Despite all the sordid details surrounding Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and his alleged involvement in dog fighting; and the continuing troubles of Tennessee Titans defensive back Pacman Jones; and the suspension of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry; and the nearly three dozen arrests of NFL players and an assistant coach in the past year — Bank of America, the nation’s second largest bank, still has no problems associating itself as a marketing partner of the National Football League.

On Wednesday, the league and the bank entered into a three-year partnership that designates Bank of America as the NFL’s “official bank.” This allows the Charlotte, N.C., entity to use the NFL shield and other NFL properties, such as the Super Bowl logo, in its advertising campaigns. Bank of America is also the “official bank” of MLB, and has marketing partnerships with NASCAR and the United States Olympic Committee. In other words, the bank spends millions upon millions of dollars being associated with sports.

The NFL deal, along with recent sponsor announcements for the NBA’s seven-game European preseason tour, is an indication that Corporate America has no hesitancy in continuing to pour money at record levels into the sports industry — except for one bump.

Last week General Motors opted out of its multiyear, multimillion dollar marketing partnership with the United States Olympic Committee following the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is estimated that GM budgeted $50 million on advertising for the 2008 Summer Olympics and had spent $50 million on the 2006 Winter Games in Turin.

GM’s decision apparently had nothing to do with any sports-related problems. GM — the nation’s third largest television sponsor — thought it could spend its advertising dollars more efficiently in other areas than on a 17-day event that has seen a viewer drop-off over the years.

GM, which has been going through an economic slump, still has a great TV sports presence as its Buick division is a marketing partner of the PGA. Another division, Pontiac, is tied into a deal with the NCAA, and a third division, Chevrolet, has a partnership with MLB and NASCAR. GM is leaving the Olympics but certainly not sports. And even though GM is pulling money from the USOC, the Hershey Company announced on Monday that it was entering the Olympic fray, signing a one-year deal worth more than $1 million as an “official supplier” sponsor for the USOC. It does seem likely that a company will replace GM by the time the 2010 Winter Olympics takes place in Vancouver.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile unit has decided to continue its reported annual $18 million backing of its Tour de France cycling team through 2010, despite recent doping scandals. Although the Discovery Channel decided to withdraw its sponsorship of a Tour de France team last February, T-Mobile’s renewed commitment to cycling may make it easier to form new teams and get other sponsors. In fact, on Monday, an Australian Internet entrepreneur, Tony Smith, announced that he was forming a cycling team that would compete in the 2009 Tour de France.

If cycling can get money, then the NBA shouldn’t have any problems keeping its marketing partners and if the past two weeks are any indication, the NBA is doing just fine.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, who got the news that former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pled guilty yesterday, is watching big money flowing into the league. Officials in Orlando and Orange County, Fl., have approved a $1.1 billion dollar expenditure on an arena for Richard DeVos’s team, the Magic, a performing arts center, and a renovation of the Citrus Bowl.

NBA Europe Live has lined up about 20 sponsors for seven preseason games in October. The NBA will stage matches in Istanbul, Turkey; Rome and Treviso, Italy; Malaga and Madrid, Spain, and London. A Boston-Minnesota pre-season game in London on October 10th is a sellout. EA Sports, Coca-Cola, Champion, Adidas, Spalding, and Kentucky Fried Chicken all have no problem being associated with NBA Europe Live. KFC officials in the early part of this decade were going to pay for the naming rights of a proposed Louisville arena that could have been the home of Leslie Alexander’s Houston Rockets, George Shinn’s New Orleans Hornets, or Michael Heisley’s Vancouver Grizzlies, but all three opted not to move to Louisville.

Companies like the Bank of America and Coca-Cola are more interested in reaching sports consumers and those consumers are flocking to games in huge numbers. The companies also want to hit the 18–34 male demographic, the people they think are most interested in games, and the hardest advertising demographic to reach. Scandals may rock the sports world, but the big money people — marketers, luxury box and club seat holders — tend to look the other way and want their entertainment. Until that attitude changes, the sports-corporate marketing partnerships will continue to thrive.

evanjweiner@yahoo.com