The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) has signed a letter of intent to invest in and form a marketing partnership with College Sports Television, the first television network devoted exclusively to college sports, which launches tonight. Dedicated to offering the widest variety of college athletics, CSTV will provide the most in-depth sports coverage of 1,200 universities and colleges across all of the major conferences at every level of college sports.
The proposed $15 million deal with Coca-Cola includes a $10 million equity stake and $5 million to be dedicated to integrated marketing and promotional activities that may include advertising, special events, retail and consumer marketing, out-of-home entertainment and other initiatives.
‘Our partnership with Coca-Cola will enable us to provide more value to our affiliates, viewers and programming partners,’ said Brian Bedol, president and CEO, College Sports Television. ‘Coca-Cola’s national presence and deep roots in the college market will be a tremendous asset as we build the network into the ultimate home of college sports.’
‘Consistent with our long-term support of college sports, student athletes and the NCAA, we are pleased to announce our partnership role in College Sports Television,’ said Chuck Fruit, senior vice president, Worldwide Media and Alliances, The Coca-Cola Company. ‘In addition to our equity investment, we will work closely with the network management team in developing new and nontraditional joint marketing opportunities, combining the vision and expertise of CSTV with Coca-Cola’s reach, distribution and network of consumer connections.’ As part of the deal, Fruit will serve as a member of CSTV’s Board of Directors.
With long-term programming and marketing agreements with 27 Division I athletic conferences – including the Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Ivy League, Sun Belt and Atlantic 10 – CSTV will televise live regular season and championship events across a broad spectrum of men’s and women’s college sports, including football, basketball, baseball, soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse.
As part of the deal, CSTV and Coca-Cola expect to develop new television programming, joint advertising and consumer marketing initiatives designed to reach the entire college athletic community, including fans, student athletes and millions of college alumni. The partners also will create new initiatives to complement Coca-Cola’s recently announced 11-year sponsorship of the NCAA and its 87 national championship events. Other programming will build upon existing Coca-Cola sports initiatives – such as ‘Footballtown USA’ and ‘Copa Coca-Cola’ – that tap into the passions of college sports fans and Coca-Cola consumers. In addition, Coca-Cola will use its consumer and trade network to create new opportunities for cable and satellite operators who carry the network.
In the first execution of this partnership, Coca-Cola will be the presenting sponsor of CSTV’s Sunday night block of Notre Dame sports programming premiering this fall.
College Sports Television was co-founded by President and CEO Brian Bedol, Chairman Stephen Greenberg and Executive Vice President Chris Bevilacqua. Bedol and Greenberg co-founded Classic Sports Network, which they sold to ESPN and is now ESPN Classic. Bevilacqua is a former senior executive with Nike Inc., where he headed the company’s successful foray into the college market. For more information on College Sports Television, log on to www.cstv.com.
The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world’s best-known brand, the Company markets four of the world’s top five soft drink brands, including diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light soft drinks, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees and sports drinks. Through the world’s largest distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company’s beverages at a rate exceeding 1 billion servings each day.
For more information contact:
Sonya Soutus
Director, Corporate Communications
T – (404) 676-2121
F – (404) 515-6428
pressinquiries@na.ko.com
Ben Deutsch
Director, Marketing Communications
T – (404) 676-2121
F – (404) 515-6428
pressinquiries@na.ko.com