The New Jersey Nets have pretty much stunk for a few years now. The last time the team had an actual winning record was way back in 2005-'06.

Since May of 2010, they’ve had a new majority owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, the first foreign owner of any NBA team and the recent loser of the Russian presidential race to Vladimir Putin. And next season, they will have a new home and a new look. The team is moving to Brooklyn to a brand-spanking-new arena and the team took two measures to celebrate the change now that their New Jersey days are over.

The Brookyn Nets also unveiled a video, entitled “Hello Brooklyn,” to celebrate the transition to the team's new home and stadium as well as the new logo — which was designed, by the way, by Nets minority owner Jay-Z.Continue reading...

• BMW talks up sustainability as automaker unveils colorful designs for Olympics loaner fleet of 4,000 cars and SUVs.

• Some London residents may get missiles stationed on their rooftops as city firms up security plans.

• London mayor Boris Johnson complains that Heathrow airport chaos is damaging UK reputation ahead of the Games.

• McDonald's Coca-Cola and Cadbury criticized for Olympics sponsorship.

• Yahoo plans biggest Olympics coverage ever thanks to P&G and Visa sponsorship.

• China signs Wurth as Olympics basketball team sponsor.

• Organizers struggle to keep up with web ticket sales to football/soccer fans.

• New technology will measure impact of extra traffic on London.

Are you ready for some football? Tonight the NFL draft begins, on ESPN, seasonally ushering in the source of America's most popular TV programming — and one of its biggest branding vehicles —back into the cultural discourse.

As we noted earlier, Nike is running with its "Fast is Faster" campaign touting its new NFL uniforms during the 2012 draft. PepsiCo's Quaker Oats brand also kicked off its new status as the "Official Hot Cereal Sponsor" of the NFL yesterday with a Play 60 Youth Football Festival that starred Andrew Luck, the fortuitously-named Stanford University quarterback who is the presumptive No. 1 choice in tonight's draft. 

And Google, not missing a chance to promote its social networking platform, is inviting fans to join the top two draft picks (Luck and Robert Griffin III) virtually via Google+ hangouts. Continue reading...

Following the 20-second teaser that debuted on April 3rd, Nike's 60-second "Fast Is Faster" commercial, above, is being shared first via Twitter and Facebook today, with the broadcast debut in the first round of the NFL Draft on ESPN between the first and second picks. The "Fast is Faster" campaign showcases Nike's new team uniforms for the NFL.

Today marks 100 days to the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London on July 27th. To mark the occasion, the 2012 USA Olympic Team held an event today in New York City's Times Square, with sponsor AT&T on hand for the celebrations with athletes and fans. AT&T also announced today that it will provide networking services to NBC for its cross-networks Olympics telecasts this summer.

The NFL and Nike have been gearing up for months for the big unveiling of new uniforms for all 32 teams this week, an opportunity for every team to refresh its image and spirit (and make a ton of extra bucks, to boot) — including the NFL.

And while there were plenty who loved the new looks and plenty who didn’t, the general coverage seemed to agree that the uniforms on the whole didn’t change too dramatically.Continue reading...

Big-name fashion designers are flocking to the Olympics this summer, with host country talent Stella McCartney leading the way, in partnership with Adidas, as the chief designer for the United Kingdom’s squad. There have been a few naysayers to McCartney’s designs, but fashion designers have got to be pretty used to that by the time they hit the big-time.

Now word comes, via the Telegraph, that Prada is getting into the Olympics gear, designing uniforms for Italy’s Olympic and Paralympic sailing teams.Continue reading...

As part of its own image evolution, the NFL unveiled its new uniforms today in New York, with a player from each of the 32 franchises modeling his team's look by new league apparel partner, Nike.

According to the Associated Press report, most teams' new cutting edge Nike Elite 51 uniforms (tagline: "Fast is Faster") aimed to combine "tradition with innovation," but one team stood out.Continue reading...