Disney to Pay $4 Billion for Comic Giant Marvel

By BROOKS BARNES and MICHAEL CIEPLY

LOS ANGELES — In a deal that redraws Hollywood’s architecture, the Walt Disney Company said Monday that it would acquire Spider-Man and his Marvel Entertainment cohorts for $4 billion.

Disney will pay a combination of about 60 percent cash and 40 percent stock to acquire Marvel, the comic book giant whose stable of 5,000 characters includes some of the world’s best-known superheroes: Iron Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Captain America and Thor…

For full details visit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/media/01disney.html?em

Dream Come True: Tavares Gets Ready For His Rookie Card

TSN.CA STAFF

Growing up in Sweden, Victor Hedman was a big fan of countryman Peter Forsberg. How big, you might ask? Big enough that the young Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman says he owns 201 different hockey cards featuring Forsberg’s image.

Soon enough, Hedman can start collecting cards with his own face on them, if he wants.

Ask any up-and-coming NHL’er about his biggest moments in hockey, and chances are that being drafted and putting on his team jersey for the first time would be near the top of the list. But let’s not kid ourselves – there isn’t a hockey-playing youngster out there who hasn’t at least given a passing fantasy thought to having his own hockey card. And for a select few, it’s about to happen.

On Wednesday, the first step to that fantasy becoming reality took place in Mississauga, Ontario, where 14 of the NHL’s top picks and prospects participated in a photo shoot for Upper Deck trading cards. The company plans on using the images in their upcoming sets for the 2009-10 season…

For full details visit:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=288900

The Collegiate Licensing Company Names Top Selling Universities

ATLANTA, Ga., (August 14, 2009) – The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), a division of IMG Worldwide, is pleased to announce its annual list of top-selling institutions and manufacturers. These rankings represent royalties reported July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009 on all collegiate merchandise sold.

Notes of interest:

• This marks the fourth consecutive year The University of Texas at Austin has ranked No. 1 in CLC’s fiscal year-end rankings.
• University of Georgia was the biggest mover amongst top-10 institutions. The University gained four positions and finished the year at No. 3.
• Nike USA Inc. has occupied the top spot amongst collegiate apparel licensees since 1999.
• EA Sports has maintained its No. 1 status in non-apparel licensees since Q3 of 2003.
• Top local licensee J & W Interests Inc., a State College, Pennsylvania-based collegiate apparel and non-apparel manufacturer and retailer, produces and sells officially licensed product for The Pennsylvania State University.
• Top royalty producing non-apparel categories for CLC’s fiscal year-end include video games, domestic, housewares, and home furnishings, respectively.
• Top apparel categories for 2008-09 include T-shirts, fleece, women’s, and headwear.

Top-75 Universities
(1.) The University of Texas at Austin
(2.) University of Florida
(3.) University of Georgia
(4.) Louisiana State University
(5.) The University of Alabama
(6.) University of North Carolina
(7.) The University of Michigan
(8.) The Pennsylvania State University
(9.) University of Notre Dame
(10.) The University of Oklahoma
…

For full details visit:

http://www.clc.com/clcweb/publishing.nsf/Content/Rankings+Annual+2009

 

Collegiate Licensing Company, Upper Deck Announce Multi-Year Exclusive

As reported by Beckett Media, the Collegiate Licensing Company officially announced Thursday morning that it has reached an exclusive five-year agreement with Upper Deck.

The agreement, which goes into effect April 1, 2010, gives Upper Deck exclusive rights in the trading card category to the team and word marks for more than 200 collegiate institutions…

For more details go to:
http://beta.beckett.com/group/223464/?tab=tabArticles&p=762289#ViewArticle

Topps Lands MLB Exclusive for 2010

The New York Times is reporting tonight — and sports business reporter Darren Rovell is tweeting — that Topps has landed an exclusive MLB trading card agreement for 2010.

