Reebok International Ltd

The Supreme Court justices signaled Wednesday that they are not inclined to shield the NFL and other pro sports leagues from federal antitrust laws. At issue is whether the NFL can be sued for giving a single company -- Reebok International Ltd. -- an exclusive license to market hats, T-shirts and other apparel carrying logos of the league's 32 teams. The case of American Needle Inc. vs. the NFL is being closely watched because of what it could mean for players, coaches and fans if the owners had the freedom to operate as a single business.

Nike just did it. And so did Reebok. Under intense pressure from animal-rights groups, Nike Inc. and Reebok International Ltd. suspended sales of Michael Vick signature shoes and apparel Friday, the latest setback for the Atlanta Falcons quarterback embroiled in a dogfighting scandal. The NFL, which has ordered Vick not to report to training camp, said it has pulled all Vick-related items from NFLShop.com.

* Reebok International Ltd. shareholders approved the company's $3.8-billion sale to Adidas-Salomon, a deal intended to help the company better compete with Nike Inc. * A federal judge set a Feb. 24 hearing date to consider a possible injunction on BlackBerry wireless e-mail service.

Reebok to Take $135-Million Charge to Reorganize: Reebok International Ltd., the nation's second-biggest maker of athletic shoes, said it plans to take an after-tax charge of about $135 million in the fourth quarter to restructure its operations. The four-part plan, announced in Stoughton, Mass., includes selling the company's Boston Whaler and Ellesse U.S.A. divisions. Reebok will also take a charge to write down the value of its Avia subsidiary.

Adidas-Salomon closed the acquisition of Reebok International Ltd. and said Reebok Founder and Chief Executive Paul Fireman stepped down. The company also said the purchase would begin adding to earnings in fiscal 2007. Fireman will become an advisor to Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer, the Herzogenaurach, Germany-based company said. Adidas will keep Reebok's headquarters in Canton, Mass. Adidas bought Reebok for $59 a share, or $3.8 billion, to challenge Nike Inc.

Reebok Pulls Accounts From Chiat-Day: Reebok International Ltd. dismissed the Los Angeles-based agency that created the "Planet Reebok" campaign and sneaker commercials with basketball's Shaquille O'Neal. The Stoughton, Mass., sports shoe and apparel maker said it will consolidate the $140-million worldwide Reebok advertising account with Chicago-based Leo Burnett, which has handled its ads in Latin America and Asia.

Adidas-Salomon closed the acquisition of Reebok International Ltd. and said Reebok Founder and Chief Executive Paul Fireman stepped down. The company also said the purchase would begin adding to earnings in fiscal 2007. Fireman will become an advisor to Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer, the Herzogenaurach, Germany-based company said. Adidas will keep Reebok's headquarters in Canton, Mass. Adidas bought Reebok for $59 a share, or $3.8 billion, to challenge Nike Inc.

* Reebok International Ltd. shareholders approved the company's $3.8-billion sale to Adidas-Salomon, a deal intended to help the company better compete with Nike Inc. * A federal judge set a Feb. 24 hearing date to consider a possible injunction on BlackBerry wireless e-mail service.

Reebok International Ltd., the No. 2 U.S. maker of athletic shoes, said first-quarter earnings rose 5.1%, helped by footwear endorsed by rap musicians. Net income climbed to $43.2 million, or 70 cents a share, from $41.1 million, or 63 cents, a year earlier, Canton, Mass.-based Reebok said. Revenue increased 11% to $925 million, boosted by the dollar's decline against the euro and the pound. Reebok shares rose 61 cents to $42.64 on the NYSE.

Reebok International Ltd., the second-largest U.S. maker of athletic shoes, has withdrawn a commercial featuring rapper 50 Cent from British television after viewers complained that it glamorized guns. More than 50 TV viewers complained that the commercial "glamorizes and perhaps glorifies gun culture," Advertising Standards Authority spokeswoman Donna Mitchell said Thursday. In the commercial, 50 Cent counts from one to nine in reference to having been shot nine times.

Reebok won the latest skirmish in the ever-growing basketball shoe wars Thursday, signing Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets to a multiyear endorsement deal and taking him away from rival Nike. What's more, the contract opens the door to a largely untapped but potentially lucrative market in China, Yao's homeland, and the rest of Asia for Reebok. Yao's contract with Nike, which he signed while still in China, expired after last season.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has three world championship rings, the league record for outside scoring and a string of 40-point games studded with moves that have left defenders flat-footed. But on Friday, Bryant came up against a different kind of opponent: bottom-line economics. In the midst of intense negotiations over a new shoe endorsement deal, Reebok International Ltd. said it concluded that the NBA all-star wasn't worth the millions he wanted.

Asics Tiger Corp. in Irvine and its Japanese parent company, shoe maker Asics Corp., said Wednesday that it has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Reebok International Ltd. of infringing on its tiger stripes trademark. Asics Tiger said in a press release that the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, contends that Reebok uses the tiger stripes on the Polo Sport RLX Lite shoes. The suit also names Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. and Reebok subsidiary Ralph Lauren Footwear Co. Inc.

McDonald's Corp. on Tuesday reported a 16% drop in profit, its third straight quarterly decline, as the burger giant's stock rose modestly on its latest assurance that beef safety fears are easing in Europe, its top international market. Squeezed by weak foreign currencies and other concerns, McDonald's said it may close as many as 250 under-performing restaurants this quarter, primarily in emerging international markets.

Reebok International Ltd. said Tuesday that it acquired apparel licensing rights to all 32 National Football League teams starting in 2002 under a new 10-year agreement. Under the agreement, the No. 3 athletic footwear maker has the right to manufacture and sell NFL licensed merchandise, including uniforms, sideline apparel, footwear and an NFL-branded apparel line. The agreement also gives Reebok exclusive rights to develop a new line of NFL fitness equipment.