Movie Cricket

If you want a bellwether of how the economy is going, look at the sponsorship announcement of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

The top tier of "presenting sponsors" remains intact — Entertainment Weekly, HP and Honda — though the Sundance Channel (last year listed as a "group partner") has been bumped up to the highest level.

It's on the second level, the "leadership sponsors," where there's a major change. American Express, DirecTV and Microsoft are all back. But YouTube/Google is gone, and Delta Airlines has left — to be replaced by Southwest Airlines.

"While we miss Delta, we are very fortunate to get Southwest as quickly as we did," Katie Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the Sundance Institute, told the Tribune's Paul Beebe.

Delta, which was a Sundance sponsor for six years, dropped out because the airline's marketing budget had been stretched after the acquisition of Northwest Airlines. "A lot has changed for Delta Air Lines, certainly with our much-increased network, with having many more locations that we have to cover and limited marketing [dollars]" said Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec.

In 2006, Delta relinquished the naming rights to the Utah Jazz' home court, the Delta Center — now known as EnergySolutions Arena.

On the third tier, the "sustaining sponsors," there are a few differences, too.

Returning are Blockbuster, the FilterForGood campaign by Brita and Nalgene (so everybody gets new sports bottles), L’Oréal Paris, Sony Electronics, Stella Artois beer, Timberland outdoor wear and the Utah Film Commission.

Missing from last year's "sustaining sponsors" are ActiVision, the "got milk?" campaign, The New York Times, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and Le Tourment Vert absinthe — leaving the festival without a high-level liquor or wine sponsor for the first time in two decades.