CBS and PepsiCo's Frito Lay are the "two big beneficiaries"
of the new bowl alliance, as the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Tempe on
January 2 will decide the national championship, according to
Stefan Fatsis of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. "At least for this
year," the alliance "worked." Total sponsorship revenue for this
year's 19 bowl games is up 20%, according to IEG Sponsorship
Report, "compared with an 11% increase for the sports marketing
industry as a whole." Lynn Markley, a spokesperson for Frito
Lay, said the sponsorship was "a bet," but that the "cards fell
our way." CBS has virtually sold out ad time for the game and,
even after lowering some ad prices to $400,000 for 30-second
spots, the rates are "a huge increase" over the '95 Orange Bowl,
which also crowned a national champion. Media buyers believe the
high rates are due in part to the championship, but also because
the three alliance bowls will be go against other games. Joel
Segal, Exec VP/National Broadcasting at McCann-Erickson: "These
are high rates [but] we think they are going to get big
audiences." CBS has also packaged bowl games for some
advertisers and used other sports, including the NCAA Final Four,
in package deals. Ford Motor, for example, bought exclusive
automobile rights for its Ford division on the Fiesta and Orange
pregame. Joseph Abruzzese, CBS President/Network Sales: "We've
never had this kind of leverage" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/12).
