The Miami Heat and Kumho Tire USA are adding to the activities for fans at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Kumho Fan Zone opened on AmericanAirlines Arena’s 300 level last week during the team’s game against the New York Knicks. A gaming wall includes four 60-inch HD-TVs, Sony Playstation and game software. Fans can compete with one another and participate in contests and giveaways. Kumho will also offer special snack deals at concession stands.

Check out the photo by David Alvarez of the Heat.

In other news, if you haven’t heard, I’m signing off from the Sports Business blog and beat at the Sun Sentinel. I’m headed for a new adventure, starting a career as a Foreign Service Officer working for the State Department overseas.

Thank you, dear readers for your support, comments, suggestions and most especially for reading. Please contine to follow me on Twitter where I’ll be a recovering sports business writer: @sarahtalalay

In addition to those five NBA games on Christmas Day, fans watching the games on ESPN and ABC will be treated to a couple of new T-Mobile ads featuring Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley.

The entertaining and splashy ads keep giving. These are directed by Spike Lee and include appearances by Lee, Steve Nash and Cool and Dre. They target T-Mobile’s 4G devices.

Wade stars in one called “Outta Here,” in which a misunderstanding turns into a modern day version of “telephone” with the sports world suddenly believing Wade wants to be traded from the Heat. Gasp.

The other, called “Chuck’s Remix,” mixes some of Barkley’s commentary into a viral musical video sensation. Just imagine Barkley’s reaction.

Denver Broncos and former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow didn't go with Gatorade, but is instead endorsing FRS Healthy Energy.

Tebow joins the FRS Healthy Energy Team, which also counts Lance Armstrong among its athletes.

Tebow will serve as an ambassador for the company, appearing in ads and marketing campaigns. The partnership also kicks off with FRS donating 25 percent of the purchase of Tebow’s favorite FRS products to the Tim Tebow Foundation. Read more about the partnership here.

Check this out: a fan at Saturday’s MetroPCS Orange Bowl Classic made the MetroPCS Orange Bowl Halfcourt Shot during halftime of the University of Miami-UCF basketball game at BankAtlantic Center.

Keith Collier of Boynton Beach made the impressive shot and won the $25,000 prize.

Check out Collier’s shot from several angles:

In October, TBC Retail Group of Juno Beach announced it would be sponsoring IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal, who had been without a full-time sponsor this past season, for the next two years.

Today, Chip Ganassi Racing announced it is forming Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing featuring Rahal. The new team is being sponsored by TBC, which includes an array of tire and automotive brands such as Service Central, Tire Kingdom, and NTB-National Tire and Battery.

Whether you’re live at AmericanAirlines Arena or watching Miami Heat games on TV, you’ve likely noticed the new courtside digital signage that changes frequently and can be altered during games.

ANC Sports Enterprises, a sports marketing company specializing in signage, produces the technology the replaces static or rotational signage under the scorer’s and broadcaster’s tables courtside. The technology gives teams and sponsors more potential advertising inventory and allows them to tailor messages specifically to game results and statistics. For example, if a player records a triple double, a pizza parlor could advertise a two-pizza deal with three toppings, an ANC spokesman said.

“We are committed to providing our partners with different courtside signage options which create marketing opportunities based on each team’s objectives,” Jerry Cifarelli, ANC Sports president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “ANC’s state-of-the-art digital signage applications and patented software solutions generate new creative opportunities courtside while transforming the event experience throughout an arena.”

Continue reading "Miami Heat using digital courtside signage" »

The Miami Heat kicks off "Saturday Night Jersey Night" tonight at the Heat-New Jersey Nets game by rewarding fans in Heat jerseys with a placard shaped like an album cover featuring forward Chris Bosh.

The album covers feature Bosh in his jersey on one side and Bosh in a suit on the other. The Jersey Night promotion, sponsored by adidas, rewards the album covers to fans sporting any type of Heat jersey and anyone who purchases a new Heat jersey Saturday at the Miami Hoops Gear store at AmericanAirlines Arena. Fans wearing Heat jerseys can pick up their album covers (one per fan while supplies last) outside section 102.

The album covers were Heat Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael McCullough's idea. McCullough has a voluminous collection of albums and decorates his office with the covers, changing them up periodically.

“This is the fourth year we’ve hosted the Saturday Night Jersey Night program presented by adidas, and we think fans will love this year’s gift, the HEAT player album covers,” McCullough said in a statement. “Having thousands of fans wearing HEAT jerseys creates an intense atmosphere of love and support inside AmericanAirlines Arena, which is noticed by and motivates our players. This initiative is another way to reward our HEAT fans for their loyalty.”

The promotion offers a different player album cover at each Saturday night home game. The schedule going forward: Nov. 13, Udonis Haslem; Dec. 4, LeBron James; Jan. 1, Dwyane Wade; Jan. 22, Mario Chalmers; March 12, Carlos Arroyo; March 19, Mike Miller.

Florida Panthers forward David Booth tackled a new sport this week: cannoli racing.

Booth appeared at Panthers’ sponsor, Doris Italian Market, in Sunrise on Tuesday to compete with a Doris' employee and a couple of fans to see who was the fastest to fill cannolis. (See photo courtesy of the Panthers -- check out the adoring fans on the right). Booth also signed autographs. Watch the Panthers' video below:

Superstar Miami Heat forward LeBron James can add yet another unusual accolade to his resume: Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Business.

James, 25, is the only athlete to appear on the list – now in its second year – and is ranked 20th. The list is topped by Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape, Opsware and other software companies; and includes the likes of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg; Twitter founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone; and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Fortune describes the list as “youthful movers and shakers. They're innovating, they're expanding, and they're not really thinking about the recession.”

James, who is new to the list this year, was singled out for being able to “stop the pulse of a country,” with his nationally broadcast “Decision” to join the Miami Heat this summer. The magazine says James’ LRMR has brokered business deals with blue chip companies and Sports Illustrated places him fourth among top-grossing athletes with an estimated $42.4 million this year.

Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh is racking up endorsement deals. He’s become the newest Brand Ambassador for Warren Henry Automobiles, joining Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was added to the company’s roster in August.

Bosh will appear in ads and make appearances on behalf of the company. He is already driving a 2011 Land Rover Range Rover from Warren Henry, which he dubbed “the ultimate in sport-utility luxury.”

“I am very excited to partner with Warren and his family of dealerships,” Bosh said in a statement.

Added owner Warren Henry Zinn, “Adding Chris Bosh to the Warren Henry Automotive team is synonymous with winning. Chris brings an element of prestige, excitement and unbeatable success that can’t be matched.” (See photo of Bosh and Zinn, courtesy of Warren Henry).

Legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula is also an ambassador for the company. Over the years, Warren Henry has partnered with a number of South Florida athletes, including Heat guard Dwyane Wade, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams and speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez.

Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Florida Marlins Special Assistant to the President Tony Perez will sign autographs and pose for photos at BrandsMart in Miami on Saturday.

Perez will be appearing on behalf of Sharp Electronics and will only be able to sign signature cards provided by Sharp. He’ll be appearing from 2 to 4 p.m. at BrandsMart, 4320 NW 167th St., Miami.

A longer version of my Q&A interview with IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick than what appeared in the paper today:

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick makes two stops at Homestead-Miami Speedway this fall – in Saturday’s Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 and Nov. 20 for NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Ford 300. It’s just the third time this year a track has hosted Patrick, who made her NASCAR debut this year, in both series. A $70 “Double the Danica” ticket is good for both races.

At Boost Mobile in Pembroke Pines on Thursday to donate $2,500 to Adopt-A-Classroom and sign autographs, Patrick talked about her year in both series:

Q. You debuted at Homestead in 2005 – what do you think of the track?

A. I think it’s a really challenging track … it’s long straightaways with relatively tight corners, and it makes for a lot of passing. Last year there was a lot of lap traffic just because of the difference in speed between first and last. so there’s a Lot of action to be seen for the fans, for the second year now, it’s the season closer, so it’s like extra extra exciting for everybody to see who’s going to win. Another close down to the wire championship.

Q. This is the last Indy Race at Homestead – will you miss Homestead?

A. I’ve always enjoyed coming to Homestead, and I’ve always thought the racing’s good. And I think it’s a great place but if it was up to me, I would have kept this one and a heck of a lot of other ones on the schedule that aren’t on it. Shoot, I’d probably make a whole Indy 500 Series. I’d just base in Indianapolis and do like a series there. At the Indianpolis Motor Speedway, but that’s not my decision.

Q. Does racing both series at Homestead make racing easier?

A. I don’t think it makes it easier or harder. There’s just more of me in that market. I think it’s fun for IndyCar fans to be able to see me in NASCAR. And I think it’s fun also the NASCAR fans that may have not gone to an Indy race maybe they’re interested, maybe they plan to come on out to see the Indy cars there … It’s a completely different from perspective from a stock car than an Indy Car. They seem like two different tracks.

Q. How hard is it to race in both series at the same time?

A. It’s challenging, because it’s challenging. The IndyCar Series is really hard, there’s a lot of really good drivers. In NASCAR, I’m a fish out of water. I’m just trying to figure it out, just trying to finish a race, so that’s all different, too. Everything from how the qualifying works, to when to get into your car, to where to go out of. I’m used to starting and stopping from pit lane, not the garages.

Q. What are the major differences, besides speed - and the cars?

A. The heat. Like the other day when I did a race at Dover, I did two races that weekend. I think my air conditioning unit was pumping heat as opposed to air conditioning, and there wasn’t good insulation so it was getting extremely hot and I thought I was literally going to pass out when I got out of the car. I’ve done Bikram yoga and I can do heat, and it’s not an issue, and it’s never affected me, but that was something else. The people are different, the language is completely different. Everything is very opposite with the way it works in NASCAR with everything from what you do in the car to how you speak about the car out of the car … It’s a big learning curve.

Q. You’ve been introduced as a NASCAR driver not an IndyCar driver on TV (including at the ESPYs)

A. I know, a couple of times. That has nothing to do with me or anyone from Danica Racing. It’s unfortunate they do that, I think it sounds better to say I’m an IndyCar driver and a NASCAR driver, than just one or the other. I think it sounds way cooler, but I think it just shows the league has a long way to go, before where we are where we need to be, where we are so mainstream that it would matter to be mentioned. That’s sad. I think it’s big enough, I think it seems relevant enough, but then again there are great racecar drivers that have won championships, and they get introduced for the Indy 500 they won. So they’re both very difficult, but a championship is very hard, that shows you’ve been good all year. The Indy 500 is just one race, but it is the biggest one. It’s just what the general public is aware of, and what they pay attention to and what sticks.

Q. Has the exposure of being in both made a difference in terms of companies wanting you to endorse their products?

A. Yes it has. Being involved in NASCAR has made people more interested in me and there’s a greater reach there. As we spoke about earlier, about being an introduced as a NASCAR driver, I think that’s an example of what I’m talking about. It’s just something resonates with people and they’re familiar with and they understand. A couple of times I’ve heard people call racing NASCAR, like ‘oh you race NASCAR.’ I’m like ‘No I race IndyCar.’ They’re like ‘Yeh, that’s what I mean. Yeh.’ I’m like, it’s not all called NASCAR. It’s like the company called Kleenex was brilliant because it’s always called a Kleenex. I’ve had people think that racing is called NASCAR. It has a really large platform with a lot of people paying attention.

Q. You won in Japan in Indy, and you’ve struggled in NASCAR. If you don’t win again soon in Indy or if you don’t win in NASCAR are you concerned about the criticism?

A. No. I do everything I can do. I think I more care about going out there and winning and performing, well for myself than anybody else. I want to perform more than people could want me to. So no, It’s more for myself. I’m harder on myself than other people are. I’m very frustrated with the way that it has gone in NASCAR, there have been some good things, but it has been hard and it’s been really humbling. And I thought it was going to be a little bit easier than this. And people then correct me and say you’ve done a great job, you really have, I don’t know why you keep saying you aren’t.’ I’m harder on myself than anybody else could be probably.

Buoyed by the success of its partnership with the Miami Dolphins, Duffy’s Sports Grill has been expanding its relationships with South Florida’s sports teams.

