Upper Deck Inks Peyton Manning to
Memorabilia Deal
After two months of play, the San Diego WildFire pro basketball team finally was officially welcomed to the city of San Diego.
Councilman George Stevens attended the team’s Feb. 8 game against the Los Angeles Stars to present a proclamation from the city of San Diego. That night, 878 fans attended the game, far below the 4,000 people the owners Ashraf and Susan Farah say they need to break even.
The basketball team emerged only months before play was to begin in the new ABA 2000 last December, and according to owners, it’s been a challenge to get fans and sponsors to notice them.
“It’s going slowly, but surely,” Ashraf Farah said. “I’m eating it all by myself right now.
“I’m getting a lot of phone calls lately. People are saying ‘You’re doing what you said you were going to do in the beginning.'”
It’s estimated operations will cost the owner nearly $4 million a year.
So far, the WildFire hasn’t landed any major sponsorships or local radio or TV deals. But, according to the owner, the league is working on network deals with TNT and Fox.
Nonetheless, the owners have put money into billboards scattered throughout the city to promote the team, and have partnered with local radio stations Z-90 and Channel 933 to get the word out.
For the team’s Feb. 11 game, through Z-90, tickets were offered at 90 cents one hour before the game. That was the team’s first Sunday game, and attendance was announced at 1,204.
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Manning The (Upper) Deck: Carlsbad-based trading card company Upper Deck Co. recently added another popular professional athlete to its lineup of spokespeople.
Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, signed a five-year contract with the company to sign memorabilia, including photographs, helmets, jerseys and footballs to be distributed by Upper Deck Authenticated, Upper Deck’s memorabilia company. Manning will also sign the company’s autograph insert cards and autographed, game-used equipment cards.
Manning joins Michael Jordan, Ken Griffey Jr., Jack Nicklaus and Kobe Bryant as spokesmen for Upper Deck.
Financial terms of Manning’s agreement were not disclosed.
Gearing Up: The San Diego Spirit will take the field in Adidas gear when play begins in April. The company recently agreed to a two-year, six-figure deal with the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) to be the official equipment supplier of the Spirit. Adidas, which will also sponsor the Boston Breakers, will outfit the Spirit players and staff for their 21-game season.
Spirit players Shannon MacMillan and Joy Fawcett have personal endorsement contracts with Adidas.
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On Course: San Diego-based Heritage Golf Group recently acquired White Columns Golf Club in Alpharetta, Ga., from Summit Pointe Partners. The company did not disclose the sale price.
White Columns, an 18-hole, 7,000-yard course about 35 minutes outside of downtown Atlanta, opened in 1994 and plays to a par of 72.
Heritage Golf Group also owns and operates Angel Park Golf Club in Las Vegas; Hamilton Mill Golf Club in Dacula, Ga.; Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora, Ore.; Polo Golf & Country Club in Atlanta; Talega Golf Club in San Clamente; The Legacy Golf Club in Las Vegas; Trophy Lake Golf & Casting in Port Orchard, Wash.; and Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash. Kimberly Koehly recently joined Heritage Golf as director of club marketing. Before joining Heritage, Koehly was the regional marketing director for LinksCorp in Bannockburn, Ill.
The deadline for the next Sports Biz column is Feb. 22. Please send related items to dward@sdbj.com.