Posted: April 28, 2006

Athletics: Sponsor activation takes center stage at USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA - With the nation's largest track meet at its mid-point at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field, USA Track & Field's sponsor/partners in corporate America are heightening their profile and promotional activities for the 2006 edition of USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays.

Nike, AT&T, Tyson Foods, and The Hershey Company are among the USATF sponsors who are part of the 112th edition of the three-day Penn Relays festival, which annually draws 110,000 spectators and 10,000 athletes - including Team USA's finest - to Philadelphia.

USA vs. The World marks the start of USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series and will be broadcast by NBC on Sunday from 5-6 p.m. Among the more than 50,000 spectators expected to attend Saturday's events will be many international fans as they watch their teams take on Team USA in relay competition. This year's international teams include Jamaica, Russia, China, Great Britain, Germany, Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, Canada and Finland.

The larger Penn Relays Carnival, which began in 1893, is older than the modern Summer Olympic Games and has a robust fan expo. The "carnival" atmosphere and foot traffic of 120,000 fans and athletes provides a unique atmosphere for fans and corporations alike.

"We look at this event as the launch pad for our outdoor season." said USATF Director of Marketing Ivan Cropper. "It really begins our sponsors' spring/summer activation activities. It is vital to us and to our sponsors that we put our best foot forward at USA vs. The World because of the Penn Relays' significance to our sport."

Among the corporate activities on tap in Philadelphia this year:

* The primary sponsor of USA vs. The World, Nike, has a huge presence at Penn. In addition to selling in-line gear and Penn Relays merchandise, Nike annually builds a Play Park adjacent to Franklin Field, where Philadelphia's youngsters can test their track skills and be exposed to the Nike brand. The Nike Play Park is staged on surfacing provided by Connor Sport Court, a USATF Supplier.

* USA Track & Field also maintains a large retail presence at the Penn Relays. With projected annual 2006 sales expected to approach $1 million, USATF merchandise sales see a strong boost at USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays. "The partnership with Nike and Penn Relays is a key part of our overall merchandise strategy," said Cropper.

* During the relays, some of Team USA's brightest young stars, including #1 world ranked 400-meter runner and Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards, Olympic gold medalist Monique Henderson and world champion hurdler Bershawn Jackson, are paying a visit to Hershey, Pa., meeting with USATF sponsor The Hershey Company and promoting Hershey's youth track initiative, the Hershey Games.

* The New AT&T, the title sponsor of the AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, is promoting its Cingular brand on-site at the Penn Relays fan expo with a product booth.

* USATF's newest sponsor, Tyson Foods, Inc., will host a "Powering Up With the Stars of Tomorrow" luncheon on Saturday, April 29, featuring world champion Lauryn Williams and indoor world record holder Wallace Spearmon speaking to local youth track runners. Tyson is sampling protein products at the fan expo throughout the Penn Relays.

* World champion sprinter and Olympic silver medalist Lauryn Williams, a native Pennsylvanian, will launch her breakfast cereal, Fast Flakes, at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 28, at the Dunning Center located trackside. Public Label Brands (PLB) Sports, makers of other cereals such as [Doug] Flutie Flakes and [Jerome] Bettis World Championship Crunch, honors Williams as the first woman in their 10-year existence to be named as a product spokesperson.

For more information on USA vs. The World, USA Track & Field and the Visa Championship Series, visit USATF.org.

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