The Palm Beach Gardens-based sports grill chain became the “Official Sports Grill of the Miami Dolphins” last August and launched the Dolphins Express – a network of bus transportation from Duffy's locations to and from Dolphins home games at Sun Life Stadium. Not only has that relationship expanded, but the sports grills are also including Dolphins tickets and special offers as part of their MVP loyalty card program, in which members get seated without waiting, discounts and other benefits.

This year, the Dolphins Express has expanded to 10 locations from Fort Lauderdale to Melbourne. The buses, which will all be express rather than making stops along the way, are leaving earlier and rather than a box lunch, the price for the trip includes a ticket and a pregame tailgate at Sun Life Stadium catered by Duffy’s. The prices are $79 for upper corner endzone seats; and $124 for lower corner endzone seats. The tailgates include hamburgers, chips, cookies and a cash bar for beer and wine.

“We’ve learned a lot from last year,” said Paul Emmett, Duffy’s president and owner. “The buses are leaving, there will be a tailgate party. All the buses will get together and we’ll be offering the grill and beer before every game.”

A schedule of the Dolphins Express stops and times is below.

The success of the Dolphins partnership has led to the sports grills – which have 22 locations and more than 300,000 loyalty card members -- partnering with the Florida Panthers and more recently with the Florida Marlins.

The Panthers partnership launched in June with Duffy’s hosting the team’s 2010 NHL Entry Draft Watch Parties at Duffy’s locations in Palm Beach Gardens and Fort Lauderdale. Duffy’s will also hold watch parties during the season and Panthers benefits are also part of the restaurant’s loyalty card program.

Meanwhile, the restaurant chain recently forged a partnership with the Florida Marlins, which is under way this season, but will be more visible in 2011. Among the plans are watch parties and promotional events aimed at driving ticket sales, said Brendan Cunningham, Marlins senior director of corporate sales.

“They’ve got a great footprint in the South Florida area, their plans for future expansion matched up well without backyard market,” Cunningham said. “It seemed like a perfect fit.”

Emmett said the relationships helps Duffy's with branding and drives more customers to the restaurants.

The Dolphins Express departure locations and times are as follows:

Melbourne: 1 p.m. games, 8 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 11 a.m.,; 8 p.m. games, 3 p.m.
Superplay: 1 p.m. games, 8:30 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 11:30 a.m.; 8 p.m. games, 3:30 p.m.
Jupiter East: 1 p.m. games, 8:45 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 11:45 a.m.; 8 p.m. games, 3:45 p.m.
Villages: 1 p.m. games, 8:45 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 11:45 a.m.; 8 p.m. games, 3:45 p.m.
Southern: 1 p.m. games, 9 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, noon; 8 p.m. games, 4 p.m.
Boynton East: 1 p.m. games, 9:15 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 12:15 p.m.; 8 p.m. games, 4:15 p.m.
Delray: 1 p.m. games, 9:30 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 12:30 p.m.; 8 p.m. games, 4:30 p.m.
Coconut Creek: 1 p.m. games, 9:45 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 12:45 p.m.; 8 p.m. games, 4:45 p.m.
Plantation: 1 p.m. games, 10 a.m.; 4 p.m. games, 1 p.m.; 8 p.m. games, 5 p.m.
Fort Lauderdale: 1 p.m. games, 10 a.m. ; 4 p.m. games, 1 p.m.; 8 p.m. games, 5 p.m.

Florida Marlins rookies Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison are helping celebrate the grand re-opening of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Riviera Beach on Saturday.

The store is hosting an open house from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., including kids activities, food sampling, and a live remote broadcast by ESPN 760 AM – and 76 cent medium hot or iced coffee just for the occasion. Stanton and Morrison will sign autographs (one free autograph from each player per customer) and pose for photos with customers from 11 a.m. to noon.

The Dunkin’ Donuts is at 5401 N. Military Trail, Riviera Beach (on the west side of the street just north of 45th Street).

Anyone wearing a Marlins hat, T-shirt or jersey will receive a free doughnut. And the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders are scheduled to appear at 10 a.m.

The franchise owners will also be donating $527.20 (in honor of Stanton’s (27) and Morrison’s (20) jersey numbers to the Marlins Community Foundation.

Leave it to the Florida Panthers to remind you that everything has a price – even empty arena seats.

The team promised it would sell a sponsorship to the coverings on upper level seats that have been added to reduce capacity and create a more intimate setting at BankAtlantic Center.

Party City, the party goods supplier and the presenting sponsor for the 2010-11 Panthers season, is adding its name to the coverings. The Panthers blue coverings reduce the number of seats by nearly 2,500 to 17,040. The covers can be removed should there be demand.

The idea is to generate revenue, but I wonder if the sponsor – especially one promoting parties – doesn’t bring more attention to the fact that no one’s sitting in those seats.

The Panthers say the reduced capacity has increased demand and the team is approaching selling more than 10,000 season tickets -- the most in three seasons. A new general manager, boosted player roster and ticket deals as low as $6 a season ticket in the upper level – in honor of new Miami Heat player LeBron James’ jersey number – probably helped, too.

“”It is an incredibly natural fit for Party City to receive exposure on the upper bowl covers that will help to make the BankAtlantic Center a more intimate and exciting setting during the 2010-11 season,” Panthers President Michael Yormark said in a statement.

South Florida’s most famous college football game has a new moniker: Discover Orange Bowl.

Discover Financial Services, operator of the Discover card, has reached agreement with the Orange Bowl Committee and ESPN to title sponsor the BCS game for the next four years and five bowl games, including the national championship game in 2013. The contract runs from 2011 through 2014.

“As title sponsor of the Orange Bowl, Discover will be rewarding their card members all year long with exclusive benefits, including ticket offers and unique experiences at the Discover Orange Bowl,” Harit Talwar, president of US.S. Cards for Discover said in a statement. “It’s a great way to show how it pays to Discover.”

After 21 years – the longest reign as title sponsor of a BCS game – FedEx announced earlier this year, it was dropping its Orange Bowl sponsorship.

“Discover’s commitment to the Orange Bowl reinforces the game’s national strength and appeal as one of the premier sporting events in the country,” Orange Bowl Committee CEO Eric Poms said in a statement. “We welcome Discover to South Florida and the home of championship college football and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership. Our shared passion will leave a lasting impact on our community, while further enriching the 77-year history of the Orange Bowl.”

Documents detailing the finances of the Florida Marlins’ and a handful of other Major League Baseball teams (reported by Deadspin.com), of course, reveal details we’ve never seen, but the team’s reaction to them is perhaps most surprising.

Of course, we’ve known the Marlins were making money and have even written as such repeatedly – despite the team’s protestations otherwise. While the release of the documents is, as Marlins President David Samson says, a crime, now that they're out there, here are some key details:

The Marlins brought in more than $75 million in both 2008 and 2009 from Major League Baseball’s revenue sharing program and central fund, before even selling a ticket, sponsorship or factoring in local TV and radio broadcast contracts.

Those figures combined were $79 million in 2008 and $75.4 million in 2009. That’s $47.9 million from revenue sharing and $31.3 million from the central fund in 2008; and $43.9 million in revenue sharing and $31.6 million from the central fund in 2009.

Revenue sharing is the system by which rich teams share revenues with lower revenue ones to even competition. The MLB central fund, which includes sources such as the national TV contract and to which all teams contribute – is distributed evenly. From other national sources, the Marlins got: $7.6 million in royalties and $2.9 million from the team’s investment in MLB Advanced Media – the sport’s Internet arm.

The documents show, the team had nearly $50 million in net operating income combined for 2008 and 2009. That was $37.84 million in 2008, when the team's on-field payroll was a league-low $24.8 million, and a more modest $11.1 million in 2009, when the payroll was up to $35.1 million.

Each time Forbes released its annual team valuations, Samson disputed the figures saying he didn’t know Forbes sources, but he also insisted the team wasn’t making a profit, and if there was one, team owner Jeffrey Loria would put it back into the team.

There are several examples of this, but here’s one from 2007, when Samson was asked about Forbes’ reporting the Marlins had the highest operating income of the leagues’ 30 teams at $43.3 million and with a league low payroll of $24.8 million:

"Very often the mistake that's made is they look at revenue sharing numbers and the team's payroll and take the difference and see profit without looking at our expenses," Samson said.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria "would want any dollar extra going into payroll," Samson said.

"What's happened is he committed to stop losing money, but he has never said he makes his living from the operation of the Florida Marlins. He simply doesn't want to lose all his money."

Jorge Costales, a Miami CPA who blogs about Marlins finances, has done a great job examining the documents compared to Forbes findings. Read his blog at 2thinkgood.com.

Another of Samson’s favorite sayings about payroll is that it will reflect revenues. When reminded of this during Monday’s conference call with reporters, Samson agreed but quickly added “local.” That’s a word that was conveniently absent from Samson’s previous discussions of team finances.

If you’re going to say payroll matches “local” revenues, he’s more accurate. Local revenue in 2009, the documents show, mainly consisted of $21.5 million in ticket sales revenue, $2.5 million from concessions and $16.7 million in local TV and radio broadcasts.

(As an aside, the documents reveal details of the team’s contract with Fox Sports Florida, which was a major part of its negotiations to build the new ballpark. The team needs regular revenue streams, such as TV money, to pledge against its portion of the construction. During 2005, the documents show, the Marlins and Fox Sports Florida struck a 15-year broadcast rights agreement – through 2020 – that pays the team $172 million during the life of the contract. It started with an initial payment of $40 million from Fox and comes out to $13.2 million this year, $13.6 million next year and $14 million in 2012.)

But this still begs the question-- what about all that “national” revenue.

Clearly the Marlins walked a fine line: if you make a profit, how much public money can you ask the public to chip in to your ballpark? If you say you’re saving the dollars for the ballpark – something Samson says the team has been saying all along, but hasn’t been – that’s a more palatable argument than the team isn’t profitable.

After years of saying the team wasn’t making a profit, Samson on Monday told reporters the documents “confirm everything we have said over the years of how we’ve operated the team.” He went on to talk about promising to secure baseball in South Florida and saving the dollars to put the team in a solid enough financial position to be able to fund its portion of the $515 million ballpark.

“We knew our contribution would have to be substantial enough, with team that did not have commensurate revenue,” Samson said. “In order to satisfy our contribution to the ballpark, we had to make sure we would be a team that would have the ability to borrow money.”

You have to wonder why Miami-Dade County officials didn’t push harder to see the Marlins’ books. And why a judge said opening the books wasn’t required, despite auto dealer Norman Braman’s lawsuit pushing for such, given that taxpayer dollars were being spent on the ballpark.

If the money really was going to the ballpark fund -- as a fan, you can still be angry the “profit” wasn’t going into payroll, but at least you’d know it was planned for somewhere other than the owner’s pocket.

Add new Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall to the list of famous Warren Henry Automobiles spokesmen.

Marshall’s now an “Official Brand Manager” for the luxury car dealerships, meaning he’ll appear in ads and will make appearances for the company. He’s also driving a new gray 2011 Jaguar XJ from Warren Henry Jaguar in Miami. (See Marshall above with a 2011 Jaguar XJ, photo courtesy of Warren Henry).

“I am thrilled to partner with Warren and his family of dealerships,” Marshall said in a statement. “The Jaguar XJ that I am now driving is super hot, super charged and I can’t wait to ‘Unleash the Best.’”

Over the years, Warren Henry has partnered with a number of South Florida athletes, including Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams and speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez.

Students at Miramar Elementary got a special star-studded welcome back to school on Monday morning.

Miami Heat center Dexter Pittman and guards Kenny Hasbrouck and Patrick Beverley helped Heat sponsor Office Depot distribute some 900 backpacks filled with school supplies.

In a rare convergence of sponsorees, the event also included the No. 14 Office Depot show car. The Boca Raton office supply company is also a co-primary sponsor of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart's No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet. Stewart wasn't at the school this morning, but he did carry the Back to School paint scheme on his car in Chicago in July.

Hasbrouck checked out the inside of Smoke's car this morning. Photos courtesy of Office Depot. Above, PIttman helps hand out supplies.

The players addressed the students during morning announcements and the Heat Dancers, Xtreme Team and Burnie the Heat mascot were also in attendance.

With FedEx announcing earlier this year it was dropping its title sponsorship of the Orange Bowl college football game after 21 years – marking the longest reign as title sponsor of a BCS game – ESPN has been in negotiations with potential corporate partners for the game’s name.

Neither ESPN nor the Orange Bowl Committee are discussing the companies, but sources have told CNBC that Discover Financial Services is expected to strike a deal for the name.

