Sponsors

The owners of the Tour de France and Tour of California cycling races announced Monday that they have entered a marketing and sponsorship agreement. Considering the events' longevity, it is an unexpected partnership between Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), which runs the 105-year-old Tour de France, and AEG, which has the 4-year-old Tour of California.

Why is a Scandinavian vodka being enshrined on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? It's not a tasteless homage to stars who drink too much. It's just the latest corporate attempt to buy some good buzz. Today, Absolut Vodka becomes a "Friend" of the walk, shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a star-like plaque embedded in Hollywood Boulevard. For some, the partnership is further proof that no attraction or event in the U.S. is impervious to the phenomenon of corporate sponsorship.

The professional tennis tournament held in Indian Wells is seeking a new title sponsor after ending its seven-year relationship with Pacific Life Insurance Co. of Newport Beach. The former Pacific Life Open, held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, drew more than 300,000 spectators during this year's two-week event in March, making it one of the most attended non-Grand Slam events in the world.

Democracy -- now available at a Wells Fargo near you. In a unique move intended to expand the pool of poll workers and polling sites, the Orange County registrar of voters Wednesday announced a "corporate sponsorship" deal with Wells Fargo. Under the agreement, the bank will provide employees to be trained as poll workers to man the ballot boxes Nov. 4. Vote-by-mail paperwork is available at Orange County Wells Fargo branches, and banks can be used as polling sites in future elections.

Two months after acquiring David Beckham, the Galaxy has signed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar sponsorship agreement with nutritional products manufacturer Herbalife. The deal gives the direct-sales company the right to splash its name across the front of the Galaxy jersey and makes the Galaxy the second team in Major League Soccer to take advantage of the league's new shirt-sponsorship rules.

Ameriquest Mortgage Co., a struggling sub-prime mortgage lender, has asked to be released from its NASCAR sponsorship, after last week giving up its rights to name the Texas Rangers' baseball park. NASCAR's website reported that the unit of Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings Corp. asked Roush Fenway Racing to release it from the final two years of its three-year sponsorship of a car driven by Greg Biffle. ACC Capital spokesman Chris Orlando declined to confirm the report.

Joe Gibbs Racing may not be a prime contender to land free-agent Dale Earnhardt Jr. after all, because of Earnhardt's close ties with a beer sponsor. "For us it would be hard" to field a car with Budweiser logos, team president J.D. Gibbs told reporters Saturday afternoon at Darlington Raceway, before rain forced postponement of the Dodge Avenger 500. The race was rescheduled for today at 10 a.m. PDT, and will be telecast live on Channel 11.

A new television series set in a New York advertising agency in 1960 has drawn complaints from a consumer group alleging that the show's sponsor -- Jack Daniel's whiskey -- is violating liquor industry standards by mixing sex, irresponsible behavior and alcohol. Trailers from AMC's period drama "Mad Men," scheduled to premiere July 19, appear on its website along with Jack Daniel's promotions.

A month after its cycling team was rocked by a doping scandal, CSC announced Wednesday it would continue as sponsor. There had been speculation the El Segundo-based computer services company might end its six-year relationship with Team CSC after the cycling team's manager, Danish cycling star Bjarne Riis, acknowledged using illegal doping substances during his 1996 Tour de France victory. Instead, the company said it would focus on taking an active role in cleaning up the drug-plagued sport.

While T-Mobile and Adidas rethink their involvement in the scandal-plagued Tour de France, Computer Sciences Corp. is sticking with the race because the team it sponsors established a rigorous anti-doping program. Last year, a Team CSC racer was banned from the Tour after he was entangled in one of the many instances of alleged doping that have roiled the cycling world's most important competition.