10 Great Moments in Sports-Marketing History

Sports partnerships are a dime a dozen. These 10 are most memorable, according to Advertising Age.

• Nike signs Michael Jordan. Did you know he really wanted a sneaker deal with Adidas? Alas, Nike offered him $500,000 a year and three decades later, the business marriage still fits.

• Arnold Palmer’s handshake deal with Mark McCormack. This is the agreement that invented the “super agent” and led to today’s ownership stakes by athletes.

• EA Sports creates John Madden Football. It took four years to develop the game, a worthwhile R&D investment, considering Madden NFL has generated $4 billion in revenue and sold more than 100 million copies in 25 years.

• Helen Hicks drives it home for Wilson. The company was ahead of its time in 1934, when Wilson named a line of golf clubs after female golfer Helen Hicks. Wilson eventually sponsored the LPGA.

• German soccer club gets liquored up. Günter Mast placed the Jagermeister logo on the shirts of Eintracht Braunschweig's.

• Richard Petty’s color compromise. The Nascar driver nearly walked away from a $250,000 annual contract when sponsor STP wanted to change his car from "Petty Blue" to "STP Red." They compromised and went with both.

• Gehrig goes to bat for Wheaties. Baseball great Lou Gehrig was the first athlete on the Wheaties cereal box – albeit on the back of the box and 10 years after General Mills launched the brand.

• George Foreman grills. More than 100 million Foreman grills have been sold by Salton's, reportedly earning the boxer more as a pitchman than he did fighting in the ring.

• Danica Patrick drives GoDaddy ads. The most successful woman in U.S. racing has starred in a record 12 Super Bowl spots.

• Farmers Insurance bets the farm. In 2011, the insurance company ponied up $700 million for 30-year naming rights of a yet-to-be built stadium in Los Angeles. Now, the company must wait until an NFL team moves to L.A. before Farmers Field comes into play.

Read more from Advertising Age.