The financial services company, which operates the Discover Card, has orange in its logo.

"We are engaged in active discussions with several advertisers around the Orange Bowl and will make an announcement at the appropriate time,” ESPN spokeswoman Amy Phillips said in a statement.

The Orange Bowl Committee is not negotiating the deal but is in regular communication with ESPN about it.

“We are in regular discussions with ESPN regarding the title sponsorship of the Orange Bowl,” Orange Bowl Committee CEO Eric Poms said in a statement. “There are active conversations in the marketplace around the title sponsorship of the Orange Bowl, which is viewed as a premier property and presents a tremendous marketing opportunity.”

A spokesman for Discover declined to comment.

In May, reports had Hershey’s Reese’s brand negotiating for the game’s title sponsorship.

The Orange Bowl committee announced FedEx as its game title sponsor in 1989 for the 1990 game -- before the Bowl Championship Series was formed in 1998. The Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta bowls each host a BCS bowl game and the fifth BCS game is the national championship game, which rotates among the four bowls.

The Orange Bowl next hosts the national championship game in 2013.

In what is thought to be the first marketing partnership of its kind, the Eagles rock band is presenting this year’s Florida Panthers training camp.

With the announcement this week that the Eagles will be playing a concert at BankAtlantic Center on Oct. 8, the band is getting some extra exposure by branding Panthers Training Camp 2010. Training camp will get the special logo at left and the partnership will appear on the team’s website; at the Saveology.com Iceplex, where the team trains; and in advertisements and news releases. Training camp runs from Sept. 11 to Oct. 10.

“Panthers Training Camp 2010 presented by the Eagles is an innovative program unlike anything that has ever been done in the sports and entertainment industry,” Panthers President Michael Yormark said in a statement. “It is also proof that our organization is willing to use all the resources at our disposal to promote concerts, shows and events that visit the BankAtlantic Center.”

Rather than an actual sponsorship agreement in which money exchanges hands -- that's not happening here -- the deal is a marketing partnership that aims to help sell tickets to the Eagles concert. A Panthers spokesman said the turnaround for ticket sales is short, and the partnership provides additional promotion for the band. Spurring tickets sales in turn helps the Panthers, who operate the Broward County-owned arena.

“It’s very unusual,” said Jim Andrews, editorial director at IEG Sponsorship Report. “We’ve certainly had what we would consider two properties sponsor each other, like Six Flags sponsor a NASCAR, something like that, but in particular a music concert sponsoring a sports property, that’s very likely the first of its kind.”

However, Andrews said he doesn’t expect it to become a trend.

When Dwyane Wade appeared on the Tonight Show on Monday, Jay Leno asked if the Miami Heat guard had any pregame rituals.

Wade, who’d already performed his “kiddie rap,” revealed that his rituals all revolve around his number, 3, which he wears for “the holy trinity.”

“I try to do everything in threes before the game,” Wade said. “I do three pull ups on the rim, trying to work on my physique as well.”

Then he added: “I chew three pieces of gum.”

Naturally, Leno asked whether it had to be a specific kind.

“Big Red,” Wade replied and then made a face to demonstrate the punch the cinnamon gum provides.

“You know you just got a free case,” Leno said.

How about a locker?

“We were ecstatic to hear Dwyane Wade chews Big Red as part of his pre-game ritual, especially since we don’t have a formal relationship with him,” a Wrigley spokesperson told me. “It’s not every day that we learn a superstar like D-Wade chews our gum before every game, so we’ll be sure to thank him with a locker full of Big Red.”

Wrigley does not have an endorsement or sponsorship deal with Wade. It has previously had agreements with the NBA and sponsored the New Jersey Nets’ off-season in 2008.

Wade went on to explain that he drinks three different types of Gatorade before, during and after games to stay hydrated. Wade’s already got a deal with Gatorade.

In honor of Memorial Day, NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart and co-primary sponsor Office Depot along with Lexmark International are helping military families keep in touch with their loved ones who are on duty.

Buy a Lexmark printer at an Office Depot store or online at officedepot.com between this Sunday and June 5 and Office Depot and Lexmark will donate a new Lexmark printer to Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization that aids military families. Boca Raton-based Office Depot and Lexmark hope to donate more than 4,000 printers, which typically start at $199.99.

To promote the partnership, Stewart’s No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet will sport a rear TV panel at Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Office Depot, Lexmark and Operation Homefront logos and the message “Buy A Printer, Support Military Families.”

“For any NASCAR fan who needs a new printer, now is the time to visit your local Office Depot store. Your purchase of a Lexmark printer will directly benefit a military family, and that is a great gift,” Stewart said in a statement.

The companies have also included a social media component, encouraging fans to support individual members of the military by sending them messages via Twitter with the #OperationShoutOut hashtag. Tweets sent through June 5 make the messengers eligible to win one of 10 Lexmark printers.

Meanwhile, a separate Stewart promotion in which Miami-based Burger King invited fans to place their autographs on Stewart’s Chevrolet at the Coke Zero 400 on July 3 at Daytona International Speedway, was so popular that within 48 hours nearly 25,000 fans signed up. The plan for the “BK Sign & Race” promotion is to try to include more than 18,000 names on Stewart’s car.

ESPN is in serious negotiations with Hershey’s for the chocolate giant’s Reese’s brand to become the title sponsor of the Orange Bowl college football game, according to a report in today’s SportsBusiness Journal.

After 21 years, FedEx has bowed out as title sponsor of the BCS game played at Sun Life Stadium. FedEx had the longest reign as sponsor of a BCS game, but the company said it wanted to focus on its other sports marketing properties, including partnerships with the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, the NFL, NBA and NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing.

The SportsBusiness Journal report says ESPN is negotiating with Hershey’s on a four-year deal worth less than $20 million a year. ESPN will begin broadcasting BCS games, including the national championship, next year under a four-year contract that runs through 2014.

Hershey’s declined to comment.

"We believe the Orange Bowl is a premier property and a tremendous marketing opportunity. We are in active discussions with advertisers,” ESPN spokeswoman Amy Phillips said in a statement.

The Orange Bowl Committee, which hosts the game, isn’t negotiating the sponsorship deal, but is aware of the discussions.

“We are in regular discussions with ESPN regarding the title sponsorship of the Orange Bowl,” Orange Bowl Committee CEO Eric Poms said in a statement. “There are active conversations in the marketplace around the title sponsorship of the Orange Bowl.”

The Orange Bowl next hosts the national championship game in 2013.

As full regular season team sponsorships are becoming more common, so, too, are off-season ones. Last fall, the Miami Heat unveiled its 2009-10 season was being sponsored by travel insurer Assist-Card.

This off-season, of course, the Heat is focusing on what it’s calling the “Heat Summer of 2010,” when we’re waiting for news of superstar guard Dwyane Wade’s future and the roster re-vamp.

Up the road in Sunrise, the Florida Panthers, however, are getting an assist from Lexus. The luxury auto maker is sponsoring the team’s summer under what the team is calling “Florida Panthers 4th Period Driven by Lexus.”

There’s a special 4th Period logo that’s going on all news announcements, advertisements, and promotions this summer.

“We are thrilled to announce longstanding partners Lexus as the first presenting sponsor of the Florida Panthers offseason,” Panthers President Michael Yormark said in a statement.

It’s Yormark’s twin brother, New Jersey Nets CEO Brett Yormark, who in 2007 introduced basketball’s first offseason sponsor, signing up Wrigley to help underwrite the team’s summer activities.

Among the first summer activities is the team’s “You Make the Pick” Promotion – in partnership with JetBlue -- in which fans are being invited to enter a contest to win trips to the NHL Draft in Los Angeles on June 25. The idea is to have fans choose who they think should be selected by the Panthers in the third spot in the draft.

While all fans are eligible to participate in the online contest, only fans who become season ticket holders by May 31 can win one of the grand prizes, which are the trips to the draft that include meetings with team officials and the prospect chosen in the third spot. Other prizes include trips to LA and autographed merchandise.

“We want Panthers fans and the South Florida community to feel excited and involved in the process leading up to our first pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft,” Yormark said in a statement.

To learn more and enter, visit floridapanthers.com.

Stephanie Lockhart’s dedication to NASCAR has paid off. The Fort Lauderdale native and 2006 Dillard High grad and her fellow Howard University students have won the NASCAR Kinetics program’s Spring 2010 Case Study Competition.

The contest pitted teams in the NASCAR Kinetics program -- which is akin to an internship in which they learned about promoting and marketing the stock car racing circuit -- at six universities with the grand prize being a trip to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star week next month in Charlotte, including garage tours, pace car ride, and pre-race and victory lane access. The competing colleges were Howard in Washington, DC, Notre Dame, Coastal Carolina University, Clark Atlanta University, Central Michigan University and Winston-Salem State University.

The students worked on case studies all involving NASCAR promotion and marketing with the final project being holding a race-viewing party. With help and goodies from M&Ms, sponsor of Kyle Busch's No. 18 M&M's Toyota and creator of M&M's Most Colorful Fan of NASCAR contest, the students were to arrange and promote the viewing parties on-campus. The groups were judged on their success and creativity at hosting their parties.

The Howard group managed to win, even though the Texas race scheduled for April 18 was delayed a day due to rain.

NASCAR said the Howard group stood out for incorporating M&Ms eating and colorful fan face painting contests, a NASCAR educational component and live entertainment.

They encouraged students to attend their party with this commercial.

Here you can watch video footage from their party:

After 21 years – and the longest reign as title sponsor of a BCS game -- FedEx is dropping its moniker from the Orange Bowl college football game.

Kevin Demsky, FedEx Director of Sponsorship Marketing, said the express delivery and logistics company decided it was time to focus on its other sports marketing partnerships, including the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, and relationships with the NFL, NBA and NASCAR's Joe Gibbs Racing.

“Obviously it was a very difficult decision, one we labored over long and hard,” Demsky said. “We made the decision it was probably best for us to begin focusing on some of our other investments.”

ESPN, which will begin broadcasting BCS games in January under a four-year contract that runs through 2014, is working on finding a new corporate naming partner for the game played at Sun Life Stadium.

"We are in active discussions around the Orange Bowl, which is a premier property and presents a tremendous marketing opportunity,” ESPN's president of customer marketing and sales Ed Erhardt said in a statement. “FedEx remains an important client and we continue to be engaged with them in other areas."

ESPN declined further comment.

The Orange Bowl Committee, which promotes the game and its surrounding events, is not involved in title sponsorship negotiations, committee spokesman Larry Wahl said. The network and the BCS are responsible for bowl payouts, not the committee, he said.

“We’re going to fulfill our BCS agreement commitment and continue to work with BCS leadership and ESPN,” Wahl said. “We’re confident the network will secure a name sponsor that’s beneficial to all of us. What we do know is ESPN had an exclusive period to negotiate with FedEx. That exclusive period recently expired and ESPN has now actively expanded its conversations with other interested parties.”

Demsky said the decision to drop out as title sponsor was made earlier this year and the company is not sure if it will continue as a more limited sponsor of the Orange Bowl.

“Obviously, the Orange Bowl has been a long time partner and friend and we have some very deep seated relationships. From that perspective I think the Orange Bowl and the entire Orange Bowl festival and all the events that surround that BCS game are a very important part of the community for South Florida," Demsky said. "We’ll look at opportunities that might be available, but for right now, it’s probably much too early to speculate.”

Demsky said the decision had nothing to do with the matchups in recent Orange Bowl games, which have been criticized for their lack of luster, when the Orange Bowl isn’t hosting the national championship game.

“We don’t really get too involved in game matchups, that’s something that has to be worked out by the BCS and the bowl committees," he said. "Our focus has always been creating marketing programs around us that promote the Orange Bowl.”

The Orange Bowl committee announced FedEx as its game title sponsor in 1989 for the 1990 game -- before the Bowl Championship Series was formed in 1998. The Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta bowls each host a BCS bowl game and the fifth BCS game is the national championship game, which rotates among the four bowls. The Orange Bowl next hosts the national championship game in 2013.

It won’t be just the renewal of a more than 30-year rivalry tomorrow night when Miami FC hosts the new Tampa Bay Rowdies at Lockhart Stadium, but also the launch of a new business partnership.

