Virgin Mobile USA Becomes First Arenabowl Eentitlement Sponsor
June 23, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release
NEW YORK - The Arena Football League announced today a partnership with Virgin Mobile USA, a leading provider of wireless services without annual contracts, designating the organization as the Exclusive Wireless Communication Partner of the 2008 AFL playoffs and title sponsor of ArenaBowl XXII New Orleans. Terms of the agreement were not announced.
The agreement marks the first time in League history that the entitlement of its championship game has been secured. The game will be referred to as "Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII" in all League communications. The partnership is Virgin Mobile USA's first sports marketing agreement and includes the company's first media buy on ESPN.
"Virgin Mobile is a brand with a finger on the pulse of our most loyal fan base, the young sports fan. We're thrilled to have a mobile presence with a brand that will allow our fans a new way to support their favorite team," said AFL President and Deputy Commissioner, ED POLICY. "This is a perfect association allowing both the AFL and Virgin Mobile USA to reach our target audiences."
"This is an exciting new opportunity for us to work with another established and celebrated category challenger. We share with AFL a brand identity as an affordable provider of real value - in our case, wireless services, with AFL, sports and entertainment," said Bob Stohrer, Chief Marketing Officer for Virgin Mobile USA. "Virgin Mobile USA looks at sponsorships as strategic partnerships, and AFL came to us with a broad multi-platform package that allows us to quickly build a meaningful relationship with their fans around the country."
Virgin Mobile USA and the AFL will construct a custom-content text-to-vote Jumbotron promotion that will take place in the fourth quarter of all playoff games encouraging in-arena fans to participate. Traditional AFL branding, including a jersey patch, dasherboard signage and presence on all broadcasts throughout the 2008 AFL playoffs will be provided to Virgin Mobile USA. As the title sponsor of ArenaBowl XXII, Virgin Mobile USA will also be featured on a turf square and on-air for the championship game, Sunday, July 27 on ABC and ABC HD.
Virgin Mobile USA will provide ArenaBowl exposure on the company's popular cross-media mobile advertising platform, Sugar Mama, beginning on June 23. Sugar Mama, which allows Virgin Mobile USA customers to watch advertising content and earn free minutes in exchange, uses both the handset and the Web site to reach more than 760,000 opt-in customers.
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