THE DEAL
General Mills Inc. signs as official corporate sponsor of D.C. United
ESTIMATED VALUE/LENGTH
$75,000-$100,000/One year
DEAL MAKERS
Steve Greer, promotions manager, General Mills; Skip Kruger, director of corporate sales, D.C. United
KEY ELEMENTS
Sponsorship will promote General Mills' new Go-Gurt portable yogurt product.
Field signs (in camera view) at RFK Stadium.
Product sampling at 12 to 15 community events, including youth clinics, tournaments, soccer camps and grassroots programs.
Title sponsorship of interactive soccer game at pregame Soccer Celebration event.
Title sponsorship of one United game, including premium item giveaway and exit sampling of Go-Gurt.
Title sponsorship of "Goal Explosion" celebration. After each United goal, rubber balls with the Go-Gurt logo are thrown into stands.
BACKGROUND
Go-Gurt is a new product for General Mills' Yoplait division. It's a portable yogurt in a tube, so a spoon is not needed. General Mills' primary competitor in the cereal business, Kellogg Co., is an MLS official sponsor.
The sponsorship with General Mills helped D.C. United exceed the $1 million mark in sponsorship sales, a 35 percent increase over last year. New sponsors for the 2000 season include Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, Discovery Communications, TLC Laser Eye Centers, Crest Cleaners, Keebler Co. and the George Washington University Health Plan.
ANALYSIS
Sports marketing shows its value in deals like this one. For a relatively small amount, General Mills gets strong sampling opportunities with the primary target audience for its new product. For the sponsor, this deal is easy to manage, can deliver measurable results and is an excellent way to support a new product launch. D.C. United leverages its most valuable asset, its fan base, to create a deal that will deliver sales results for its sponsor. It's simple but bound to be one of the more effective promotions for the sponsor and the team.
OTHER NEW DEALS
American Express signed on as a corporate partner of the Executive Women’s Golf Association. As corporate leadership partner, American Express will help the association provide leadership training sessions in 30 cities and will host leadership meetings at 15 sectional events. ISL Worldwide signed Newsweek as the global presenting sponsor for the Tennis Masters Series, part of the ATP Tour. The three-year agreement ends in 2002. DuPont CoolMax signed on as a supporting sponsor of Team Devo, a coed junior developmental mountain bike/cycling team. Team members will wear jerseys from Canari Cycle Wear made of DuPont’s CoolMax fabric. Great Clips Inc. entered into a sponsorship agreement with NASCAR driver Christian Elder for a second season. Tenneco Automotive signed on as title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Detroit scheduled for June 16-18 on Belle Isle. The race is part of the CART 2000 FedEx Championship Series. PickupTruck.com agreed to sponsor the No. 88 race truck driven by Terry Cook in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. PickupTruck.com is an online community for pickup truck enthusiasts.Sources: Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal research and GolfWeek