Miami FC and Dunkin’ Donuts, which is active in sponsorships across sports, forged a new partnership this week. Details are still being worked out, but at tomorrow's game, Dunkin' is supplying 25 vouchers good for a dozen doughnuts each and conducting doughnut decorating. Meanwhile, Dunkin's Joe the Donut will also be at the game, perhaps mingling with Super Mario. Will Hotshot join in?

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver and former Hurricane Reggie Wayne will be helping to promote Gatorade’s new G Series Pro products at GNC on Miami Beach on Saturday, which has been dubbed “G Series Pro Signing Day.”

Fans can meet Wayne and check out the new G Series Pro products from noon to 2 p.m. at GNC, 622 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. For more information, visit Gatorade.com.

Two former Miami Heat stars, Glen Rice and Tim Hardaway, are making appearances at Office Depot stores in Miami-Dade County on behalf of the HP and NBA “Make the Smart Play Sweepstakes.”

The sweepstakes grand prize winner gets a trip for four to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles, an HP TouchSmart computer, HP wireless printer and $2,500 in Office Depot gift cards for an office makeover. Office Depot customers can also win prizes and meet players during the sweepstakes.

Rice will be at Office Depot at 17801 Biscayne Blvd., North Miami Beach from 2 to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Hardaway will be at the Office Depot at 2690 Coral Way, Miami, from 2 to 3 p.m. on Monday.

+ More than 3,800 people attended Thursday night’s Dolphins draft party at Sun Life Stadium, where they waited for player and cheerleader autographs, played interactive games, got to see TD and cheerleaders perform, and watched the new Dolphins radio partner 940 WINZ-AM broadcast live. Among the most popular attractions was the Dolphins garage sale, in which hardhats, jackets, jerseys and highlight films (on film in canisters) were selling for $5 to $20.

The party was scheduled to end at 10 p.m., but after the Dolphins traded their No. 12 pick to move down to 28 -- meaning their pick would come after the party's end -- team officials allowed fans to stay. Those that did were pleased with the trade down and a bit dumbfounded when the team picked Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick, especially when Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle was still on the board.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins’ new volunteer corps called Special Teams signed up fans, who pledged more than 14,200 hours to the new program during yesterday’s draft-a-thon.

+ Passing this on a little late, from Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal -- a look at how teams overspend on top draft picks compared to their performance on the field. Perhaps it’s not so surprising teams trade down.

+ Draft analysis in Haiku! How can you not love this from the John Harris Football Blog?

+ And what’s not to love here – first round draft picks and Subway endorsers Ndamukong Suh and C.J. Spiller rendered entirely in sandwich fixings, including pepperoni, olives and cheese, by the folks at Subway. Read Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner blog item on the meaty sculptures.

+ “Tim Tebow Broncos jersey” is currently registering as the sixth most popular search term on Google. Probably all those Tebow fans getting ready for his homecoming when the Jacksonville Jaguars open the season on Sept. 12 against, you guessed it, the Denver Broncos.

When NASCAR fans settle in to watch the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 on Sunday afternoon, Stephanie Lockhart and four of her fellow students will be overseeing a race watch-party at Blackburn student center at Howard University in Washington, DC.

Lockhart, who hails from Fort Lauderdale and graduated from Dillard High School in 2006, knows it’s a bit unusual that a historically black college would even be thinking about stock car racing, but she says that’s been an interesting part of the challenge.

Lockhart is one of five students participating in the NASCAR Kinetics program, which is akin to an internship program aimed at educating and exposing students on six college campuses to the NASCAR brand and giving them hands-on experience. The program launched in 2009 and is just completing its third semester, NASCAR spokesman Brad Klein said. Read about the program's launch at Howard here.

One of their assignments is organizing a race viewing party for the Texas race this Sunday or the April 25 race at Talladega. They’ve also worked on plans to promote the book, The Weekend Starts on Wednesday: True Stories of Remarkable NASCAR Fans, by NASCAR Director of Business Communications Andrew Giangola.

“Most people are kind of shocked, especially at a historically black college, it’s a great shock,” Lockhart, 22, said of the reaction from students to her promoting Sunday’s viewing party. “They say 'Wow, what are you doing?’”

That’s her opening to talk about NASCAR and the program, which also includes a competitive element. The other schools, Notre Dame, Coastal Carolina University, Clark Atlanta University, Central Michigan University and Winston-Salem State University host their parties on April 25. Each group is being evaluated on its assignments, including the success and creativity of their viewing parties. The grand prize is a trip to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star week next month in Charlotte, including garage tours, pace car ride, and pre-race and victory lane access.

A public relations major, who wants to work in sports communication, Lockhart graduates May 8. She’s hoping her experience working in NASCAR’s Kinetics program helps her stand out.

“I thought NASCAR would be something cool to be into,” she said. “It was just something new. I love to try new things … I like to do a lot of things to make me more marketable.”

The groups are getting help and goodies for the viewing party from M&M’s, sponsor of Kyle Busch's No. 18 M&M's Toyota and creator of M&M's Most Colorful Fan of NASCAR contest.

Lockhart said she and her fellow students have been putting ads in Howard's student newspaper, making announcements in the college chapel, promoting the event on their Facebook page and through the school radio station, and arranging for contests to win prizes at the event.

The winner will be announced May 5.

Perhaps it was just as well the Florida Marlins’ 2010 home opener was a nighttime affair, given that it reached a steamy 88 degrees this afternoon. Turns out it was the team that asked for the 7:10 p.m. start.

“Two things led us to do it at night. One, it’s not a season opener and two, it was a Friday,” Marlins team President David Samson said. “I prefer home openers during the day, no question about it, but season openers.”

The crowd of 40,666 was treated to a festive atmosphere nonetheless, including recognition of Chris Coghlan and Hanley Ramirez for winning last year’s National League Rookie of the Year and Batting Champion awards respectively; Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Andre Dawson throwing out the first pitch; and Creed’s Scott Stapp singing the National Anthem.

Stapp, a Palm Beach County resident, recently forged a partnership with the Marlins that has the singer and the team helping each others' charitable foundations, Marlins Vice President of Marketing Sean Flynn said. Part of the partnership includes Stapp re-writing his song “You Will Soar” as “Marlins Will Soar” complete with lyrics about baseball and the line: “Come on Marlins, make us proud.” A video of Stapp singing the song interspersed with Marlins highlights helped kicked off the festivities.

If you didn’t catch it tonight, Flynn says it will be shown in the stadium as well as online. He says it will be used similar to the way the team uses rapper Pitbull’s “Marlins Time to Represent.” Watch that video below.

Samson said he met Stapp at an airport when their flight was delayed. They began talking and have since exchanged text messages. Stapp also sat in the Marlins' suite during the Super Bowl in February.

One thing that irked at least a few people today was the disappearance of the out-of-town scoreboard – or teal monster – in left field. Remember this (see photo from a few years ago)? That’s no more. No more lineups and out-of-town scores. Instead, there are giant ads for MLB Network, a picture of Billy the Marlin holding a baseball glove, and a sign for a “Hit Me, Win Me” sweepstakes for a Ford truck that a fan can win if a Marlin hits the sign.

The way the Marlins explain it, the sign was malfunctioning last year and stadium ownership decided it was too costly to maintain. The Marlins had the option to pay, but chose not to, Samson said, because fans nowadays are getting real-time scores and updates on their cell phones and pdas.

With the Marlins scheduled to be in their new ballpark in 2012, is it any wonder no one was willing to shell out the dough to fix the board?

The team doesn’t yet have a lease to play at Sun Life Stadium in 2011, but Samson said he expects that to be worked out within a few weeks.

The Marlins introduction cards on the scoreboard show each player in front of an image of the new ballpark. Both Samson and team owner Jeffrey Loria said construction of the new venue in Little Havana is going well. Loria said he visits the site every month and a half or so. “It’s going to be the crown jewel of South Florida when we’re done,” Loria said.

Samson said while the team is entertaining calls from companies interested in purchasing the naming rights, other sponsorship opportunities and suites at the new ballpark, a new sales center for premium seating is expected to open at the ballpark site by late May. He said the team hopes to have a naming rights partner by next April at the latest.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart and Boca Raton-based Office Depot are “Growing Greener” this weekend.

To promote its efforts to sell eco-friendly items and ship in an environmentally friendly manner, Office Depot has teamed with wind and solar power producer NextEra Energy Resource’s EarthEra program.

Stewart will drive his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet with a special “Grow Greener” paint scheme in Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway. The paint scheme (see photo courtesy of Action Sports Photography) will feature Office Depot and EarthEra logos along with the “Greener Shipping” message. The office products supplier encourages consumers to be more “green” in the way they purchase and ship items by placing larger orders and reducing the number of deliveries.

Meanwhile, Office Depot is balancing the carbon footprint of the race by buying EarthEra “Green-e Certified Products,” which refers to the independent certification and verification program for renewal energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Learn more about Office Depot’s “Grow Greener” program here and watch the wrapping of Stewart’s car with the special logos below:

The pole winner for this Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway is so young, they’ve had to rename the award.

Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano qualified for his first-ever pole, but since he’s only 19 – and therefore not yet legal drinking age -- the Coors Light Pole Award has been renamed the “21 Means 21 Pole Award” for Sunday’s race.

NASCAR has been confronted with such an issue before. In February 2005 at Fontana, Calif., Kyle Busch became the youngest pole winner in NASCAR’s top series. Back then, Budweiser sponsored the pole award, and at the time, Busch was also only 19. It’s unclear if the pole award’s name was changed for that race – perhaps it was a less enlightened time.

Busch was no stranger to being underage in racing. According to a Charlotte Observer story from 2005, he’d been at Fontana for a NASCAR Truck Series race in November 2001 when he was just 16. Although he’d been told he had been the fastest in practice, he was barred from competing because there was also a CART race at the same track that weekend being sponsored by cigarette maker, Marlboro.

Six weeks later, the story says, NASCAR set a minimum age requirement of 18 to compete in its top three race series.

It’s a little later than anticipated, but the JetBlue tailfin that’s part of the airline’s partnership with the Panthers and BankAtlantic Center is scheduled to be unveiled on the arena’s plaza Tuesday prior to the Cats-Washington Capitals game.

The partnership, announced in November, includes joint marketing promotions and advertising through 2011. Among the promotions are “TrueBlue Nights” at the arena, when fans have a chance to win free tickets to a Panthers game by wearing blue or signing up to become TrueBlue members during Tuesday’s game.

The 22.5-foot high, 26-foot wide tailfin will be unveiled at a ceremony at 5 p.m. on the “JetBlue Tarmac” on the arena’s front plaza. Panthers and JetBlue Airways officials expect the tailfin to serve as an iconic meeting place for hockey fans and concertgoers.

“We look forward to becoming part of the experience for fans and customers at the BankAtlantic Center, and supporting the Fort Lauderdale community, one of JetBlue’s strongest cities and growing,” Marty St. George, JetBlue’s senior vice president of marketing and commercial strategy, said in a statement.

+ Super Bowl XLIV wasn’t just a huge event for TV, it – along with the Pro Bowl – helped Sun Life Financial score from its brand new naming rights deal with the Miami Dolphins’ home stadium, according to Joyce Julius, which measures sponsor exposure. The Michigan firm says the two games helped the Toronto-based financial services and insurance company, which signed the naming rights deal Jan. 20, realize more than $27 million in exposure in TV broadcasts and media coverage. CBS’ telecast of the Super Bowl was responsible for 36 percent of Sun Life’s exposure with ESPN’s Pro Bowl broadcast adding another 5 percent. Combined, Joyce Julius reported, the Sun Life logo got 17 minutes and three seconds of airtime and was mentioned 25 times. The company measured the exposure against what advertising during the broadcasts would cost and added in exposure from other media coverage.

+ Saints QB and Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees already went to Disney World for the post-championship ad and was part of the parade in New Orleans last night that some estimates say attracted as many as 800,000 people. His marketability should skyrocket, experts say. In his Super Bowl XLIV Sports Marketers’ Scouting Report, Bob Dorfman of Baker Street Advertising, wrote before Sunday’s game that Brees “has the most marketing potential of any Super Bowl XLIV player, and a win in Miami could vault him into the upper echelon of athlete endorsers.” Dorfman placed only Colts QB Peyton Manning higher on his endorsement list, but said this about Brees: “articulate, comfortable on camera, a genuinely nice guy, better looking than Peyton, and his cheek birthmark adds a distinctive touch.” Brees, the father of a toddler, is already starring in an online ad for Pampers, so Dorfman believes he’s a good bet for Gerber or Fisher-Price. He’s also in the running for the cover of Madden NFL 11. Since Brees is already known as "Breesus" around NOLA, Dorfman suggests “a Bank of America ad headline ‘Breesus Saves.’”

