Ellis Cannon Sports Business Report

“Sports Business” has evolved in recent years, but now I get my latest on the topic from US Magazine, TMZ, Rolling Stone, Gossip Cop and Popeater web sites. Actually, they’re the names of sites that popped up when I googled “Justin Timberlake’s car wins Indy 500”. Visit the sites and you’ll find out why the name “William Rast” was displayed along the side of 2011 race winner Dan Wheldon’s car – and who William Rast is.

Somehow, that’s where things get confusing: Timberlake co-founded a clothing-based California a few years ago with Trace Ayala. The company is known for its premium denim jeans but the company also designs T-shirts, hoodies and jackets for something called fashion-forward men and women, which makes sponsorship of an Indy car perfect because there are so many “fashion-forward men and women” at the 500. The company claims to be “grounded in the iconography of American denim heritage and biker culture, yet re-packaged and presented in a contemporary context”. That’s heavy; I thought we were just talking about a pair of jeans. Finally, uh, there is no William Rast. The name is a combination of the first name of Timberlake’s grandpap and the last name of his partner’s grandpap.

A new permanent exhibit called “One for the Books” recently opened at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown – and who would have thought a Pittsburgh Steelers owner would have something to do with it. This $1.25mm interactive attraction, which breaks down stats through the history of the game and is described as “wondrous” in the Albany Times Union, was developed in partnership with Legendary Entertainment, which has produced “The Dark Knight”, “Inception” and both “Hangover” movies.  This presenting sponsorship is the first for a permanent Hall exhibit. The president of Legendary Entertainment is Thomas Tull, who is a minority owner of the Steelers.

The New Orleans Superdome became, to many, the centerpiece of images surrounding Hurricane Katrina. It’s about to become the centerpiece of several major sporting events over the next few years. First, the home of the Saints has sold out for the 2011 season, marking the sixth consecutive season that’s happened. That’s welcome news to the NFL which has invested heavily in the New Orleans recovery. It’s also a reflection of the Saints social media. According to NOLA.com, the Saints are among the best when it comes to that, with 50,000 followers on Twitter and 1.4 million on Facebook. And the Superdome is undergoing $85 million in renovations with big payoffs ahead – it will host the Sugar Bowl and BCS National Championship in January, the Men’s Final Four next year, the Women’s Final Four the following year and the 2013 Super Bowl.

Listen to the Ellis Cannon Sports Business Report here.