DETROIT Little Caesars Enterprises said Wednesday it would become the new title sponsor of the college football bowl game formerly known as the Motor City Bowl.
The new bowl game, to be played in Detroit on Dec. 26 at 1 p.m., will now be known as the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
“We’re excited because Little Caesars will bring a lot to the bowl game, and we think the bowl game will bring a lot to Little Caesars,” said David Scrivano, president of Little Caesars.
The bowl game, which began 13 years ago, pits the champion of the Mid-American Conference, or MAC, against a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten conference. The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl will be televised on ESPN and will be the only football game in that time slot.
Though Detroit-based Little Caesars was founded in Michigan and has a strong presence in the Midwest, where the majority of the MAC and Big Ten teams are located, Scrivano said the point of buying the naming rights to the bowl game’s title sponsorship is national exposure. Little Caesars has thousands of restaurants in the United States, in all 50 states, Scrivano said, declining to offer a specific unit count. According to Nation's Restaurant News' annual Top 100 survey, Little Caesars had 2,515 U.S. locations at the end of 2008.
“This was an opportunity to turn the bowl game from a Midwestern event to a national event,” Scrivano said.
The brand also decided to rename the bowl, rather than become the main sponsor and keep the Motor City Bowl name.
“This is part of the trend in sponsorships and naming rights now,” Scrivano said. “Little Caesars has a national and international name recognition to it, and that will create lots of exposure for the bowl game. The national exposure is the driver for us. We’ll get it across the country, and our franchisees will appreciate seeing the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl when they open the local paper and see the bowl standings.”
Little Caesars’ national marketing committee, comprised of franchisees located throughout the country, voted unanimously to buy the naming rights to the bowl when Little Caesars was approached about a sponsorship.
Putting on the bowl game will involve several marketing facets, Scrivano said, including customer promotions, ticket discounts and events. The majority of promotions will be rolled out during November at the height of college football season, Scrivano said, and will include offers like a free-pizza-for-a-year contest, plus the chance to win tickets and accommodations to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and the Bowl Championship Series.
Another contestant will win Christmas Night dinner with two Michigan football coaching heroes, former University of Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and former Michigan State University coach George Perles, who serve on the board of directors for the bowl.
Several promotions will give customers the chance to win free or discounted tickets. Also, Little Caesars will host the competing teams and players with an outing to a Detroit Red Wings game and community service days aboard the brand’s mobile community kitchen, which serves food to Detroit-area homeless people.
Among other restaurant concepts with longtime bowl sponsorships are Papa John’s, Chick-fil-A and Outback.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].
