WHO'LL BACK UPCOMING ROSE BOWLS? AT&T UNSURE ON FUTURE SPONSORSHIP.Byline: Don Jergler Staff Writer PASADENA - AT&T's four-year contract as the presenting sponsor of the annual Rose Bowl Game is over, and it's unclear whether the firm will renew its multimillion-dollar deal with the ``granddaddy of them all,'' company officials said Tuesday. AT&T's contract, signed in 1998 with ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. Sports and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, allowed the telecommunications giant to be presenting sponsor of the Rose Bowl game. But that agreement expired after the Jan. 3 national championship game between Nebraska and Miami, played in Pasadena's famed Rose Bowl. Under the deal, ABC paid $19 million each time to the Tournament of Roses to broadcast the 1999, 2000 and 2001 games and $20.5 million to broadcast the 2002 game, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Mitch Dorger, the tournament's chief executive officer. ``I can confirm that as of the Rose Bowl that just took place, our contract has expired,'' said Cindy Neale, a spokeswoman for AT&T in New Jersey. ``We're still in negotiation and haven't made that decision (to renew) yet.'' ABC Sports in New York Club Sport League Buffalo Bills Football National Football League New York Knicks Basketball National Basketball Association New York Liberty Basketball Women's National Basketball Association Rochester Raging Rhinos Soccer USL First Division negotiates the contract, taking the matter out of the hands of the tournament association, according to Dorger. ABC executives who oversee event marketing and promotions for the company did not return telephone calls Tuesday. ``That is a relationship between ABC and AT&T that is in the negotiation stages and I am not privy One who has a direct, successive relationship to another individual; a coparticipant; one who has an interest in a matter; private. Privy refers to a person in privity with another—that is, someone involved in a particular transaction that results in a union, to that information,'' Dorger said, adding that ABC Sports is working with all its Bowl Championship Series sponsors, including the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls. ``They are looking to sign up sponsors for the next four-year cycle,'' he said. The Tournament of Roses Association does retain certain rights and has a final say about who sponsors the event, making it unlikely a sponsor would be an alcoholic beverage alcoholic beverage Any fermented liquor, such as wine, beer, or distilled liquor, that contains ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, as an intoxicating agent. When an alcoholic beverage is ingested, the alcohol is rapidly absorbed in the stomach and intestines because it does not company. ``It's unlikely we will see a sponsor like Smirnoff,`` said Wendy Mathis, the tournament's marketing director. ``That's just not us.'' David Carter People called David Carter include:
``Every major sponsor in sports is rethinking their investment right now,'' Carter said. ``For AT&T, they've got to look long and hard at just how they are helping sell products and sell services. Is it helping activate self-service? Is it helping them sell pager time? And if they cannot quantify that, it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for them to rethink re·think tr. & intr.v. re·thought , re·think·ing, re·thinks To reconsider (something) or to involve oneself in reconsideration. re it.'' Many sponsors pay fees up front just to get in the door as a bowl game sponsor, often in the tens of millions of dollars. The final deal often totals three to five times that amount, Carter said. ``I think the shareholders are very cautious about allocating long-term dollars,'' Carter said. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion