Bobcats on board with US Airways sponsorship
The Charlotte Bobcats have landed a three-year sponsorship with US Airways Group Inc.
It’s the NBA club’s first partnership in the airline category.
The team declines to comment on the value of the deal, but an industry source values it at six figures annually.
US Airways (NYSE:LCC) already enjoys a commanding presence in Charlotte, where it operates the largest of its three hubs. With the Bobcats’ sponsorship, the carrier will be the official airline of the team and of Time Warner Cable Arena, the team’s home building.
In addition, the deal calls for display of the airline’s brand on signs beneath the arena’s center-hung scoreboard and on the basketball goal pole pads, digital displays on LED ribbon boards and on-court promotions.
Part of the US Airways’ ticket counter at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport will be rebranded with a combination of the airline and team logos and the words “Dream Team,” says Fred Whitfield, the team’s president and chief operating officer.
The Bobcats had a small trade deal with American Airlines in 2006-07, in which the team provided club-seat tickets in return for airline vouchers to use in promotions.
The Bobcats’ deal follows sports marketing relationships US Airways has forged in its two other hub cities, Phoenix and Philadelphia. The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline owns the naming rights to the NBA’s Phoenix Suns’ downtown arena and has a smaller deal in place with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center.
US Airways Center in Phoenix was known as America West Arena after that airline paid $26 million over 30 years to name the facility when it opened in 1992 free business cards. It changed names in 2005 after US Airways bought America West and signed a new, 10-year deal with the Suns.
In other sports, US Airways has deals with NFL teams in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Phoenix tied to developing themed airplanes with their logos and colors. Those partnerships include stadium signs in those markets.
The Bobcats’ deal is to be announced Wednesday at the Charlotte airport.
In a separate sponsorship, the Bobcats organization has signed a three-year marketing partnership with Horizon Eye Care to become the official team ophthalmologist of the Bobcats.
The deal provides Horizon Eye Care with a full-page color advertisement in the team’s game program, in-arena recognition on the LED boards, digital presence on bobcats.com, e-mail marketing opportunities, radio advertisements and co-branding in a public-awareness campaign about glaucoma.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
“Horizon has been Charlotte’s leader in eye care for decades now because they take care of their patients the right way,” Whitfield says. “As we continue to forge partnerships with business leaders in this community, local companies continue to look to us as a platform for delivering their message to an ever-growing market of Bobcats fans.”
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