ESPN Confirms That It’s OK To Like Michael Vick

It may not have the impact of the Kim Kardashian wedding photos with new husband and NBA player Kris Humphries.

ESPN the Magazine will seek to reach casual and other football fans with its new issue, which it says is the first one it has “dedicated to one athlete” – Michael Vick.

The issue, which also features a preview of the 2011 NFL season, includes such articles as: “There is No Middle Ground” (Say what you want about Vick. He got you talking), “The View from Within” (An exclusive behind-bars look at Inmate No. 33765-183), “A Player’s Coach” (The Eagles’ head man explains why he decided to take a gamble on No. 7 by Andy Reid) and “What if Michael Vick Were White?”

Vick, of course also appears on the cover. Which may or may not be a disappointment to those people seeking to add to their Kardashian-Humphries collection.

Dollar General Unveils Nascar Sprint Cup Campaign

In what Nascar is calling the first national retail program around the Chase for the Nascar Sprint Cup, Dollar General will launch a campaign offering customers the chance to win more than 9,000 prizes including free gas for a year, Visa prepaid cards, a trip to Las Vegas and $250,000.

Dollar General is an official partner of the Chase.

The “Race in to Win” sweepstakes will run Aug. 28- Nov. 12, 2011. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be the lead spokesman for marketing activation in stores, online and on national radio.

According to Steve Phelps, CMO for Nascar, “Nascar fans are among the most brand-loyal fans in all of sports . . . We’ve found the Nascar bar mark is a key differentiator at retail in terms of purchasing behavior and we couldn’t think of a better partner than Dollar General to deliver the first-ever Chase-themed retail program.”

Full details here.

Monster, Coors Lite Join MMA ProElite In Hawaii

ProElite, Inc. has signed deals with Monster, Inc. and Coors Light to become presenting sponsors for the MMA event in Hawaii on Aug. 27.

Financial details were not released.

The card features former UFC Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski and Ray Lopez as the main event. Undercards include Ultimate Fighter 3 winner Kendall Grove vs. MMA veteran Joe Riggs and local favorite Raquel Pa’aluhi vs. Sarah McMann.

“Having two major companies as presenting sponsors of our first fight is a significant step forward with the newly rebranded ProElite,” Billy Kelly, president and COO of ProElite, said in a statement “I’m excited at the prospect of future sponsor support for all our fights going forward.”

ProElite said that Saturday’s fight card would be streamed live from Neal S. Blaisdell Arena on Sherdog.com.