Rally’s Hamburgers has signed a five-year deal to become an official sponsor of University of Louisville athletics.
The deal, struck with Louisville, Ky.-area Rally’s franchisees, is considered a major sponsorship for the school’s athletics department and carries an annual low-six-figure cash commitment, said those involved in the deal.
Dave Miller, president of the Louisville-area Rally’s franchise co-op and owner of 26 Rally’s franchises, 20 of which are in Louisville, declined to provide specific financial figures. Officials from Nelligan Sports Marketing, Louisville’s multimedia marketing rights holder, which brokered the deal, also declined to comment on specifics. Sources familiar with such agreements, though, estimated the total value of the deal to be at least $1 million over the term of the agreement.
The sponsorship came together over the last 30 to 60 days and includes signs throughout Louisville’s athletics venues; advertising during radio broadcasts of football, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball games, as well as weekly coaches’ shows; and tickets for various sports, Miller said. Rally’s also will receive rights to use Louisville athletics marks for promotions.
Miller expects to run promotions such as “Cardinal Combos” and make 44-ounce Cardinals-themed cups available in the Louisville franchises. Ticket promotions for premium seats and season tickets also will be created as a way to jointly drive traffic to Rally’s and promote Louisville athletics. Plans to include Rally’s coupons on the backs of tickets are in the works.
Rally’s, owned by Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc., was founded in Louisville but now is headquartered in Tampa. The fast-food chain joins a Louisville sponsor roster that includes Pepsi, Kroger, Thornton Oil and O’Charley’s restaurants.
