The Penguins announced a three-year sponsorship deal
Tuesday with Pittsburgh-based Mellon Bank for advertising at
Civic Arena, according to Tom Barnes of the PITTSBURGH POST-
GAZETTE. Penguins CEO J. Garvin Warden praised the bank for
helping the team "out of a big financial problem." Warden:
"Mellon deserves a lot of credit for stepping up to support
another Pittsburgh business, especially during this critical
period." Both Warden and Mellon Chair & CEO Martin McGuinn
"refused to say" how much the corporate signage agreement
with the bank was worth to the Penguins. Mellon receives:
its name on backdrops at team press conferences; 30-second
ads on the arena scoreboard; The Mellon name on two 80' x
40' murals on the ceiling; ads on 300 feet of rotating signs
on the arena's skybox facades and six backlit signs at
entrances to the seating sections on the D-level; Mellon
customers will also receive Penguins ticket discount offers
on the backs of their ATM receipts. Warden said the team
"is also discussing other marketing projects with Mellon"
(PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/9). The TRIBUNE-REVIEW's
Suzanne Elliott puts the three-year deal worth a total of
"more than" $1M (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 12/9).
