KFC Named Title Sponsor of 3rd World Cup of Softball

[Al's Fastball News]

Received: 5/8/07 11:27:19 AM 
From:  "Brian McCall" <bmccall(at)softball.org> 


Subject:  KFC Named Title Sponsor of 3rd World Cup of Softball
 

  



KFC Named Title Sponsor of 3rdWorld Cup of Softball



Oklahoma City, OK (May 8, 2007) -- The Amateur SoftballAssociation
of America (ASA) announced today that KFC has reached an agreementto
become the title sponsor of the 3rd World Cup of Softball inOklahoma
City, July 12-16 at ASA’s Hall of Fame Complex and an officialsponsor
of the ASA’s grassroots softball programs.

 

The integrated sponsorship between KFC andASA names KFC the title
sponsor of the international event along with othermedia and
grassroots benefits including:

            

Integrated broadcast graphics and commercial exposure in each
telecast 
"KFC" branded vignettes each telecast 
Camera-visible event signage 
Title sponsorship and media rights to the inaugural men’s fast
pitch American Challenge Series to be played in conjunction with
the KFC World Cup of Softball and aired on ESPN2, July 22 at
1PM. 
Cross marketing opportunities between KFC and the three million
plus ASA registered softball players in the United States via
ASA’s print, online and video based media platforms 
Umbrella sponsorship of ASA’s youth national championship program
directly impacting over 2,000 girls’ fast pitch teams competing
at various National Championships across the United States  

 

“We proved last year thatwomen’s fast pitch softball continues
to grow as a televised property andthat the World Cup has established
itself as a premier event on the summer sportscalendar,” said
ASA’s Director of Marketing Kelly McKeown. “While our ability
to attract a critical mass on television remains a keyingredient
to our success, KFC recognizes and intends to activate ourpartnership
at the grassroots level with several exciting promotions gearedtowards
the millions of young ladies and their families that participate
in ASAsanctioned leagues and championship tournaments each year.”
       

"Thepartnership between KFC and the 3rd World Cup of Softball
is going to be a homerun for our brand," said James O'Reilly,
Chief Marketing Officer for KFC."It's a thrill to be associated
with some of the world's best athletes anda dream come true to
sponsor 'America's Real Dream Team' -- USA Softball."

The KFC World Cup of Softball features thetop women’s fast pitch
teams in the world including the defendingchampion, USA Softball,
along with 2005 World Cup Champion Japan, andwomen’s national
teams from ChinaCanada, Venezuela and Dominican Republic.

 

The ESPN networks are the exclusive domestic home of the KFC
World Cupof Softball and feature over 12 hours of live coverage
on ESPN and ESPN2highlighted by multiple prime time windows including
the Championship Game onMonday, July 16 at 9 PM ET.  The complete
domestic ESPN air schedule isbelow:


Date                                        Game            
                         Time(Eastern)          Network
Thursday, July 12                    USA vs. Venezuela      
           7:00PM                      ESPN
Friday, July 13                        USA vs. China        
                8:00PM                      ESPN  
Saturday, July 14                     USA vs. Dominican Republic
1:00 PM                      ESPN2
Saturday, July 14                     USA vs. Japan         
               8:00PM                      ESPN2
Sunday, July 15                       USA vs. Canada        
             1:00PM                      ESPN
Monday, July 16                      ChampionshipGame       
       9:00PM                      ESPN2

Sunday, July 22                       USA vs. Japan         
               1:00PM                      ESPN2



The worldwide telecast syndication schedule will be released
in thecoming weeks and currently includes coverage in over 150
countries and severalnon-US games highlighted by the battle between
Chinaand Japanscheduled for Sunday night, July 15th.  

KFC World Cup of Softball
The KFC World Cup of Softball, a six-team tournament sanctioned
by theInternational Softball Federation (ISF), will feature the
best fast pitchsoftball players in the world competing for their
respective national teams. Thesix teams invited to participate
in the event will compete in pool play fromJuly 12-15. The top
two teams from pool play will be seeded into the Championship
Gameon July 16 while the remaining teams battle for third through
fifth placerespectively.  Japandefeated the United States toclaim
the inaugural Championship in 2005 while the United States claimed
the 2006Championship.  

About KFC
KFC Corporation, based in Louisville Ky., is the world's most
popularchicken restaurant chain specializing in Original Recipe®,
ExtraCrispy™ and Colonel's Crispy Strips® with home-style sides,
Honey BBQWings, and freshly made chicken sandwiches. There are
more than 14,000 KFCoutlets in more than 80 countries and territories
around the world, servingsome 12 million customers each day.
KFC Corporation is a subsidiary of Yum!Brands, Inc., Louisville,
Ky. (NYSE: YUM.) 

ABOUT THE ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National
GoverningBody of softball in the United States and a member of
the United StatesOlympic Committee. The ASA has become one of
the nation’s largest sportsorganizations and now sanctions competition
in every state through a network of87 local associations. The
ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the earlydays to over
230,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than threemillion.
For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com.

ABOUT WINNERCOMM
Winnercomm, Inc. is America’slargest independent sports production,
program development, marketing servicesand sales representation
company with offices in TulsaDallas, New YorkChicago and Nashville.
 Winnercomm-producedtelecasts have won 14 Emmy Awards.  The company
produces over 1,000 hoursof programming annually for ESPN and
13 other networks and owns thehigh-flying Skycam that has produced
the uniqueoverhead shots on ABC's Monday Night Football and ESPN's
Sunday NightFootball.  Winnercomm programming includes horse
racing (NTRA),professional rodeo (PRCA Wrangler National Finals
Rodeo, Wrangler ProRodeoWinter and Summer Tours, Pace Picante
Finales, Dodge Xtreme Bulls), soccer(MLS, U.S. Soccer), softball
(ASA, USA Softball, World Cup of Softball) bowling(Denny’s PBA
Tour), lacrosse (MLL), cheerleading and dance (VarsityBrands),
golf (LPGA, Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational), snowmobile
and ATVracing (PowerSports Entertainment), hunting, sporting
dogs, adventure andoriginal entertainment.



For more information contact:

Kelly McKeown, ASA’s Director ofMarketing

405-425-3422 or kmckeown at softball.org

 

Jeff Rhoton, Winnercomm Sports; SoftballGM

918-281-4453 or jrhoton at winnercomm.com 

 

Rick Maynard, KFC Public Relations
502-874-8100 or Rick.Maynard at yum.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Al's Fastball News
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