The announcement comes as quite a surprise, and on the heels of Upper Deck’s annoucement early last month that it had secured an MLBPA extension. At that point, officials from MLBPA had no additional licensing details to report.

Officials from both Topps and Upper Deck could not be reached for comment Wednesday night…

For full details go to:

http://beta.beckett.com/group/185223/?tab=tabArticles&p=751212#ViewArticle

Forbes: Board Games Are Back

NEW YORK (Fortune) — Mattel is betting on Blokus.

For the uninitiated, that’s a quick strategy game that bears just about no resemblance to the mainstream big sellers such as Uno for which Mattel (MAT, Fortune 500) is known. But when the company acquired Blokus earlier this year, it was to capitalize on the growing cachet hobby games have with twentysomethings — a demographic that Mattel’s aggressively pursuing, says Geoff Walker, Mattel’s senior vice president of Wheels, Games and Radica.

It may seem like an odd move, but not only have hobby games like Blokus taken hold with the next generation, board games on the whole have seen a bounce in the past year. In 2008, board game sales climbed 23.5% to about $808 million, and they’re expected to grow more this year…

For full details go to:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/10/news/economy/board_games_resurgence.fortune/

Blake Griffin Named Cover Athlete of EA SPORTS NCAA Basketball 10

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that Blake Griffin, former Oklahoma Sooner and the projected top pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, will be the new face of EA SPORTS NCAA Basketball 10. Griffin has an explosive presence, exciting college stadiums with massive dunks, huge blocks, and aggressive rebounds, and was a natural choice to represent the college game as cover athlete for NCAA Basketball 10…

 

For full details visit:

http://newsblaze.com/story/2009062310031200002.bw/topstory.html

Chicago Blackhawks Star Patrick Kane the New Face of EA SPORTS NHL 10

20-year-old scoring phenom Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks will be the new face of the NHL 10 videogame from EA SPORTS! Kane is the youngest player ever chosen for the cover of the NHL franchise and his image will be on the front of all packaging when NHL 10 is available in North American retail stores this September.

Having emerged as one of the most skilled players in the NHL in just two seasons, Kane won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 2008 and this year led the Blackhawks to the Western Conference Finals. He has scored more than 20 goals and registered more than 70 points in each of his first two seasons…

For full details visit:

http://www.ea.com/news/chicago-blackhawks-patrick-kane-ea-sports-nhl-10

Dwight Howard Named Cover Athlete of EA SPORTS NBA LIVE 10

EA announced today that Orlando Magic center, Dwight Howard, will be the cover athlete for NBA LIVE 10. A three-time NBA All-Star, Howard is currently looking to lead the Magic franchise to their first NBA Championship. The No. 1 pick of the 2004 NBA Draft was the 2009 NBA Defensive Player of the Year presented by Kia Motors, an All-NBA First Team selection the last two seasons, and stole the show at the 2008 NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest with his superhero antics. Additionally, Howard was the starting center of the 2008 U.S. Basketball Men’s Senior National Team which won the gold medal at the Olympics in Beijing. NBA LIVE 10 is currently in development under the EA SPORTSTM brand by EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C. and will be available worldwide this October…

For full details visit:

http://www.ea.com/news/dwight-howard-cover-athlete-nba-live-10

Top-Selling NBA Jerseys

Here are the top-selling NBA jerseys for the 2008-09 season through April at the NBA Store in New York and NBAStore.com, according to SportsBusiness Daily:

1. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant
2. Cavaliers forward LeBron James
3. Hornets guard Chris Paul
4. Celtics forward Kevin Garnett
5. Pistons guard Allen Iverson
6. Heat guard Dwyane Wade
7. Celtics forward Paul Pierce
8. Knicks guard Nate Robinson
9. Lakers forward Pau Gasol
10. Magic center Dwight Howard
11. Bulls guard Derrick Rose
12. Celtics guard Ray Allen
13. Suns guard Steve Nash
14. Suns center Shaquille O’Neal
15. Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony