World Baseball Classic emerges as centerpiece of MLB’s Asia growth strategy
Major League Baseball is betting big on Asia — and early commercial returns from the 2026 World Baseball Classic suggest the wager is already paying off.
SBJ Marketing: Procter & Gamble vaults back into sponsorship with USA Gymnastics
The Feb. 25, 2026, SBJ Marketing newsletter covers Procter & Gamble returning to USA Gymnastics in a big win with a nonendemic brand for the NGB and IPG becoming the agency of record for NASCAR's Hendrick Motorsports.
Hendrick Motorsports tabs IPG as agency of record
Venerable NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports has named Innovative Partnerships Group as its third-party agency of record for commercial strategy.
USA Gymnastics scores major win with Procter & Gamble’s return as top-level sponsor
Nine years after dropping its sponsorship with USA Gymnastics in the wake of the NGB’s horrendous sexual abuse scandal, Procter & Gamble has returned as a top-level sponsor of the NGB, with a deal taking it through the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A. P&G has been a worldwide (TOP) Olympic spons...
Alan Taylor, sports PR pioneer, dies at 89
Longtime sports PR executive ALAN TAYLOR died Feb. 20 from complications due to pneumonia. He was 89.
Senior agency execs predict the future of Wasserman
Finance types turn into soda jerks when times are flush. When money and “deal flow” are abundant, things are “frothy.” Never have the prospects for selling sports agencies been more effervescent than late last year, when Goldman Sachs bought controlling interest in Excel Sports Management, based on ...
SBJ Marketing: Pepsi blasts its way back to MLB
The SBJ Marketing newsletter for Feb. 19, 2026, reports on PepsiCo's Mountain Dew Baja Blast becoming the official drink of Major League Baseball as the brand seeks to court MLB's Gen Z fans, who are more multicultural and Hispanic than those of action sports or NASCAR.
Marketing speed reads
A roundup of marketing business and industry news from Sports Business Journal reporters for the Feb. 18, 2026, edition of the SBJ Marketing newsletter.
PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew Baja Blast sponsorship dovetails well with MLB’s consumers
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and ... Baja Blast?
PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew Baja Blast becomes official soft drink of MLB
Pepsi’s Mountain Dew Baja Blast, a teal-colored, lime-flavored carbonated beverage, is MLB’s new official soft drink. PepsiCo VP Marketing/Flavored Sparkling Beverages Michael Smith said his company’s new MLB sponsorship dovetails well with Baja Blast’s Gen Z/multicultural/Hispanic-led core consumer...