+ The Super Saturday Night concert on Fort Lauderdale Beach was so successful that some wonder whether the city’s lifting of its ban on open containers just for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl should be extended. Watch my colleague Brittany Wallman’s video montage from the concert here.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek is following in the footsteps of dozens of politicians, who have used NASCAR as a campaign tool.

On Saturday, Mike Wallace’s 01 Chevrolet will bear a logo reading “Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate” during the NASCAR Nationwide Series 2010 opener, the Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Meek is far from the first pol to bank on NASCAR, but how lucky did he get? Danica Patrick, the first woman to win an Indy Car race, is making her much-anticipated NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in that race. So expect Meek’s name to get a boost in viewership from the Danica factor alone.

The campaign isn’t yet saying how much it’s spending for the one-race paint scheme – it will have to report it eventually – but where top tier teams can command $100,000 to $125,000, Meek might have paid $25,000 to $50,000 based on Wallace’s ranking. Read my colleague Anthony Man’s piece on Meek’s campaign tactic here.

The history of politicians teaming with NASCAR is lengthy. Among the highlights:

President Richard Nixon hosted Richard Petty at the White House in 1971 – marking the first time a racecar diver had been invited to Pennsylvania Avenue.

In 1976, Democratic presidential hopeful Jimmy Carter announced the start of the Southern 500.

As a candidate for president in 1992, Bill Clinton was booed at the Southern 500.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Mark Warner put a “Warner for Governor” logo on a Ford F-150 in 2001.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced the “Terminator 3” car at California Speedway in 2003.

In 2003, one Ford F-150 won its first Craftsman Truck Series race in 2003 carrying a “Bob Graham for President” logo on it.

Also in 2003, while driving a Winston Cup car at a charity event, then-North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley crashed into a retaining wall at 120 mph -- he was unhurt – and was re-elected in 2004.

And President Obama hosted NASCAR’s top 10 drivers on the White House lawn last August.

Starting today, Dunkin’ Donuts locations from Miami-Dade County to Indian River County are selling Super Bowl XLIV-themed doughnuts.

Donuts with vanilla frosting and blue sprinkles will celebrate the Indianapolis Colts and ones with maple (gold) frosting and a black marble design honor the New Orleans Saints. The two teams face off in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium.

You’ll also find a Boston Kreme donut with white “football laces.” The stores are selling two dozen for $9.99.

Miami Dolphins Ronnie Brown, Chad Henne, Vontae Davis, and Davone Bess were among the NFL players scheduled to appear today at NFL Game Day Fan Plaza – the football activities area adjacent to Sun Life Stadium.

The Fan Plaza area, which is open to the public for a few hours today, and only to Super Bowl ticket holders next Sunday, is part of the league’s answer to the NFL Experience – the giant football-themed activities area that’s become a signature of Super Bowls.

With the Super Bowl just in South Florida three years ago, league officials were looking for ways to vary the experience for local fans. They shelved the NFL Experience and brought the Pro Bowl and some of its trappings instead, including Fan Plaza, the open Pro Bowl practice yesterday at Lockhart Stadium, and free concert on Fort Lauderdale Beach next Saturday.

“We designed a calendar of events that was specifically designed to recognize we were just here three years ago, and we didn’t want to do all of the same things, so that’s part of the reason the Pro Bowl is here this year,” said Frank Supovitz, NFL senior vice president of special events. “Pro Bowl is the key fan engagement opportunity and provides our fans with the opportunity to see the players all in one place that they’re looking at only in posters and décor around NFL Experience.”

Still, the move didn’t sit well with a number of fans, whose favorite Super Bowl activity is the NFL Experience.

“To be honest with you, I’m glad they miss it, that’s a good sign, that means we had a great event, that was meaningful to the community,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “So we’ll take all that into consideration, and see if there’s a role for both of those, where we could play the Pro Bowl and the NFL Experience. It’s something we’ll certainly address as we go forward.”

The NFL Experience will be back when the Super Bowl is held in North Texas at the home of the Dallas Cowboys next year.

For more from Goodell, read my Q&A with him in the Sun Sentinel’s Outlook section here. He addressed the Pro Bowl, future Super Bowls in South Florida, labor and other issues.

And, you know how everything is sponsored – Pepsi was all over at Lockhart Stadium yesterday; McDonald’s is the Pro Bowl sponsor. Even the parking lot at Sun Life Stadium where the media is parking for the Pro Bowl has Snickers as a sponsor – says so on our parking passes.

+ There are plenty of opinions on which teams in Super Bowl XLIV would be better for South Florida’s economy and those differ from which would be better television matchups.

As unseemly as it sounds, lots of hotel and tourism officials have been happy to talk about the New York Jets being the best team for local businesses because of the influx of well-heeled fans, who will be happy to plunk down lots of cash if their team makes it. There are concerns the Indianapolis Colts aren’t good for business because they were just here in the game in 2007.

CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell explains why CBS would prefer the Jets not make the Super Bowl here.

Some just want the Minnesota Vikings in because of superstar quarterback Brett Favre.

“I think the best thing that could happen would be Brett Favre,” Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau President Nicki Grossman told me.

But it just so happened Grossman was spending the weekend in New York, to make the bureau’s winter tourism pitch in one of its favorite target markets. It’s been chilly in New York, where the bureau has ads on 250 taxicabs and is making the rounds of TV shows to promote South Florida.

“Timing is everything,” Grossman said. “It turned out to be fortuitous on the Super Bowl.”

The bureau is running TV ads during both the AFC and NFC championship games today.

+ Meanwhile, CEOs of the official airlines of the Colts and Jets have placed a wager on today’s AFC Championship game. AirTran Airways (Colts) CEO Bob Fornaro has wagered a steak lunch from Indianapolis steakhouse St. Elmo’s if the Jets win, while JetBlue Airways (Jets)
CEO Dave Barger has promised a pit barbecue lunch from New York’s Blue Smoke restaurant if the Colts win.

“With the Colts being such a great team and the game being at home, it’s only fair that I put up a steak against a pulled pork platter,” Fornaro said in a statement. “Seriously, does anyone think the Jets can really stop Peyton Manning and the rest of the team on the fastest turf in the league?”

Barger said “I like my steak medium rare and make sure there are plenty of fries to go with it.”

+ If you just look at merchandise sales, the Jets rank third among the four teams playing today in gear sold this month compared with a year ago, according to figures from NFLShop.com. Those figures show sales of New Orleans Saints gear are up 650 percent from last January, Vikings up 533 percent, Jets up 252 percent and the Colts up 189 percent.

From April through Jan. 18, however, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the top selling team in the league followed by the Dallas Cowboys, and then the Vikings. The Saints ranked 6th, Colts 7th and Jets 11th. And the Vikings had two of the top four selling jerseys during the same period – Favre at No. 1 and Adrian Peterson at 4. Colts QB Peyton Manning’s was second, followed by Saints QB Drew Brees at third. New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez’s ranked eighth.

+ Is it me or has the number of Pro Bowl and Super Bowl billboards in South Florida quadrupled in the past week?

The one-year mark of Steve Ross taking control of the Dolphins from H. Wayne Huizenga didn’t pass quietly this week. Ross was overseas, but on Wednesday his stadium got its second new name of the year: Sun Life Stadium.

It’s been an eventful –- emphasis on the event -- year for Ross’ Dolphins and his stadium. Remember, it was Jan. 20, 2009 when Huizenga made sure the papers finalizing the $1.1 billion sale were signed just hours before President Barack Obama’s inauguration -- as something of a symbolic gesture in case Obama raised capital gains taxes.

Ross promised he’d jazz up the entertainment experience for fans at the stadium then called Dolphin Stadium. In May, he began that transformation signing a cash-less naming rights/marketing partnership with Jimmy Buffett’s Land Shark Lager for the 2009 season. The announcement came complete with a short Buffett concert, hundreds of Parrot Heads and a new version of Buffett’s hit Fins written specifically for the Dolphins. Bringing brand new meaning to “Fins to the Left…”

This week, the stadium got its second new name in a year – make that three, if you count the two weeks it reverted to Dolphin Stadium between the Orange Bowl on Jan. 5 and the Sun Life announcement on Wednesday.

So, a short by the numbers:

6 World Baseball Classic games: the stadium was host to round two games in March

6 limited partners: Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Marc Anthony (and by marriage his wife Jennifer Lopez), Venus and Serena Williams, Fergie. (Asked whether more limited partners could be brought on board, Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said, “I wouldn’t say it’s an active pursuit. We continue to keep an open mind toward additional partners. But it’s not a high priority.”)

2 stadium names: Land Shark, Sun LIfe

2 press conference concerts: Buffett’s to introduce Land Shark in May; KC & the Sunshine Band’s booty shaking serenade to introduce Sun Life on Wednesday. (Dee said KC wasn’t likely to become a limited partner, but “he could be a promotional partner.”)

1 new (much maligned) fight song: Can you forget T Pain’s autotune version of the old song?

1 new theme song: Buffett’s revamped Fins, which is played every time the team scores -- and then some. (Dee said Buffett’s song is here to stay. “What was important about the Land Shark involvement wasn’t necessarily the name on the building, but the vibe, if you will, in the stadium, the theme areas.”)

1 artist: Romero Britto’s neo pop art graces the helixes and gates at the stadium.

0 playoff appearances: Both the Dolphins and Marlins missed the postseason.

1 World Cup finalist site: The stadium was included this month among 18 in the U.S. bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

2 (at least) stadium dissings by the NFL: Both NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Senior Vice President of Special Events Frank Supovitz told the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee and community leaders the 23-year-old venue needs upgrades to keep it competitive with other stadiums across the country vying to host future Super Bowls.

Stay tuned….

Just in time to host the 2010 Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIV, the Miami Dolphins reached a long-term agreement with a corporate naming rights partner to rename their multi-monikered home, Sun Life Stadium.

Sun Life Financial, a Toronto-based financial services and insurance company, has agreed to put its name on the Miami Gardens venue for at least five years.

Financial details weren’t disclosed, but a source said the deal is initially five years with multiple options that could stretch the deal to 20 years. The Dolphins are to receive roughly $5 million a year but that could rise to the $7 million range if the certain incentives occur, including securing another Super Bowl and team playoff appearances.

The Dolphins and Sun Life officials from the company’s U.S. headquarters in Wellesley, Mass., announced the deal on a stage on the field inside the stadium. A medley of songs about the sun, including Sheryl Crow’s Soak up the Sun, Smash Mouth’s Walking on the Sun and Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine, helped introduce the name.

“Boy does it feel good under the sun,” Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said before sharing the name with invited season ticket holders, Super Bowl Host Committee officials and volunteers and students from American Heritage.

Sun Life officials said what attracted them to the Dolphins home stadium was that it is home to football, baseball, the Orange Bowl, Super Bowl and other events and exposes them to lots of new potential customers. It will also help the company overcome the fact that many people in the U.S. aren’t familiar with what they do.

“It really has been about building our brand in the United States," said Wes Thompson, president of Sun Life Financial U.S. "We’ve got great presence in Canada, great presence internationally, but we’ve really lacked brand presence in the U.S., as you’ve seen we’ve with our most recent commercials, our efforts are to really get our name out, so sooner or later you’ll know our name. This is another step in that journey to build our brand.”

And just as they have been doing in their recent advertising campaign launched in November, Sun Life Financial called on KC & the Sunshine Band to help spread the word about its brand. In the ad campaign, two Sun Life representatives try to convince KC to change his band’s name to the “Sun Life Band.” KC still hasn’t done that, but did perform a medley of Shake Your Booty and Get Down Tonight.

Sun Life also agreed to contribute $250,000 annually to the Dolphins Foundation and the team and Sun Life together established “Sun Life Miami Dolphins Haiti Relief Fund” with $200,000 and will match contributions made at sunlifestadium.com two to one.

