Papajohns.com Signs on as Title Sponsor of Inaugural Papajohns.com Bowl Game
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 2006--Papajohns.com, the popular online ordering site of Papa John's Pizza (NASDAQ: PZZA), has entered into a multi-year agreement as the title sponsor of the newly created Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., ESPN Regional Television announced today.
The inaugural Papajohns.com Bowl, an ERT owned and operated event, will be played Dec. 23 at Birmingham's Legion Field and will be televised by ESPN2 at 12 p.m. CT. The annual game will match a team from Conference USA against a bowl-eligible team from the BIG EAST Conference.
Bill Van Epps, Papa John's president, USA, said the sponsorship will further raise awareness and usage of the company's industry-leading online ordering site, www.papajohns.com. Papa John's, recognized as the quality and customer satisfaction leader in the pizza category, is also the leader in online pizza sales as the only national pizza chain to offer online ordering from all of its 2,500+ restaurants.
"Papajohns.com is pleased to be a part of this inaugural bowl game," Van Epps said. "More and more customers everyday are enjoying the benefits of online ordering, including football enthusiasts who want to plan ahead their orders for game day. Once they try it, we are confident football fans will want to order online at www.papajohns.com throughout the entire bowl season."
Mark Meadows, executive director of the Papajohns.com Bowl said: "We are pleased to partner with papajohns.com for the launch of this bowl game. Having a leading brand such as Papa John's associated with this event will greatly enhance our marketing efforts both regionally and nationally, allowing us to build this game into a first-class experience for fans and all participants."
Tickets to the Papajohns.com Bowl are first-come, first-served with the best seats going to fans who buy tickets early. Patrons who purchase seats this year will have the right to renew their seats year-after-year, reaping the benefits for years to come.
Tickets are only $30 each, or $20 each for patrons who purchase four or more tickets. Order online at www.papajohns.com/bowl, or by phone at (205) 996-6343. Corporate ticket packages are also available.
ESPN REGIONAL TELEVISION/EVENT OWNERSHIP
ESPN Regional Television (ERT) is the nation's largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming. ERT produces more than 900 sporting events annually, including football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events, which accounts for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rightsholder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. Big Ten, BIG EAST and the Big 12); as well as the marketing rightsholder for select schools (Kansas, Oregon and South Florida).
ESPN Regional Television owns, operates and markets several major sporting and Olympic events, including the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl, Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl, Ford MEAC/SWAC Challenge, the Old Spice Classic, O'Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic, Pape Jam, the Dick's Sporting Goods Spartan Clash, the ESPNU Invitational Series presented by ConocoPhillips and the ESPN National Golf Challenge.
PAPA JOHN'S
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's is the world's third largest pizza company with nearly 3,000 restaurants operating in 49 states and 25 countries. For seven years running, consumers have rated Papa John's no. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national QSR chains in the highly regarded American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com
PAPAJOHNS.COM
- Papa John's is the only national pizza chain with online ordering available from all of its U.S. restaurants.
- Papajohns.com features 24/7 plan-ahead ordering, allowing orders to be placed online up to 21 days in advance. (On Super Bowl Sunday, more than 3,000 customers executed plan-ahead orders at papajohns.com).
- A "repeat last order" function allows customers to enter their last order with only a few keystrokes.
- Papa John's recently made papajohns.com online ordering available in Spanish.
CONTACT: ESPN:
Robin Oliver,
205-322-5646 Ext. 103
Robin@BigCom.com
or
Christine Baumann,
407-566-2213
Christine.Baumann@espn.com
or
Papa John's:
Chris Sternberg,
502-261-4934
chris_sternberg@papajohns.com
SOURCE: Papa John's