94 FEET AWARDS PRESENTED BY COURTCRED.COM X EIGHTY81 X VSMG X KONSOLE KINGZ

CourtCred.com X Eighty81 Present 94 Feet Awards from courtcred on Vimeo.
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On Wednesday April 28, 2010 CourtCred.com, Eighty81, VSMG, LLC and Konsole Kingz teamed up for the first annual 94 Feet Awards which honored the 2009-2010 All-Court Cred Team for Georgia at Sole ATL. Honorees included Ryan Harrow, Jordan Adams, Jelan Kendrick, Julian Royal, and Marcus Thornton. Before the players were awarded, former NBA referee and Hall of Fame Inductee Ken Hudson gave a great motivational speech which touched on taking advantage of the educational opportunities basketball can present. Furthermore, the event received a lot of support from the friends, family, and coaches.

Special thanks to Vitamin Water, Metro Mix, FreddyO.com, and all the other media outlets who came out to support...

Jelen Kendrick

University of Memphis Signee

Marcus Thornton

Mr. Georgia Basketball 2010

Jordan Adams

Ryan Harrow

North Carolina State Signee

Matthew Verden

Verden Sports Management Group

Ken Hudson

Former NBA Referee and Hall of Fame Inductee

Left to Right:

Corey Cooper (Founder of Courtcred.com),

Bianca Tennyson (Courtcred.com PR),

Kerry Willis (Courtcred.com Insider)

Contributed by Matthew "The Mayor" Verden

FedEx BOWS OUT OF ORANGE BOWL TITLE SLOT

DENNY’S SPONSORING ESPN’S “BASEBALL TONIGHT,” WEDNESDAY GAME TELECASTS

Denny’s has signed on to sponsor ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” and its Wednesday night MLB broadcasts. It also has inked ESPN MLB analyst John Kruk to an endorsement deal that will include a TV ad and a weekly blog. The 1,500-plus location restaurant chain will advertise on “Baseball Tonight” and the Wednesday game telecasts for the rest of the season. Denny’s gets branding on the K Zone and Value Player features within “Wednesday Night Baseball,” and the Touch ‘Em All and Grand Slam Moment features in “Baseball Tonight.” Kruk is expected to film at least one TV ad for Denny’s. Maury Gostfrands’ Vision Sports Group handles Kruk.

Contributed by Matthew "The Mayor" Verden

SEATTLE STORM ANNOUNCES MARQUEE PARTNERSHIP WITH BING

April 21, 2010: In what could be the most impactful marketing deal in recent U.S. sports history, the WNBA has signed a multi-year pact with Microsoft that includes putting the Bing search engine logo on the jersey front of the Seattle Storm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Although LifeLock with the Phoenix Mercury and Farmers Insurance with the Los Angeles Sparks already have logos on WNBA team jersey fronts, the deal with the Seattle-based company that had $58 billion in revenue in 2009 will by far have more repercussions on the future of the WNBA and future alliances in other pro sports. Concurrently, Microsoft will use the alliance to continue its efforts to cut into search engine territory controlled by rival Google.

"It was critically important that we not only secure a marquee partner but secure a marquee partner that aligned with both our values and our business objectives. Bing absolutely fits those criteria," Storm CEO Karen Bryant said on StormBasketball.com. "It's a real indicator of the health of the business, a real reflection of Microsoft's commitment to our community and the beginning of what I know will be a long and very productive partnership. To have a company the caliber of Bing make a strategic decision to invest in a local, independently owned WNBA franchise is a significant milestone."

More such WNBA jersey deals are expected although it was not indicated by the WNBA if that would happen by the time the 2010 WNBA season begins in May. As with the other WNBA deals, the logo of team uniform supplier adidas and the team's own logo will remain on the jersey front, although much smaller than the Bing logo.

Contributed by Matthew "The Mayor" Verden

 

NIKE 'GRID' BY WIEDEN & KENNEDY

Nike has launched a digital campaign around its 'Nike Grid' interactive street game which allows competitors to compete with runners across London for 24 hours in order to gain points.

The urban game will launch on 23 April at 8pm. In order to play, runners must register at the Nike Grid website, but they do not have to possess any items of technology to track their run.

Instead, the game uses payphones across the city of London as check-in points before and after each run. The running grid covers 40 postcodes, and runners can choose to run only in their own postcode, or they can steal others' postcodes to rack up points.

Nike has launched a Facebook group to support the game and explain its rules in detail.

Contributed by Matthew "The Mayor" Verden

MATT "THE MAYOR" VERDEN JOINS "THE DEAN'S LIST"

Matthew Verden, CEO of VSMG, LLC. has over 10 years of marketing, management, and promotions experience. Verden started the Verden Sports Management Group in an attempt to provide a sense of ease to an athlete's already busy life and schedule. With a vast knowledge of the sports industry, marketing, and management skills, Verden leads his staff in ensuring all client's needs (whether big or small) are met, and often times exceeded.

Verden has worked with some of the most elite names in sports including multiple professional teams and athletes including the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves, Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Bobcats. He also has deep rooted ties with elite highschool basketball players and collegiate basketball programs including Duke University, University of Arizona, Georgia Tech and more.

The Dean's Notes: Matthew will bring his behind the scenes hands-on insight to "The Dean's List" readers.

Contact:
matthew@deanbrandmarketing.com
twitter.com/vsmgllc

ADVICE FROM MATTHEW VERDEN (Verden Sports Management Group)