Priscilla Brown, senior vice president and head of U.S. marketing for Sun Life, who attended the announcement, and Sun Life Financial President Jon A. Boscia, are no strangers to football stadium naming rights deals. Brown served as chief marketing and brand officer for Lincoln Financial Group, where Boscia was CEO. In 2002, Lincoln National Corp., struck the $139.6 million, 20-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles to name the team’s new stadium Lincoln Financial Field.

Brown said what made the two deals different was the Lincoln Financial used the Eagles Stadium as a way to announce the company's entry into the Philadelphia market, but the Dolphins' stadium allows the company to make a statement both nationally and internationally.

"Here the primary objective was to make this really big given that we don’t have most of our employees in this area," Brown said. "We want to make sure people around the globe knew about it."

Dee said he didn't think the dollars from the Sun Life deal had been earmarked as yet, but were intended to be used to continue to build a winning franchise. He said he hoped the naming rights deal, which marks the first one in more than a decade that will generate revenue for the team, lasts well beyond the initial five-year term.

"We’ve made clear we want a partner for the long haul," Dee said. "We hope this is the last name this building ever has."

The Dolphins’ home venue, which opened in 1987 as Joe Robbie Stadium, has had a series of name changes. For the 2009 season it was known as Land Shark Stadium, after Dolphins owner Steve Ross struck a cash-less marketing deal with Jimmy Buffett’s Land Shark Lager. That deal was only through the 2009 season.

From 1996 to 2005, the stadium was named Pro Player after then-team owner H. Wayne Huizenga struck a deal with sports apparel maker Pro Player. In 1999, Pro Player’s parent company, Fruit of the Loom, filed for bankruptcy and the Pro Player brand was shuttered. The team regained the naming rights in 2000, but never struck a new corporate deal. The stadium was called Dolphins Stadium in 2005; the ‘s’ was dropped in 2006. The Land Shark deal was announced last May.

Thompson said he hopes the lack of a consistent name for the stadium helps fans remember the Sun Life Stadium name going forward.

“In a sense no one’s established a beachhead because of that," Thompson said. "It’s not as if we have to fight a 20-year nomenclature of any type that may have existed before. So we kind of view that as an advantage for us, and we are in this for the long term per the agreement we have with the Dolphins.”

Here’s the stadium name chronology:

Aug. 16, 1987-Aug. 25, 1996: Joe Robbie Stadium
Aug. 26-Sept. 9, 1996: Pro Player Park
Sept. 10, 1996-Jan. 9, 2005: Pro Player Stadium
Jan. 10, 2005-April 7, 2006: Dolphins Stadium
April 8, 2006-May 7, 2009: Dolphin Stadium
May 8, 2009-Jan. 5, 2010: Land Shark Stadium
Jan. 6, 2010-Jan. 19: Dolphin Stadium
Jan. 20, 2010: Sun Life Stadium

Watch a video from the announcement here:

The end of the decade also corresponds with my first decade as the Sun Sentinel’s sports business writer. When I first got the job in September 1999, people would congratulate me and then ask: “What are you going to do with the rest of your time?” As if this somehow wasn’t a full-time job!?

Just in case those people are still wondering what I do with my time, here’s my $2 added to the end of the decade lists with a by the numbers sampling of South Florida sports business stories. (Disclaimer -- this does not purport to be a full or complete list):

5 NEW TEAM OWNERS: Alan P. Cohen and his group bought the Panthers from H. Wayne Huizenga in 2001. Jeffrey Loria took ownership of the Marlins from John W. Henry (by way of Major League Baseball) in 2002. Steve Ross completed his purchase of the Dolphins from Huizenga in 2009. And Cohen’s partners Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel (I’m counting them as two) took over majority ownership of the Panthers this fall.

5 (at least) TEAM MOVES: The Heat moved to AmericanAirlines Arena in 2000. Hurricanes football moved to Dolphin Stadium in 2008. FAU moved from Dolphin Stadium to Lockhart Stadium. FIU football moved into a new stadium. The Baltimore Orioles ended their spring training run at Fort Lauderdale Stadium and are moving to Sarasota next year.

10 (and counting...) TEAMS LOST: Miami Fusion (Major League Soccer); Miami Sol (WNBA); Miami Tropics (Spring Football League); Miami Manatees (minor league hockey); Florida Bobcats (AFL); Florida Pitbulls (ABA); Miami Morays, Palm Beach Phantoms and Florida Frenzy (all of the National Indoor Football League); Miami Diamantes (baseball); and others too numerous to count…

2 VENUES BUILT: UM opened BankUnited Center in 2003; FIU opened its new football stadium in 2008.

2 TORN DOWN: Both the Orange Bowl and Miami Arena came down in 2008.

4 TEAMS STARTED (and still exist in some form): Miami FC (soccer), Miami Caliente (Lingerie Football League); Miami Fury and Palm Beach Punishers of the Independent Women’s Football League.

NAME CHANGES get their own section: In 2001, Sports & Sponsorships President Scott Becher was more prophetic than he might have imagined when he told me this for a story about the golf tournament at Doral changing its name to Genuity:

"You're going to start to see names change for a second and a third time," Becher said. "I think by and large, fans get it, but from the sponsor's standpoint, it's like buying a used car. The car is never going to smell like new. The value of the sponsorship is diminished when you have to untrain fans to think of it as one name and reteach them a new name."

3 (Three-way tie) – Dolphins’ home stadium: Started the decade as Pro Player, then Dolphins Stadium, followed by Dolphin (no s) Stadium, and Land Shark Stadium. It’s set to become Dolphin Stadium again in January.

-- Key Biscayne tennis tournament: Lipton became Ericsson Open then Nasdaq-100 Open. Now it’s Sony Ericsson Open.

-- Golf tournament at Doral: Doral Ryder Open became Genuity Championship, then Ford Championship, and now it’s CA Championship.

2 (two-way tie) – Panthers home arena: National Car Rental Center became Office Depot Center and is now BankAtlantic Center.
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FIU’s basketball arena: Golden Panther Arena started the decade as Golden Panther Arena, became Pharmed and is now U.S. Century Bank.

1 ZILLION Marlins ballpark plans: But the ballpark is under construction and scheduled to open in 2012.

The latest installment in T-Mobile’s advertising campaign featuring Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley breaks tonight during TNT’s T-Mobile (natch) Halftime show during the Heat-Orlando Magic game.

This one focuses on T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G – well, Wade’s anyway. And there’s still plenty of playful repartee between Wade and Barkley. Watch the video below.

Another T-Mobile ad featuring Barkley and Magic center Dwight Howard (who have both appeared in a previous T-Mobile ad with Wade) debuts on ABC during the Magic-Boston Celtics game on Christmas Day.

And if you can’t get enough Wade, No. 3 will be the first athlete featured in the new “Ustream All Access” online show this Saturday. Starting about 2:15 p.m., you can log on and watch Wade’s day as he begins his “3 Under the Tree,” charity efforts joining children for a holiday event. He’ll also show off his shoe collection during the day. Visit www.ustream.tv/dwyanewade to watch. Ustream All Access launched earlier this month with a visit with Will.i.am and another with Snoop Dogg.

The New York Times reports today on how Wade’s sponsors have stuck by him even as he’s weathered an ugly divorce.

Sorry for the delay in catching up on news since vacation, but well, it’s been another busy week. And in case you didn’t know, the Super Bowl will be here in 58 days… but who’s counting?

Some thoughts and links:

+ Starting with Super Bowl, CBS says it’s 90 percent sold out of advertising spots for the Feb. 7 big game and ads are hitting $3 million. More from the LA Times here.

+ Baseball teams switching to healthier food, care of the Wall Street Journal here.

+ Olympic merchandise fun… got to read a story from the Vancouver Sun that starts: "Faster, stronger, higher — but not that high." Here.

+ Tiger and more Tiger: Plenty of fallout from the ongoing Woods crash/sexcapades story. Sponsors ponder their deals with the world infamous golfer. Gatorade says its decision to drop Gatorade Tiger unrelated to recent events.

+ Gotta love that sales of John Gribbin’s book Get a Grip on Physics, which was found in Woods’ wrecked car have skyrocketed. Here.

You can file this in the bulging "people with too much time on their hands" category, but there’s something catchy about Woods’ voicemail message Slow Jam Remix.

Bill Plaschke’s sportsman of the year award goes to “Sleaze.” Read his nicely-done column on the issue in the LA Times that includes gems like this: "Strong work, Sleaze. You made us forget about that awful beauty of baseball and focus on how the philandering third baseman got to second base. You made us ignore the sappy serenity of golf to watch the hound-dog champion play through his protesting wife to drive over water and into a tree."

Plaschke says our appetite for these kinds of stories seems insatiable, but the Poughkeepsie Journal reports on a Marist Poll that says more people think Woods should deal with the events privately and most don’t think the news will impact decisions about buying Woods-endorsed products.

+ City of Miami delays issuing bonds for parking lots at Florida Marlins ballpark: Bloomberg and The Miami Herald fill you in on this one here and here.

+ And speaking of the Marlins, as we know, team President David Samson is a man of many talents. He’s added playwright to the list. Penning a one-act play that is included in this Sunday’s soldout Miami Stories show at the New Theatre in Coral Gables. Samson is also to act in his own play. Read more here.

And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter: @sarahtalalay

The Miami Dolphins-Pittsburgh Steelers game at Land Shark Stadium on Jan. 3 has already been officially declared a sellout. But there are still tickets to see the only other remaining 2009 regular season home game on Dec. 27 against the Houston Texans.

In a sponsorship and promotional campaign that combines radio, trivia, in-person and social networking opportunities, Dunkin’ Donuts is teaming with the Dolphins to offer a chance at 1,040 free individual tickets to that game.

The promotion kicked off Monday with the first Dunkin’ Donuts Dolphins Appreciation Day: running every weekday through Dec. 18, fans get a shot at winning four tickets to the game by being the first to answer a Dolphins trivia question at Dunkin’s South Florida Twitter account: @DDSoFla. The trivia question today will go out at 11 a.m. in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Dolphins’ 11-0 start in 1984.

That Twitter account will also keep fans informed of other ways to win tickets, including sending out the 10 Dunkin’ locations between Miami and Sebastian, where on Dec. 19, the first 50 people at those stores – starting at 7 a.m. -- will receive two game tickets.

Meanwhile, on weekdays through Dec. 18, WQAM 560 AM during Joe Rose’s show and on ESPN 760 AM during a local break on the Mike & Mike show, two tickets and a $25 Dunkin’ gift card will be given to the fan who answers a Dolphins trivia question. Find out more at the Dolphins' Twitter page, too.

Oh, and there's signage at the stadium and a display area in the Grand Plaza on game day.

And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter: @sarahtalalay

Hoping to attract more season ticket buyers and provide a unique business opportunity, the Florida Panthers’ parent company, Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, is giving local companies a shot at the naming rights to Incredible Ice for one year.

For the cost of four lower bowl season tickets for the 2009-10 season, local businesses will be entered into a contest to win the chance to put their name atop the team’s practice rink in Coral Springs. The rink, which recently underwent a $10 million upgrade that included adding a third NHL-regulation sized sheet of ice, gets more than 1 million visitors a year, SSE President Michael Yormark said.

The eligible tickets start at $42 a seat per game, meaning that for about $7,000, a local business can score the naming rights that SSE values at more than $300,000.

“We thought it would raise buzz in the market,” Yormark said. “We think it’s an interesting opportunity to get in front of C level executives, perhaps small to mid-size companies that might be interested in getting their name on a building.”

In addition to attracting more season ticket buyers, Yormark said the opportunity will also give SSE a better measure of the true value of the naming rights. He said it isn’t known whether the “Incredible Ice” name will remain on the building as part of the corporate title.

The contest runs through December and the winning business will be announced in January. The winner will be responsible for paying for signage. For more information or to enter, call 954-835-PUCK or visit the team’s Web site.

Knowing it was going to be a challenging year on the business side, the Miami Heat has made upgrades at AmericanAirlines Arena to increase sponsor and advertising opportunities. The team’s new MediaMesh – the giant LED marquee on the front of the arena – was unveiled in May. New high definition television screens and menu boards have been installed for this season.

In a meeting with reporters Tuesday, Heat owner Micky Arison said the innovations appear to have made a difference, although he can’t say for sure what’s helped drive sponsorship sales during the recession.

“On the cruise side, one of our brands recently did a consumer survey, trying to find out if people will buy vacations this year. The questions dealt with what will consumers cut back on next year, and sports was number one in the answer of cutting back. This is a national issue, probably a global issue,” said Arison, who is also chairman of Carnival Corp.

In the NBA, Arison said, “The league is dealing with significantly less ticket sales, but … sponsorship has held up better than I would have expected. We’re in a very tough market, because it’s very real estate and banking oriented. We’ve also had some sponsors like Stanford Financial, and others that have failed on us, so there’s no question this is going to be a tough year and a tough period, financially for the franchise. But I don’t think that’s unique to us. It’s a national and global problem.”

Stanford Financial had signage across the Heat’s VIP lobby entrance until earlier this year when R. Allen Stanford was charged with fraud. The signs were pulled from the lobby after the company missed a payment. Meanwhile, with law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler now in turmoil since Scott Rothstein’s alleged involvement in what federal authorities are calling a massive fraud scheme, RRA advertisements are no longer appearing in the Heat’s game program.

But the team’s sponsors sales, including signing Assist-Card to the team’s first-ever presenting sponsorship this season, have been healthier than he anticipated.

“We’re in good shape with sponsorships, surprisingly good shape, but really struggling with ticket sales,” Arison said.

As for why sponsor sales have increased, Arison pointed to the new inventory such as the MediaMesh and speculated that some companies may be excited about the Heat’s young team.

“Because it’s such a banking, real estate oriented community, I thought it would be really murder. And last spring it looked that way,” Arison said. “As the summer progressed, it came around. Where we’re struggling is premium seating and ticket sales, which is really hard right now. People can watch it at home and consumers are very, very price conscious. It’s a unique product, you can sit at home and get it for free. You can’t do that with a cruise.”

By January, there should be a JetBlue Airways tailfin on the plaza in front of BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, thanks to the Florida Panthers’ new sponsorship agreement with the airline announced last Friday.

Hugo Boss is outfitting the team’s television and radio broadcasters and even Coach Pete DeBoer. The in-arena host is known as the Celsius Girl due to the team’s deal with the Delray Beach company that touts calorie-burning beverages.

Despite not making the playoffs for eight seasons – the longest playoff drought in the NHL – and currently having a 5-9-1 record, the Panthers are still able to attract sponsors.

In all, the Panthers’ parent company Sunrise Sports & Entertainment has signed up 24 new sponsors for this season – for a value of more than $4 million annually. That’s on top of the already bursting roster of sponsor deals that total more than 100 – yes, that’s why so much signage! – for a value of more than $20 million a year.

The Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler signs that adorned the dasherboards and other parts of the arena have either been removed or covered, but there’s still plenty of advertising across the arena. New deals have been forged with Guinness, Lucas Oil, Mama’s Italian Ice, Bennett Auto Supply, Gran Thornton, Boar’s Head and HotelPlanner.com, among others.

SSE and Panthers President Michael Yormark is still hoping to sell the naming rights to the ice on which the team plays and to the team’s practice facility at Incredible Ice in Coral Springs.

JetBlue Airways has been snapping up sponsorships with sports teams across the country in the past 18 months, including the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, Buffalo Bills, Texas Longhorns and New York Jets.

On Friday, the airline announced its first ever sponsorship with a hockey team and arena, becoming the official – and exclusive – airline partner of the Florida Panthers and BankAtlantic Center. Already, JetBlue’s signage is on the awnings over the arena’s doorways and dots the plaza in front of the building.

By January, a signature JetBlue tailfin is to be added to the plaza – the first ever installation for the airline. (See rendering above).

To honor the new multi-year partnership – and the addition of the airline’s 18th destination from Fort Lauderdale (starting Nov. 17 to San Francisco) – the airline is offering 18 percent off on bookings made today for travel Dec. 2-16 made at www.jetblue.com/bac

Officials would not disclose the financial details, but a release about the deal says it will include joint marketing and advertising through 2011. It is expected to include special travel packages for Panthers fans to attend away games and for fans in cities JetBlue serves to visit South Florida and take in a Panthers home game.

Panthers President Michael Yormark announced the partnership Friday on the arena’s front plaza, which will know be known as the JetBlue Tarmac, saying “Today, the BankAtlantic Center gets more leg room. Today the Florida Panthers become true blue.”

Marty St. George, JetBlue senior vice president of marketing and commercial strategy, said the airline considered other sponsor opportunities in South Florida, but chose to partner with Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the Panthers’ parent company and operator of BankAtlantic Center, because of the variety of events the company oversees.

“It’s not just a team,” St. George said. “The building has 200 plus events a year. Over 2 million people have come in every single year to various events. And I think that’s something we saw as a great kicker on top of it, which is not only do we get to work with a dynamic team that I think has got a great future, we also have the opportunity to get our name in front of customers that come here for all the different events … This is a dream opportunity.”

The announcement also included a concert by Cobra Starship, and was attended by JetBlue employees, as well as Panthers coach Pete DeBoer and team limited partners Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel.

Viner and Siegel are expected to buy a portion of majority owner Alan Cohen's stake in the team and be named co-general partners. Cohen will retain a stake in the team, but will no longer make team decisions. Viner and Siegel weren't talking Friday, but the restructured ownership situation is expected to be announced next week.

If you’re a sports fan in South Florida, chances are you’ve seen RRA’s logo. Or heard of one of the companies Scott Rothstein’s invested in. That’s because Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler has been rapidly racking up sports sponsorships and teaming with local athletes and their charitable organizations.
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Remember those billboards featuring Rothstein with Dan Marino, promoting RRA’s partnership with the Dan Marino Foundation? RRA served as a presenting sponsor of The Summer Groove, hosted by Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade, held in July at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

Ten days ago – not long before it became public Rothstein was under investigation -- RRA was the sponsor of the Miami Dolphins 2009 Alumni Weekend. RRA sponsors the Heat and messages promoting the firm's connections with Marino’s and Mourning’s charities have flashed from the giant MediaMesh LED marquee on the front of AmericanAirlines Arena that overlooks Biscayne Boulevard. There’s even an RRA ad in the Miami Heat’s opening night program.

RRA has a sponsorship deal at BankAtlantic Center with the Florida Panthers. Three other companies in which Rothstein has an investment -- Bova, Renato and V Georgio Vodka -- also have sponsorship agreements with the team and arena. Bova sponsors the Panthers' Ice Dancers.

The Heat, Panthers and Dan Marino Foundation all declined to comment Tuesday. But don't be surprised if RRA's logo is no longer included as part of the Panthers' game presentation.

The Florida Marlins are the only one of the four major pro sports team in South Florida that doesn’t have any sort of partnership with RRA or Rothstein-connected company.

In January, attendees at a VIP party before the BCS National Championship Game received a football-shaped luggage tag featuring the BCS and RRA logos.

On Monday, Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown broadcast his weekly radio show, “The Ronnie Brown Show,’” on WQAM-560 AM from Bova Prime in Fort Lauderdale, just as he's done all season.

Last month, Rothstein announced the formation of RRA Sports & Entertainment, a division to handle marketing and endorsement deals for athletes. Its first clients are Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder and junior tennis player Sachia Vickery.

Rothstein is also a member of the corporate marketing committee of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee, but so far has been missing in action, host committee chairman Rodney Barreto said Tuesday.

“I did have lunch with him to discuss the Super Bowl and if he wanted to get involved with us. He’s involved with a lot of great charities. He agreed,” said Barreto, who met with Rothstein a few months ago.

“He’s attended no meetings, participated with no referrals or anything to date. As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t done anything with our committee yet. I wish he would have,” Barreto said adding he thought someone of Rothstein’s stature and connections could help the host committee.

“He was a force, don’t kid yourself,” Barreto said. “It was brought to my attention, why don’t we consider having him help open doors for us, to help find potential sponsors. It didn’t work out.”

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade is appearing in an ad for the Jordan Brand that broke on Sunday. Wade, who had been the face of Converse, signed a new shoe deal with Michael Jordan's shoe company this summer.

Last month, Wade held a "brand summit" with his endorsement partners to plan his advertising and marketing messaging for this season. Read more about his evolving business side in a today's piece here.

The Heat's 2009-10 season starts Wednesday, when the team plays the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Here are some more of Wade's answers to questions about his off-the-court endeavors:

On moving from Converse to the Jordan Brand:

It’s a great decision. I need you to understand, Converse is under the Nike umbrella, so it was a decision from Nike, not only to put me into the Jordan Brand, where my individual things could be seen more, but also to help the brand as it continues to grow. So it was a corporate decision, and I just reaped the benefits from it. I had a great team at Converse, but I think it was time to move on from both sides, so it was great.

On whether he had concerns about moving from being the star of the Converse brand to one of several elite athletes at Jordan Brand:

When I was 24, I probably have thought about it, I probably wouldn’t have wanted it to happen. Being 27 and being smart and understanding that everyone has a place, I kind of relish it, I kind of open my arms to it. When I was 24 I would have said No, I would have said ‘I want to be the face of this brand, I want to be the all.’ But now knowing the team that we have at the Jordan Brand is only going to make it better for everyone else. It’s not pressure on one guy to build the brand, it’s going to be on a lot of different guys to help add to the brand that Michael has already built. So it sort of makes our job a little bit easier actually.

On whether he’ll have his own signature shoe at Jordan Brand:

That’s still to be determined. I just came into the brand two and a half months before the season, so a lot of stuff we have to get together … We’ve got some special things planned, but you know how we are at the Jordan Brand, we keep everything secretive…

What shoe he’ll wear this season:

I wear the 16.5 that’s a combination of Jordan 16 and Jordan 17. And also wear the Hallowed Ground, and another shoe they’re going to be putting them out. I’ll be wearing three different shoes throughout the year until they decide they want me to wear something else.

On holding a “summit” with his endorsement partners:

I think the biggest thing, which we always talked about just never could do, you want everyone you’re endorsing and partners of, to all be on the same page and tell a story, you don’t want everyone coming out with something different and telling different stories … It’s exciting for us to get everyone in the same room, and see what each other is working so we’re not overlapping, not crossing each other. It’s an opportunity to see the plans and say OK Gatorade is doing this, Jordan Brand we don’t have to do this, we can concentrate on this part. It’s just about getting everybody to work together.

On this year’s message:

This year so far, the message so far is simple … I think it’s self-explanatory to the point of where my team is and where other teams are, we’re still rebuilding , so I have to continue to keep proving myself and our team needs to keep proving themselves.

On what kinds of companies he’d like to partner with:

You always want to add the right things, and at the same time I don’t want to do too much, because I still want to have time for myself. There are certain categories I want to go after that at one point I did have. At one point, I had the car category with Lincoln, but that was only a one year deal. A lot of people still talk about my commercial now, years later. Car and food and maybe some other ones. Personally I want to do maybe Calvin Klein.

On whether he still has interest in acting in movies (he has a cameo role in Just Wright starring Queen Latifah set for release next year):

I’m going to say I’m going to hold off for a minute, on like really trying to get into movies. Like I wouldn’t mind doing cameos. It’s so long, it’s like I was there for like 13 hours and I wasn’t a major, major part of the movie. So I really have to have time to really do that. So right now I’m still going to make my cameos, and do certain things for fun that we want to do. But I don’t know if I really want to do a Space Jam or nothing like that. That takes a lot of time. It’d have to be the right time and the right thing.

On whether he’ll walk the orange carpet at a Miami Dolphins game:

We’ll see. I don’t know. I went to the first game, I was there supporting. I didn’t go on the carpet, that was for the owners. I was there to support. Maybe, maybe not.

Will he become a limited partner in the Dolphins?

Maybe, maybe not. It’s all exciting and interesting, it’s all just chatter. It’s a lot of chatter.

In advance of the Nov. 22 NASCAR Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Sprint Cup driver Carl “ESPN Body Issue cover model” Edwards, made a stop in South Florida this week.

Edwards, now sponsored by Aflac, wore a company tie covered with ducks, and took a ride on a Duck Tours Miami land and sea vehicle. He even agreed to make one of his signature backflips off the vessel into the bay. See the video below.

The driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion is a fan of the Homestead track, having captured both the Ford 300 Nationwide and Ford 400 Sprint Cup series races during Ford Championship Weekend last year.

The Quad City Mallards of the IHL are promoting what they say is another professional hockey first: a logo in the ice in the goal. Not in front of the goal. Not near the goal. Actually in the goal.

