Grant Hill, co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, will call NCAA tournament games that include the Final Four.
SportsBusiness Daily reports that sources say CBS, Turner and longtime NCAA sponsor Coca-Cola are upset about the PepsiCo Inc. brand’s new campaign that features Grant Hill and takes shots at the NCAA’s trademarks around “March Madness.
“Hill, a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, will NCAA tournament games, including the Final Four, for CBS alongside Nantz, Bill Raftery and Tracy Wolfson.
SportsBusiness Daily reported that sources also said that a CBS/Turner talent endorsing a rival brand is not going over well inside the Coca-Cola Co. headquarters in Atlanta. Coke has been an NCAA corporate champion since 2002 and spends in the neighborhood of $30 million annually across multiple categories for NCAA rights, according to SportsBusiness Daily.
A Coca-Cola spokesperson told Atlanta Business Chronicle that the company never comments on its competitors.
The Mountain Dew Grant Hill spot has been completely scrubbed from the net, which isn’t an easy thing to do. Looks like they received the message loud and clear. Corporate America at it again.
