Knoxville-based Pilot Flying J has signed a four-year deal to "become the official travel center of the SEC," according to Michael Smith of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Ad buys on SEC Network and ESPN's college football broadcasts "are built into the agreement." Pilot will be the presenting sponsor of SEC Net's "SEC Nation" pregame show "on three occasions throughout the 2017 season." The brand also will "activate in the SEC FanFare at both the football championship game in Atlanta and the men's basketball tournament in Nashville." The move comes after Pilot "bought its first major sports sponsorship last year" to be the title sponsor of the Tennessee-Virginia Tech Battle at Bristol. Charlotte-based Bespoke Sports & Entertainment worked with Pilot on the SEC/ESPN deal (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/10 issue). In Knoxville, Jim Gaines noted neither Pilot nor ESPN revealed financial terms of the agreement, but a release "referred to it as a multimillion-dollar deal." It is the "biggest sports sponsorship Pilot has made in the company's nearly 60-year history" (Knoxville NEWS SENTINEL, 7/11).
