Chevrolet has just released a video extolling the most recognizable name in baseball’s craftsmanship: Louisville Slugger, which refreshed its branding in time for Major League Baseball's opening day this season. 

Interbrand Cincinnati, based in the same city the first professional baseball team called home, was honored to be selected to celebrate that craftsmanship by redesigning the iconic logo, marking its first update in 33 years. Find out more here.

Jay-Z has sold about 50 million albums, won 17 Grammys, is worth almost $500 million and can well afford his own "gentlemen's club" and nightclub, is the co-creator of the Rocawear fashion line, a part-owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center stadium in Brooklyn, and happens to be married to Beyonce and the father of Blue Ivy Carter. 

So while he may be busier than your average Roca-a-fella, he's also making time for a brand new endeavor to stretch his business clout: becoming a sports agent.

The big news this week—via well-placed media clips in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times—is that Jay is opening his own sports agency, snagging New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano away from the sport’s best-known and most-feared agent, Scott Boras, to be his first client.

Cano is in the final year of his current contract with the Yanks so whoever negotiates his next one, which will likely be worth more than $200 million, will be reeling in a whole lot of dough. It’s looking like the man who'll be hauling it is in none other than Hova himself.Continue reading...

The Major League Baseball season kicked off Sunday night with a surprising win for the American League’s newest team, the Houston Astros. For the past few years, the Astros have been the National League’s worst team, but they moved into the American in the offseason and, for one night at least, the team is tops in the sport. That is likely to change soon, of course, but, for now, those players that are so used to losing are making their dreams of childhood into reality.

Kids who dream of playing in the Major Leagues someday (or the parents who dream of their kids making it someday) now have access to one of the tools that pro ballplayers have been using for eons: the Louisville Slugger.

Sure, the Slugger can be found on the retail market for any old consumer, but, until now, everyday schmoes weren’t sold Sluggers made from the same wood that the bats made for the pros were made from. Now Louisville Slugger has introduced a new bat, the Louisville Slugger Prime, that is made of the same material whether you’re a 6-year-old in Little League, a minor-league ballplayer, a Major Leaguer or an aging retiree grasping at your youth.Continue reading...

The Major League Baseball season kicked off Sunday night with a surprising win for the American League’s newest team, the Houston Astros. For the past few years, the Astros have been the National League’s worst team, but they moved into the American in the offseason and, for one night at least, the team is tops in the sport. That is likely to change soon, of course, but, for now, those players that are so used to losing are making their dreams of childhood into reality.

Kids who dream of playing in the Major Leagues someday (or the parents who dream of their kids making it someday) now have access to one of the tools that pro ballplayers have been using for eons: the Louisville Slugger.

Sure, the Slugger can be found on the retail market for any old consumer, but, until now, everyday schmoes weren’t sold Sluggers made from the same wood that the bats made for the pros were made from. Now Louisville Slugger has introduced a new bat, the Louisville Slugger Prime, that is made of the same material whether you’re a 6-year-old in Little League, a minor-league ballplayer, a Major Leaguer or an aging retiree grasping at your youth.Continue reading...

Apple loses iPad Mini trademark, and finds a fan in Kim Jong-un as North Korea rattles saber and tensions rise with U.S., while increased China headaches include hacking threat and iPad regulation.

Discovery Communications expands global channel reach and launches scripted programming.

Novartis loses cancer drug patent battle in India.

Amazon buys Goodreads community-driven user reviews website.

AMC reveals new tagline and logo.

Armani hires Cate Blanchett for $10M campaign.

AT&T scores with March Madness Twitter campaign.Continue reading...

Spring training is still more than a month away for Major League Baseball but that doesn’t mean the competition isn’t still going on.

Sure, it’s not a battle for a World Series ring, but it is for something that may be burned into the memories of a whole generation of fans: the cover of Playstation’s MLB13 The Show. And the players don’t have a whole lot of control over who will make it.

Instead, the voting has all been done by fans who have been able to choose who they want on the cover via Facebook and Twitter since Jan. 7. Voting wraps up today.Continue reading...

The Miami Dolphins finished out the NFL season with a disappointing 7-9 record, but that hasn’t stopped fans of the team from getting very excited about one aspect of the team: its logo.

The rumor mill is buzzing that the Dolphins are busy redesigning the logo that has been around in one form or another since the team joined the NFL in 1966. Since then, the team has donned helmets that feature a dolphin wearing a helmet with an M on the side jumping in front of a fiery sun. 

It isn’t clear what is coming next but Dolphins CEO Mike Dee is happy to have his team getting some attention. On Dec. 24, he tweeted, “I hear all the logo buzz out there...I'll provide an update soon! Happy holidays to all. Be safe!” But Dee’s definition of “soon” probably doesn’t equate to a lot of the team’s fans. Two days later, he tweeted, “Lots of buzz re logos. Love the passion! We continue to explore a # of design alternatives...final decision by Draft. Happy holidays!” NFL execs won’t be walking the stage at Radio City Music Hall and naming their draft choices till April 25. 

So hurry up and wait, Dolphin fans. Until then, snap up whatever old Dolphin merchandise you can and speculate all you want.Continue reading...

At least when marketers take out ads during the Super Bowl, they always know what they're going to get: A game stretching over about four hours and including one long halftime show. But in its best-four-out-of-seven format, baseball's World Series can be more problematic for brand sponsors because they never really know whether they've got two weeks — or just one — to make their impressions.

That's why, while the San Francisco Giants' four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers was sweet for San Francisco, it proved problematic for at least two advertising efforts tied directly to the World Series — and, seemingly, to the probability that the Series would last for at least five games.

Take Taco Bell. Thanks to a stolen base by Angel Pagan of the Giants during Game 2 of the Series, Taco Bell is planning a US-wide promotion tomorrow with MLB (assuming Hurricane Sandy doesn't blow it off-course) in which anyone in America can swing by for free Doritos Locos Tacos between 2 and 6 p.m. local time.

Pagan kicked off the fulfillment end of the "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion with his swipe, stating that he "couldn't be happier my stolen base won free tacos for America.'Continue reading...