Angry Birds Creators Ink First Sports Partnership In Deal With Eagles; Eye More NFL Markets

The Eagles yesterday announced a partnership with Finland-based Rovio Entertainment, the creators of the "Angry Birds" game. The deal is Rovio's first global sports sponsorship (Eagles). In Philadelphia, Fernandez & Kanaley note the Eagles will “use the bird characters to connect with fans, and Rovio will test the football market with an iteration of its current game, perhaps with an eye toward taking it to other NFL markets.” Eagles Senior VP/Business Ari Roitman said the Angry Birds is a "perfect brand fit." Roitman was “not prepared to talk about an Eagles video game component, but he said more details would be available as football season nears.” An Eagles official said that the team “will produce original videos using the bird characters to be played at Lincoln Financial Field during games.” The team yesterday “posted four of the Angry Birds characters wearing helmets on its Facebook page” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/14).