MIAMI (Reuters) – The NFL has signed a four-year agreement with Verizon Wireless to show live games and highlights on mobile phones in a deal U.S. media reported was worth $720 million.

“We are looking forward to working with Verizon Wireless to deliver our fans the most extensive experience on mobile phones,” said NFL senior vice president of media strategy Brian Rolapp in a statement.

“Our fans have an insatiable appetite for football and we will be able to keep them connected wherever they are on game day but also throughout the year.”

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Sunday’s Super Bowl TV audience set a viewing record for the annual National Football League Championship and eclipsed the 1983 benchmark set by the comedy “M*A*S*H” to become the most watched U.S. telecast, according to early ratings data on Monday.

A record 106.5 million American TV viewers watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday’s game, broadcast on CBS, Nielsen media and CBS said.

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CARLSBAD, Calif., (PRNewswire-FirstCall) – Callaway Golf Company and CBS Sports have reached a unique agreement that establishes the golf equipment manufacturer as a presenting sponsor of the Super Bowl Today pregame show on Sunday, February 7th. The partnership marks the first ever Super Bowl pregame sponsorship struck by a stand-alone golf company.

Occupying rarefied air time that commences less than an hour before kickoff, Callaway Golf® will employ its 5:00 – 5:30 PM EST sponsorship to showcase their 2010 product line, headlined by the company’s new Diablo Edge™ golf clubs. The Diablo Edge line, which includes drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons, arrives at retail on February 15th and has been receiving widespread acclaim, including five Gold Medals in Golf Digest’s February “Hot List” equipment issue, currently on newsstands.

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CHICAGO (Reuters) – CBS Corp has sold all the advertising spots for the television broadcast of the National Football League’s Super Bowl championship game this coming Sunday, the television network said on Monday.

CBS has come under fire in recent weeks from various groups for allowing a conservative Christian group to air an anti-abortion ad, and for barring a commercial from a dating site for gay men as inappropriate for prime time.

In early December, CBS had sold about 90 percent of the available commercial time for the Super Bowl, with prices for a 30-second spot running close to $3 million. The game typically includes 50 to 60 spots.

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Miami Gardens (PRNewswire) – The Miami Dolphins and the U.S. division of Sun Life Financial Inc. announced today a new multi-dimensional partnership that will result in the team playing in what is now called the ” Sun Life Stadium.” In addition to acquiring naming and sponsorship rights, which will be in effect for this year’s Pro Bowl and Super Bowl, Sun Life Financial, a leading international financial services organization, will make Miami and South Florida a major part of a multi-city philanthropic endeavor through an annual partnership with the Miami Dolphins Foundation.

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BALTIMORE (PRNewswire-FirstCall) – AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc., announced today the signing of Baltimore Ravens star Michael Oher as an endorser of the airline. The rookie offensive tackle will be featured in advertising across the Baltimore area.

“Michael Oher – a star on and off the field – is a true inspiration that we’re happy to have onboard the AirTran Airways team,” said Tad Hutcheson, vice president of marketing and sales for AirTran Airways. “Oher’s dedication to excellence is an attribute that our AirTran Airways Crew Members also embody.”

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether a lawsuit against the National Football League under federal antitrust law should go forward in a dispute over an exclusive licensing deal for sports merchandise.

In a closely watched case, the high court during the arguments seemed unlikely to issue a broad ruling sought by the NFL giving it immunity from such lawsuits and protecting professional sports leagues from antitrust scrutiny.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – CBS has sold about 90 percent of the available commercial time for the upcoming Super Bowl, with prices for a 30-second spot running close to $3 million, CBS Corp Chief Executive Les Moonves said on Tuesday.

Moonves said that Budweiser and Bud Light, owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, are top advertisers again this year, but that “a couple of new guys” are considering buying spots for CBS’s broadcast of the championship football game.

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CHICAGO (Reuters) – A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday Michael Vick can keep $16.2 million in bonuses that his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, sought to recover when he was imprisoned on a dog fighting conviction.

Vick, now a seldom-used backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, pleaded guilty in August 2007 to bankrolling a dog fighting ring and spent 18 months in jail.

Until Vick’s reinstatement earlier this season, the National Football League suspended him indefinitely without pay and initiated a grievance procedure allowing the Falcons to recover some of the bonus money he was paid.

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ATLANTA (PRNewswire-FirstCall) – AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc., and the Atlanta Falcons today launched a one-of-a-kind, custom-painted Boeing 717 in Falcons colors. The plane, dubbed Falcons 1, will operate across the company’s network of more than 60 destinations.

Falcons 1 marks the first time in the company’s history that an aircraft has been co-branded from nose to tail.

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