With plenty of sauce, chicken and football go together
By Troy Phillips, www.HeartofDallasBowl.com
For some reason, chicken and football go together, as long as you have plenty of sauce.
Chick and kick paired well on Friday while Louisiana Tech defeated Illinois 35-18 to win the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl. Tech put on a show on both sides of the ball with big scoring plays and a bruising pass rush to bring a large contingent from Ruston, La., to its feet for a final ovation and trophy-raising.
In another successful Heart of Dallas Bowl debut, first-year title sponsor Zaxby's came aboard at the behest of ESPN Events for the game's fifth year and helped honor local first responders. For the first time, Zaxby's put its name on a college postseason game, this one at the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium in Fair Park.
It shapes up to be good business for the growing Georgia-based chicken tender chain that has but four locations in Dallas-Fort Worth but 640 nationally.
For ESPN Events, which owns and operates the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl, nailing down a new title sponsor was the first step in long-term stability. Zaxby's current deal as sponsor is for multiple years but could be extended along the way.
“As a company, it was a smart move for us,” Zaxby's operations/sales manager Nick Petrocci said. “When this was presented to us [by ESPN], it made sense. The cherry on top was honoring the first responders. We put hundreds of thousands of dollars toward fund-raising efforts each year. We want to establish good relationships in any market we are currently in.”
Petrocci said Zaxby's is heavily involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in a number of its markets.
The Heart of Dallas charitable foundation, which became associated with the bowl two years ago, was able to continue it work through the game and other local sporting events with the help of potential greater commercial investment by Zaxby's.
“Everything Zaxby's does to put around our game, it's exciting,” Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl executive director Brant Ringler said. “They've been a great title sponsor, feeding our teams and everything else they've got going on for us.”
ESPN Events, which owns and operates 11 bowls televised on various network platforms during its pre- and post-Christmas “Bowl Mania,” received a financial/marketing boost for one of its fledgling bowls.
“We view all of our events with a long-term eye,” ESPN Events senior vice president Pete Derzis said. “We've laid a great foundation after the first five years to allow this game to be functional and sustainable.”
Derzis said getting to see a number of bowls in the ESPN Events stable “get to double-digit years has been fun.”
Petrocci said that when ESPN's proposal that Zaxby's become title sponsor literally came across an official's desk in the company's marketing department, that ESPN's name was on it made the idea even more palatable.
“We had opportunities for other bowl games,” Petrocci said of joining up with ESPN. “It was something we were already looking to explore, but it got our attention. We have a lot of the same core values as the Heart of Dallas. We're enjoying this and excited to be here.”
Troy Phillips is a Fort Worth-based freelance writer and former reporter and copy editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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Originally Posted by HogDawg
