NBA Finals: Brought to you by AA
 

The NBA finals are set and it'll be the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks.

The Heat's arena is the American Airlines Arena.

The Mavericks' arena is the American Airlines Center.

I wonder if/how AA will try to exploit this.

American Airlines...we know why you dribble.

Cheers.

Thank god. Now I don't have to listen to these ridiculous Suns fans anymore.

Besides US (US Airways Arena) doesn't deserve any free national attention.

The Morning News explored this issue yesterday morning although nothing specific was mentioned as to what AA might do:
Dallas Morning News article on AAC/AAA

Could we expect some DFW-MIA tie-in? What is AA's history in relation to identifying with sporting events?

AA used to offer fans special fares during college football season. They had a list of big games each week, and offered special rates to those cities for the weekend.

But, this year's NBA Finals is unprecedented in sports history in that both arenas are sponsored by the same company. We'll see what they do.

The marketing team who pushed for not one but TWO sponsored arenas must be in convulsions of ecstasy right about now...

Another free ticket giveaway?

Well, maybe they will finally get some bang out of those arena naming bucks. AA will be mentioned quite a few times on many different media outlets.

I remember this fondly - it was a fun extension of netsaaver. Delta had an even better product at one point, including golf tournaments, baseball, and a whole bunch of stuff. Made sense, since most stuff was over the weekend and they could get people to fly on Saturday, which was offpeak.

Anyone with tickets for game 2 in Dallas please let me know. Gonna try ticketmaster at 10 this morning, but they are only selling 1400 seats to the general public.

Go MAVS and AA! ^ Maybe this could be a trip for Jenkins?!

I think the best sponsor twist is that the "official" airline of the NBA is........... Southwest!

Go Mavs!

American Airlines doubles win in name game
 

NEW YORK — American Airlines has a rare opportunity to slam dunk its brand into the minds of basketball fans starting Thursday, when the NBA Finals begin inside the two arenas that carry the ailing carrier's name.
It pays more than $8 million a year in naming rights, which ensures that the Dallas Mavericks play in the American Airlines Center, while the Miami Heat cool off in the American Airlines Arena.

That has marketers at the airline, which lost $92 million in the first quarter, dreaming up ways to capitalize on its home courts advantage. On Monday, it was still working on a fan promotion.

"Once it dawned on us that this could happen, and that we're the only corporation that has the opportunity to do something, we said it's a no-brainer — we have to do something," says American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner.

rest of the story:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztra...y_x.htm?csp=34

Laughed out loud at that one! ^