Microsoft’s sponsorship of professional sports is pretty well known in these parts, with its Bing logo adorning the jerseys of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and its Xbox 360 logo on the chest of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders.
But now another tech titan from Seattle is getting in the sport sponsorship game, albeit in a much different way. The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon.com plans to sponsor Andy Macdonald — an eight-time World Cup Skateboarding champ and top medal holder for the X Games.
Macdonald — a 38-year-old skating whiz from Massachusetts — will recommend products on Amazon.com and provide tips on the sport, according to the Journal. He’ll also reportedly boast the Amazon.com logo on his helmet.
“(The endorsement) is a big deal for action sports in general, because it’s bringing a new brand to our sports,” Macdonald told the Boston Herald.
The endorsement is a bit off track for Amazon.com, which has taken a relatively low-key approach to advertising over the years. The Journal notes that it marks the first for Amazon.com, which announced the deal in conjunction with the launch of a new action sports site.
