Nike Dominates, Others Look to Share the Wealth 

during College Football's Bowl Season

         ANN ARBOR, MI, December 14, 2009 – With the college football bowl season getting underway this coming weekend, you can count jersey makers among those who will be watching with great interest.  In the competitive world of sports apparel and branding, bowl games provide a unique national television platform for logo placement—and millions of dollars of exposure annually.

        According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc., which specializes in measuring the scope of sponsorships across all forms of media, Nike’s swoosh logo appeared clear and in-focus for a total of six hours, three minutes, five seconds (6:03:05) during 22 bowl game telecasts monitored by the firm last bowl season.  When comparing the in-broadcast exposure to the advertising cost of reaching a similar audience during each respective telecast, and applying Joyce Julius Recognition Grading (RG)—which takes into account such factors as size and placement of the image on screen, the amount of branding clutter, and the level of integration—Nike secured a bowl-season exposure value totaling $46.3 million.

        Nike, the leading collegiate apparel manufacturer, saw its sponsored teams fill eight of the coveted 10 BCS slots last year, including Florida and Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game.  Also getting into the act were Under Armour with $2.6 million of in-broadcast exposure value (Utah/Sugar Bowl—6:58) and Adidas with a $2 million windfall (Cincinnati/Orange Bowl—5:53).

        This year, Nike once again will outfit eight of the BCS teams. Cincinnati will take the field in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, clad in Adidas gear, while Russell Athletic jerseys will be worn by Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl on January 5.  Under Armour will be shut out of the BCS after making its first-ever appearance last year.

        On average, apparel manufacturers reap about 18% of their total television time during a college football bowl game from logos worn by the head coach.  Of the 10 head coaches in BCS games last year, Texas’ Mack Brown—the game’s highest paid coach beginning in 2010—was the top attention grabber of the elite group, securing 3:59 and $2.2 million of in-broadcast exposure value for Nike during the Fiesta Bowl telecast on Fox.

2009 BCS Coaches’ Television Exposure Results:

Coach/School Brand  Game Exposure Time RG Exposure Value
#1   Brown/Texas Nike Fiesta 3:59 $2,200,000
#2   Beamer/Va. Tech Nike Orange 3:09 1,600,000
#3   Stoops/Oklahoma Nike BCS Champ. 2:54 2,900,000
#4   Meyer/Florida Nike BCS Champ. 2:42 2,700,000
#5   Tressel/Ohio St. Nike Fiesta 1:40 916,000
#6   Whittingham/Utah Under Armour Sugar 1:35 871,000
#7   Carroll/USC Nike Rose 1:19 856,000
#8   Saban/Alabama Nike Sugar 1:05 596,000
#9   Kelly/Cincinnati Adidas Orange 0:39 325,000
#10 Paterno/Penn St. Nike Rose 0:09 97,500

About Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc.:

         Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. is the sports and entertainment industry leader in accurate measurement and evaluation of sponsorships and promotional programs.  Joyce Julius’ fully customizable, third party research is highlighted by in-broadcast television exposure monitoring, full media impact measurements, and fan/consumer perception analyses.

         The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based firm—which monitors more than 2,500 nationally televised sports and special event programs annually—has been measuring the impact of corporate sponsorships across all forms of media since 1985.  These forms of media include national and regional event television broadcasts, television highlight and news programming, event radio, print media, Internet articles, along with exposure stemming from promotions and advertising, as well as event on-site elements.

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