MIAMI – October 7, 2013 – Burger King Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: BKW) announced today that Burger King Corp. has entered a three-year partnership with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Through this partnership, the BURGER KING® brand becomes the official quick service restaurant partner of the NCAA® brand. As an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA®, the BURGER KING® brand will join forces to connect with fans through a year-round marketing program with sponsorships of all 89 college sports championships, including the NCAA® Men’s Final Four.
“By partnering with the NCAA®, we will join in the brand’s commitment to education and college athletics creating a national and local marketing platform that truly connects our two iconic brands with the fans that love them,” said Eric Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer, North America, Burger King Worldwide. “We are inspiringly passionate about great food and quality service. The goal is to embed the BURGER KING® brand in the fan excitement surrounding NCAA® March Madness® championship and the other 89 NCAA® championships.”
“BURGER KING® is one of the most recognized national and global quick service restaurant brands in the food service industry, and we’re excited they’ve decided to join our Corporate Champion and Partner family in support of NCAA® student-athletes and NCAA® championships,” said Keith Martin, managing director of NCAA® championships and alliances.
“Top brands continue to partner with the NCAA®, Turner Sports and CBS Sports for exclusive access to 89 NCAA® championships, which includes the Final Four,” Martin continued. “We look forward to BURGER KING® brand’s participation in our corporate partner family and its commitment to education and college athletics.”
The corporate partnership includes media, merchandising and on-site event opportunities, and allows the BURGER KING® brand the ability to utilize all NCAA® trademarks and logos. The partnership will kick off this fall with local franchisees gearing up to activate programs across the nation. This deal was brokered by Starcom USA, BURGER KING® restaurants media buying and planning agency.
“BURGER KING® brand is a perfect fit for the NCAA®, reaching millions of BURGER KING® guests each day who share a passion for food and collegiate athletics across 23 sports, 89 championships and over 800 sites around the country each year,” said Will Funk, senior vice president of NCAA® partnerships and branded programming within Turner Sports Ad Sales. “We couldn’t be more excited to have them join our roster of outstanding brands and look forward to building a unique activation plan that resonates with fans nationwide.”
“BURGER KING® brand’s extensive franchisee network and guest base is clearly passionate about great food and quality service, just as fans of intercollegiate athletics are deeply connected to and engaged with the schools they support,” said Chris Simko, senior vice president, CBS Sports Sales and Marketing. “We are excited to launch this partnership between BURGER KING®, the NCAA®, CBS and Turner, providing more frequent NCAA® championship interaction for these audiences across more touch points than ever before.”
BURGER KING® brand will have a customized, national TV campaign surrounding the NCAA® Men’s Basketball Tournament airing on TNT, TBS, truTV and CBS as well as a comprehensive digital campaign on March Madness Live®, NCAA.com, Bleacher Report and CBSSports.com.
As part of the 14-year multi-media agreement with the NCAA®, CBS and Turner Sports are licensed and collaborate on the NCAA® corporate marketing program.
About Burger King Worldwide
Founded in 1954, Burger King Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: BKW) is the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the world. The original HOME OF THE WHOPPER®, the BURGER KING® system operates in over 13,000 locations serving more than 11 million guests daily in 89 countries and territories worldwide. Approximately 99 percent of BURGER KING® restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. To learn more about Burger King Worldwide, please visit the company’s website at www.bk.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 450,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola—and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—Allstate, Buffalo Wild Wings, Burger King, Buick, Enterprise, Infiniti, LG, Lowe’s, Nabisco, Northwestern Mutual, Reese’s (Hershey’s), Unilever and UPS.
NCAA, March Madness, Final Four, Women’s Final Four and College World Series are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
About CBS
CBS Sports, a year-round leader in television sports, broadcasts a portfolio of events on the CBS Television Network, including the NFL’s American Football Conference; THE NFL TODAY; college basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; golf, including The Masters® and PGA Championship; college football, including the SEC ON CBS; the U.S. Open Tennis Championships; CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR, including track & field, auto racing and gymnastics. In addition, the division directs the CBS College Sports Network, a 24-hour national cable network; produces Inside the NFL for Showtime; and partners with CBS Sports.com in creating a recognized leader among sports Internet destinations.
About Turner Sports
Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is an industry leader in the delivery of premium sports content across all multimedia screens. Turner Sports’ television coverage includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, NASCAR and professional golf. The company also manages some of the most popular sports destinations across broadband and mobile platforms including Bleacher Report and its top-rated Team Stream app, NCAA.com and the critically-acclaimed NCAA March Madness Live suite of products, PGA.com and the Sports Emmy Award-winning PGA Championship LIVE, as well as an accompanying collection of mobile sites and connected device apps. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, a robust collection of offerings including NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA Mobile, the NBA Game Time App, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.
Visit the Turner Sports online pressroom for additional press materials; follow Turner Sports on Twitter at @TurnerSportsPR.
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CONTACT:
Brooke Scher Mogan, 212-230-1800 brooke@alisonbrodpr.com
ALISON BROD PUBLIC RELATIONS bk@alisonbrodpr.com
Gail Dent, NCAA, 317-917-6117 gdent@ncaa.org
Jenn Toner, Turner, 212-275-6642 jenn.toner@turner.com
Jen Sabatelle, CBS
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