The Idaho Potato Commission has announced a "five-year extension of its sponsorship of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl," according to Sean Ellis of the CAPITAL PRESS. The IPC has sponsored the college football bowl game since '11 and will "continue to spend $450,000 a year for at least the next five years to remain its title sponsor." The IPC this year "commissioned a study by an independent group to determine the return on investment the commission gets from its sponsorship of the game." IPC President & CEO Frank Muir said that the study "put the media value of the sponsorship" at $13M annually. The contract the IPC negotiated with ESPN to sponsor the game "requires that every time the network mentions it, they have to refer to it by its full title -- 'Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.'" IPC board member Randy Hardy said that "leaves viewers with no doubt about which industry sponsors the game." Muir: "Most people don’t even know who the sponsor of the Rose Bowl or Cotton Bowl is. With our game, the title sponsor is in the name of the bowl." He added that the game, which this year aired on ESPN, "draws more than 2 million viewers per year and because everything about the game is centered around potatoes, those people watch what is essentially a four-hour infomercial about Idaho potatoes" (CAPITALPRESS.com, 12/26). Wyoming's win over Central Michigan in Friday's game drew 16,512 fans to Albertsons Stadium in Boise, marking the bowl's lowest figure since its first year in '97 (THE DAILY).
GETTING EYES ON YOUR BRAND: rEvolution Exec VP/Media & Business Development Larry Mann discussed bowl game sponsorships and said it "might be a good opportunity to get your brand out" by sponsoring one of the "lower-tier bowls." While cost factors into a company's decision, Mann noted with "people not watching commercials as much, it allows your brand to be on television." Mann: "You see some of the smaller companies that you ... haven’t heard of doing the lower-tier bowls rather than the bigger ones. ... You also have your logo on the field, there’s a lot of highlights that go out, so you’ll see your brand on the field." He noted geography can play a role in a company sponsoring a bowl as week, saying, "A lot of times if your brand is located in a particular region of the country, there’s a community piece that plays into it" ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 12/26).
