College football kickoff weekend on ESPN platforms delivers strong engagement for brands
Disney Advertising celebrates another year of robust sponsorship demand for college football with a lineup of more than 65 top-tier brands across numerous categories signing on for opportunities that include presenting sponsorships, integrations into live programming, entitlements, custom creative and other opportunities during the 2023-24 season.
“For Disney, the college football season represents the ‘unofficial start to the year’ in sports for our team and marks an incredible tentpole opportunity for brands to reach fans of all ages and demographics amid the backdrop of the most exciting matchups and unexpected game moments in live sports,” said Rita Ferro, President, Disney Advertising. “Disney’s unrivaled reach, powerful sports rights, and best-in-class technology platforms, provide advertisers turnkey access to our extensive college football portfolio and audiences in creative ways that engage and elevate the fan experience.”
College Football Brand Sponsors – By the Numbers:
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13 College Football Playoff Official Sponsors: AT&T, Allstate, Capital One, Chick-fil-A, Cheez-It, Dr Pepper, Gatorade, Goodyear, Mercedes-Benz, Modelo, Ram Trucks, Taco Bell and Vrbo are each returning as College Football Playoff Official Sponsors. Each brand will have a presence from kickoff through the CFP National Championship game.
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17 Newcomers: New to the action this year are 17 sponsors including Avocados from Mexico ®, IHG Hotels & Resorts and Signet (Zales), among others. Avocados from Mexico® is making a big splash as the newest sponsor of Tailgate Week on ESPN. During Week 7, the brand will welcome fans to its“Guacgating” program with custom branded advancers, with ESPN highlighting the great tailgating scenes at each Tailgate Week game across the country. IHG Hotel & Resorts has emerged as the presenting sponsor of the ESPN Prime window and Signet (Zales) is presenting the ESPN Noon window.
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48 Returners: Notable names returning for more fan-fueled games this year include Mercedes-Benz, Modelo and Vrbo among others. Mercedes-Benz has signed a new agreement reaffirming its College Football Playoff sponsorship and extending its position as an SEC Official Sponsor. In addition, this year Mercedes-Benz collaborated with ESPN to create a custom designed, Mercedes-Benz and ESPN College Football Sprinter Van that will travel to five college football game sites across the nation this year, including a stop at the College Football Playoff. ESPN’s Jen Lada will host a segment from the custom Sprinter Van at each stop that will air within ESPN’s College Game Day podcast. In their third year as the Official Beer Sponsor of the College Football Playoff, Modelo is going deeper with their Full Time Fan campaign, as they worked with ESPN to create a new and custom sponsorship surrounding overtime on ESPN platforms. Vrbo returns for its second year as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl entitlement sponsor and the Official Travel Sponsor of the College Football Playoff with a huge presence throughout the regular season. Additionally, the brand has collaborated with Disney CreativeWorks to develop custom content that will air throughout the season.
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65 all-encompassing sponsors to have presenting sponsorships, entitlements and features integrations throughout live programming: This season’s sponsors include 2Brand Apparel; 3BRAND; Aflac; Allstate; Apple; Arby’s; Ashley; AT&T 5G; Avocados From Mexico®; Behr Paint; Burger King; BMW; BWW; Camping World; Capital One; Cheez-It; Chick-fil-A; Cintas; Coke Zero; Coors Light; Cracker Barrel; Dave & Buster’s; Dell; Direct TV; DoorDash; Dot’s Pretzels; Duluth; Dunkin’; Duke’s Mayo; Dr Pepper; Eckrich; GEICO; Gillette; Goodyear; Guinness; IHG Hotels and Resorts; Invesco QQQ; Lexus; McDonald’s; Mercedes-Benz USA; Modelo; Nationwide; NFCU; Nissan; Old Dominion Freight Line; Old Trapper; PNC Bank; Papa John’s; Prudential; Progressive; Rain X; RAM Trucks; Royal Caribbean; Signets (Zales); SlingTV; State Farm; Taco Bell; The Home Depot; T-Mobile; Twisted Tea; USAA; Vrbo; Wendy’s Beef and Zillow.
Additionally, more than 280 advertisers, spanning 91 categories will have media placements throughout the duration of the season.
Disney continues to attract the most diverse and engaged audiences across its breadth of sports rights and programming, and ESPN platforms once again offer some of the most anticipated college football matchups for fans to enjoy throughout the season. In addition to reaching the largest swath of football fans each September, they’re also the most invested. In 2022, ESPN celebrated its most-watched full season for football in six years, with a total of 150 million fans tuning in to college football and NFL games, while ABC aired its second most-viewed Kickoff Weekend on record.
ESPN continues to attract incredible viewership with Sunday’s showdown between LSU and No. 4 FSU garnering over nine million viewers, marking the most-watched Sunday opener since 2016 and second best on record.
The 2023-24 college football season continues Saturday, Sept. 9th, with a strong slate of Week 2 games on ESPN platforms. ESPN’s industry-leading college football presentation will feature several marquee matchups, including No. 10 Notre Dame at NC State (Sept. 9, noon ET on ABC), No. 23 Texas A&M taking on Miami (Sept. 9, 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC), followed by the highly anticipated matchup between No. 11 Texas and No. 3 Alabama (Sept. 9, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN), which will also be the host site of College GameDay Built by The Home Depot.
Media Contact:
Kristen Smith | Kristen.T.Smith@Disney.com