, Vice President, Southern Region, BMW of North America, said: “As one of the most valuable franchises in not just the NFL, but the world*, the Texans and Reliant Stadium are an ideal partner for BMW. The loyalty and devotion exhibited by the team’s die-hard fans is reminiscent of the affection we receive from BMW enthusiasts. That connection is what makes this partnership a perfect match and we look forward to sharing the BMW experience with the fans.”

As the Texans’ official luxury car, BMW vehicles will be on display in four prominent areas throughout Reliant Stadium’s Club Level during each home game. Additionally, BMW will sponsor a variety of consumer-driven experiences and events geared to the Texans’ loyal fans offering them the opportunity to enjoy and interact with the Ultimate Driving Machine like never before.

Houston Texans President Jamey Rootes, added: “We are excited to partner with the world’s premier luxury car maker, BMW. Both the Houston Texans and BMW are committed to providing the ultimate experience for our large and deeply loyal bases of ‘fans,’ and we look forward to working with them to deliver even greater value for our customers and our community.”

In addition to BMW’s presence at Reliant Stadium and event sponsorships, the partnership incorporates the BMW brand with the Texans’ various online and broadcast channels, including online digital banners, integration with the team’s social media outlets and broadcast spots on the Texans Radio Network and KTRK-TV’s “Inside The Game.”

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ASICS, was unveiled as the new official footwear and apparel sponsor of Cricket Australia; marking the partnership with the launch of a string of exciting new kits for the Australian cricket team.

The sponsorship will see ASICS provide the Australian men?s and women?s cricket teams with training and competition kit across a multiple year deal that will include the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia. The highlight of the range is the bold new direction taken for the T20 kit all black with green and gold accents.

James Sutherland, Chief Executive Officer – Cricket Australia, said: “ASICS and Cricket Australia share a number of important philosophies about high performance, growth and success. This common ground is the making of exciting partnership. We are delighted to be announcing an association with ASICS, a company globally renowned as being synonymous with high performance.”

ASICS cricket shoes have set the standard in performance and quality over the past 10 years and our training and competition kit for the team will deliver the same level of excellence in style, fit and comfort.” said Allan Russell, Managing Director – ASICS Oceania.

The Australian cricket team is one of the highest profile sporting teams in the world and the partnership will have good global brand exposure. “This is in line with the strategies we have put in place to achieve the ASICS Growth Plan 2015” said Motoi Oyama, Global President and CEO, ASICS Corporation.

ASICS will also be the official footwear and apparel sponsor of the Australian Cricket Centre of Excellence, where Australia?s next generation of international cricketers hone their craft before taking on the world.

Cricket Australia previously used Adidas as their footwear and apparel sponsor for six years.

 

Audi and FC Barcelona have signed a sponsorship renewal agreement committing the two organisations until 2014.

With this new agreement Audi becomes Barcelona’s Premium Partner and the relationship between the two entities will reach out in a global scale. The German car manufacturer will also from now on be the official car for FC Barcelona. With this agreement, the Club continues to consolidate its sponsorship program with a world renowned brand.

The new sponsorship agreement allows Audi to expand its current partnership rights as the use of image promotion of the Catalans to national and international marketing rights, use of spaces for the Club, player participation in advertising and various other hospitality services. Besides the economic consideration benefits, the German brand will continue to supply vehicles for the first team of Barcelona.

Audi became the official sponsor of the Club in 2006/07. Since then, the German manufacturer joined FC Barcelona to make a strategic alliance that has continued to position the two companies in charge of their areas of operation in automotive and footballing worlds.

Paciolan, the leading provider of ticketing, marketing, and fundraising solutions in college athletics, announced today that its first ever customer, The University of Southern California (USC), has renewed its partnership with the company for a term of 10 years.

USC will continue leveraging Paciolan’s digital ticketing, fundraising and marketing solutions, as well as the company’s partnership with StubHub to accommodate secondary ticket sales. USC has been working with Paciolan since the company was established in 1980.

Rob Johnson, associate senior vice president, financial and business services for USC, said: “We’re doing so much with Paciolan and are very happy to be continuing our partnership of more than 30 years. We’ve already added several layers of technology solutions and look forward to adding even more so we can continue our successful track record.”

Effective with the partnership renewal, USC will be integrating Paciolan’s CRM solution, which will allow it to enhance its ticket sales efforts, and efficiently manage Trojan season ticket holder and donor relationships.

Steve Lopes, senior associate athletic director for USC, said: “We are very excited about addingPaciolan CRM and Advantage to serve all our athletic support group members and fans, while improving our communications with each of these groups.”

Thought leaders in college athletics, USC was one of the first to successfully leverage Paciolan’s new relationship with secondary ticketing marketplace provider, StubHub. Just a few games into the 2011 football season, USC fans have already resold over 15,000 tickets through the Paciolan and StubHub interface.

“The integration with StubHub and Paciolan allows us to better serve our customers, and fill seats with a highly convenient resale system,” said Debra Duncan, director of ticketing for USC.

Working with Paciolan for more than 30 years, USC has achieved significant ticket sales success. The majority of 2011 football season ticket holders renewed online; more than 70 percent of football online single ticket sales are delivered via print-at-home; and 100 percent of student football tickets are processed online and digitally delivered via student ID cards. In addition to its ticket sales achievements for college athletics, USC also manages more than $2 million in ticket sales to various entertainment events, including those at the Galen Center.

Dave Butler, chief executive officer of Paciolan, added: “We’re honored to be continuing our 30-plus year relationship with such an esteemed college athletics powerhouse as USC. Integrating our industry-leading ticketing, marketing and fundraising solutions, USC has been able to push the envelope for college athletics and surpass its goals. We look forward to the future and to introducing new and innovative solutions to meet their changing needs.”