It’s a logo for Hardee’s in honor of the quick service restaurant’s “Biscuit in the Basket” promotion, which will award select fans with free biscuits for Mallards’ goals. Fans in a randomly selected row of seats will receive a coupon good for a biscuit for each goal scored by the Mallards at home games at the i Wireless Center in Moline, Ill., this season. Fans in the entire section get free biscuits, if the Mallards score at least four goals.

Hardee’s will also sponsor giveaway items at several games. Mallards players will be visiting select Hardees beginning this morning to promote the partnership.

The Mallards, you may recall, are the team that when I wrote about the Panthers’ new “locker room” seats, which allow fans to get autograph sessions and email cards from a Panthers player, pointed out they let fans into the actual locker room up to 30 minutes before game time. The Mallards’ home opener is Oct. 24.

The Miami Dolphins are calling it “groundbreaking,” but grounds breaking seems more apt. The team and Café Bustelo have teamed up.

At a launch party announcing the new partnership at the Gansevoort Hotel on South Beach Thursday night, Café Bustelo was dubbed the “Official Espresso” of the team. The espresso coffee is now available at Dolphins home games in the club level at section 242 and the invitation-only Ocean Drive Club at Land Shark Stadium.

Today, the team and Cafe Bustelo, which is owned by Rowland Coffee Roasters (a Cuban family-owned South Florida company), are launching a contest on the Spanish channel of miamidolphins.com for a chance to win a cafecito break with team limited partners Gloria and Emilio Estefan during a home game this season, two tickets to the game, Dolphins merchandise and a year’s supply of Café Bustelo. Enter at MiamiDolphins.com through Nov. 6.

Next spring, the company will release Café Bustelo in Dolphins-branded coffee cans.

The 2009 Gators cereal, which hits stores across Florida today, features UF coach Urban Meyer holding up the 2008 National Championship trophy from his team’s victory in the BCS national championship game at Dolphin Stadium in January.

The box of frosted corn flakes is the sixth in the limited edition series produced in a partnership between Florida’s Dairy Farmers and Gator Sports Marketing, which handles UF’s sponsorship and advertising. The cereal is distributed by Deerfield Beach-based Triton Innovative Marketing. (UF is among a number of college and pro teams with special edition cereals. Read the piece I wrote about the program in December here).

As part of this year’s release, the Dairy Farmers have also launched a contest to win a refrigerator and a year’s a supply of milk. (That’s 52 coupons good for a gallon of milk each week, in case you were wondering). Entrants must be at least 18 and explain why they want a new fridge and milk. Enter the contest until Dec. 15 – one entry per person per day -- at Floridamilk.com.

More than 20,000 of the boxes go on sale today at Winn Dixie, Albertsons, Sweetbay and at Gatorzone.com.

+ Wondering why the Miami Dolphins haven’t struck a sponsorship deal with the Florida lottery now that the NFL allows such arrangements? The Dolphins told me they didn’t think a deal could be reached for this season. The SportsBusiness Journal reports the Dolphins nixed a three-team sponsorship deal with the lottery that would have also included the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The journal says the Dolphins felt they deserved more in the deal. According to the piece, which you can read here, 18 teams have deals with 20 state lotteries.

By the way, through yesterday’s games, Florida’s three teams are a combined 3-11 on the season.

+ But the Dolphins don’t play until tonight – their highly anticipated matchup against the New York Jets at Land Shark Stadium. The MNF game marks the NFL’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. The Dolphins are wearing their orange jerseys; team owner Steve Ross’ Latin limited partners Marc Anthony and wife Jennifer Lopez, Gloria and Emilio Estefan will be out in force. Gloria’s MNF theme video with Hank Williams Jr. complete with lines in Spanish, such as “Estos listos para futbol” debuts. Anthony is to sing the National Anthem. Latin stars perform pregame and during halftime. NFLatino.com has even created a series of videos in honor of the matchup that pit a Hispanic Dolphins and Jets fan. There are four – one for each quarter – with the first showing a child in a Mark Sanchez shirt beating up a dolphin piñata. Thanks to Advertising Age’s Laura Martinez for finding these. Here’s the first one:

Watch the others here: second, third and fourth quarters.

+ The Dolphins are 2-0 when they’ve worn their orange jerseys, but just in case the Jets do win, Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company (14451 S. Military Trail, Delray Beach) reminds us, customers can get a free bagel the day after a Jets or Giants win. One bagel per customer who can share the winning score. Bagels are being given away today because the Giants beat the Oakland Raiders 44-7. If the Jets win tonight, same drill for customers who can recite the score.

+ Pro Bowl: Tickets for the 2010 Pro Bowl, which is being held the Sunday before the Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium, go on sale at 7 p.m. They cost $50 to $195. Buy them at NFL.com, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

When the Miami Heat introduced Assist-Card as its first-ever season presenting sponsor last week, the team became part of a trend as teams look for new ways to generate more revenue.

Assist-Card, a Geneva-based travel insurance and assistance company, forged a five-year agreement with the Heat to help the company launch its services to U.S. customers. The 39-year-old company served 7.2 million international travelers last year, but is just entering the U.S. market.

The company assists travelers with everything from lost luggage to medical care to translators to legal services. Its name will appear on tickets, banners, schedules, advertisements and arena signage. For this season, the company’s name will also appear like this: “Heat ’09-10 presented by Assist-Card.”

For the Heat, the sponsorship is a way to generate more revenue. The Heat has had playoff presenting sponsors. Other teams have had sponsors for individual games or series.

The Florida Panthers have had a presenting sponsor for the past four seasons, starting with ADT and followed the past three seasons by the Seminole Tribe, whose Seminole Casino Coconut Creek was the presenting name and the “official Florida Panthers Post Game Party Spot.” The deals have been worth mid-six figures to low seven figures.

“First and foremost the benefit from a team standpoint is revenue generated from a piece of inventory that didn’t really exist before. And for us, it has been a significant revenue source,” Panthers President Michael Yormark said.

Yormark’s twin brother, Brett, who is CEO of the New Jersey Nets introduced basketball’s first off-season sponsor, signing Wrigley to sponsor the team’s summer activities in 2007.

The Panthers are always looking at new ways to forge sponsor partnerships.

“The presenting sponsorship of a season is just the tip of the iceberg,” Yormark said. “We have a sponsor for all of our player transactions – Coral Springs Moving & Storage. These types of things are only going to expand in the future because they provide a company with a customized exposure package that is unique to their partnership and will more efficiently help them meet their goals and objectives.”

Sports consultant Rick Horrow’s new local show Beyond the Game began airing on WPEC Ch. 12 in West Palm Beach on Saturday. Yours truly was on the sports business panel along with former Miami Dolphin Troy Stradford and Brian Finkel, creative director of Horrow Sports Ventures and a student in FAU’s sports management program.

We touched on what to expect at Land Shark Stadium on Dolphins game days; the Dolphins’ new AT&T sponsor patch on practice jerseys, and sports business news around the NFL. Watch it here. The show airs Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.

As of today, the Miami Dolphins have now joined 17 other NFL teams in sporting sponsor patches on their practice jerseys.

NFL owners approved putting sponsor patches on practice jerseys earlier this year, but until today – the first day of regular season practice – the Dolphins hadn’t had worn a patch. Today they’re wearing an AT&T logo on their jerseys.

“It’s a league-wide initiative that does now allow for sponsorships on practice jerseys during the regular season,” Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said. “We took advantage to provide additional values to one of our largest corporate sponsors.”

Greene would not disclose financial details of the deal, but AT&T is already a team sponsor. Regular season practices are closed to the public and only open to the media for short periods on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and on Mondays when a full practice is scheduled. That means there is some potential media exposure for the corporate logos.

Under NFL rules, teams had until Sept. 1 to finalize deals with one corporate sponsor for a patch on practice jerseys. Separate deals can be made for the playoffs, an NFL spokesman said.

Other NFL teams with practice jersey sponsors include the Buffalo Bills with Sanyo, Chicago Bears with Northshore University Healthsystem, Cincinnati Bengals with Spongetech, Dallas Cowboys with the University of Phoenix, Indianapolis Colts with Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, and the New England Patriots with Gillette.

Leagues have been softening their stance on corporate logos on jerseys this year. The NBA is now allowing sponsor patches on practice jerseys. The New Jersey Nets announced Tuesday they have become the first NBA team to strike a practice jersey sponsorship deal. The team will wear the logo for PNY Technologies Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of computing and digital imaging products. PNY will also own the naming rights to the team’s practice facility in East Rutherford.

The WNBA this season allowed sponsor logos on its regular season uniforms and two teams took advantage: the Phoenix Mercury struck a deal with LifeLock and the Los Angeles Sparks forged a partnership with Farmer’s Insurance. MLS players also wear sponsor logos on their jerseys during the season.

How long before sponsor logos appear on jerseys during the big four sports’ regular seasons?

The Miami Dolphins are trying to make it easier than ever to attend home games by expanding the Dolphins Express.

The new bus service unveiled last month to take Dolphins fans from southwest Florida (in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties) to and from Dolphins home games is going to provide service from Duffy’s Sports Grill locations from Deerfield Beach to Melbourne.

“We have a strong base of fans throughout the state of Florida and we want to make it as easy as possible for them to visit Land Shark Stadium,” Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said in a statement. “To our fans from the Palm Beaches to the Treasure Coast, the Dolphins Express will be leaving from a Duffy's near you in 2009."

To introduce the new service, team alumni, including Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson, and fans took the bus from Palm Beach to last night’s team practice at training camp in Davie.

The service, which begins with the Dolphins’ Sept. 21 Monday Night home opener against the Indianapolis Colts, costs $69 for an upper corner end zone ticket, round-trip bus ride and a take- out Duffy’s meal. The buses leave two and half hours before kickoff and will be available from the following locations:

Duffy’s of Melbourne, 1700 Evans Rd., Melbourne
Duffy’s of Jupiter East, 185 E. Indiantown Rd., Jupiter
Duffy’s of The Villages Inc., 721 Village Blvd., West Palm Beach
Duffy’s of Boynton, 4746 North Congress Ave., Boynton Beach
Duffy’s of Superplay USA, 1608 NW Courtyard Circle, Port St. Lucie
Duffy’s of Royal Palm Beach, 11943 Southern Blvd., Royal Palm Beach
Duffy’s of Jensen Beach, 4179 NW Federal Highway, Jensen Beach
Duffy’s of Deerfield, 401 N. Federal Highway, Deerfield Beach
Duffy’s of Delray, 1750 S. Federal Highway, Delray Beach

For more information, visit www.DolphinsExpress.com or call 1-888-FINS-BUS.

When he announced last summer that he was switching depots – from a sponsorship with Home Depot to one with Office Depot – starting this season, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart also got a new number, switching from No. 20 to No. 14.

Now Boca Raton-based Office Depot, which is a co-primary sponsor of Stewart’s No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala, is asking fans to “Show Us Your 14” with an online photo contest. Fans can submit photos showing their support for two-time Sprint Cup champion Stewart with creative displays of the No. 14. That means anything from ‘14’ carved into haircuts to tattoos to lawn ornaments. Already, fans have submitted photos of ‘14’ in lipstick, landscaping, and on their bare backs.

The grand prize is a Hewlett-Packard package that includes a desktop and notebook computers, fax-printer, ink packs, and photo paper. First and second prize winners will receive a selection of HP items as well. And all entrants receive a 14 percent off coupon at Office Depot.

Enter through Aug. 31 by submitting photos up to 2MB at OfficeDepotRacing.com. Stewart, who is the current points leader in this year’s Sprint Cup Series, will be judging the photos.

“NASCAR fans are the most passionate fans in all of sports, and I can’t wait to see all the creative ways people incorporate the number 14 into their lives. I think I’m going to see some very imaginative stuff!” Stewart said in a statement.

That didn’t take long. The Los Angeles Sparks and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced a multi-year partnership Friday that will put the insurance group’s name on the WNBA team’s jerseys.

The partnership comes just in time for the Sparks home opener against the Detroit Shock on Saturday. It also marks the second such announcement this week. The Phoenix Mercury announced Monday that it will be wearing identity theft protection company, LifeLock Inc., on its uniforms for three years under a deal said to be worth at least $1 million a year.

The Sparks’ deal with Farmers Insurance also includes signage in the Staples Center, and visibility with other Sparks’ events in the community.

The idea is apparently sweeping the WNBA. The Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm are also considering partnering with jersey sponsors.