Football: San Francisco Bowl Names Sponsor
November 14, 2002 09:41 AM | General
November 14, 2002
SAN FRANCISCO -- Diamond of California announced today that it has signed a four-year agreement to become the title sponsor of San Francisco’s first-ever college football bowl game.
The inaugural Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl, matching teams from the Big East and Mountain West Conferences, will be played on New Year ’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Bell Park.
“We are extremely pleased to be the title sponsor of the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl,” said Michael Mendes, President/CEO, Diamond of California. “Diamond of California is always seeking opportunities to align our healthful, contemporary products with events that exemplify the spirit of health and vitality. Sponsorship of the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl will serve as an excellent venue to introduce consumers to our expanded culinary and glazed nut product line. Through Diamond’s sponsor affiliation with the U.S. Olympic team, the San Francisco Giants and now the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl, Diamond can expand its presence throughout the year and feature the healthful aspects of walnuts as part of a well-rounded diet.”
The length of the agreement matches the four-year deals the Bowl has with the Big East and Mountain West Conferences.
“We are very excited about our new partnership with Diamond of California,” said Gary Cavalli, executive director of the Bowl. “Our ideal profile for a title sponsor was to find a Northern California-based company with a national profile. Diamond of California is a perfect fit. They share our vision of building a premier bowl game and a new holiday tradition here in San Francisco. This multi-year agreement makes a major statement for the game, college football and the community, and it provides us with a solid financial footing going forward.”
The Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl is expected to bring between 10,000 and 20,000 fans to the City between Dec. 26 and New Year’s Day.
“The economic impact of the game should be about $10 million to the community,” said John Marks, President of the San Francisco Bowl Game Association and President of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Traditionally, the period between Christmas and New Year’s is very slow for San Francisco’s hospitality industry. The Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl will go a long way toward turning that slow period into one that’s economically vibrant and fun for visitors and residents alike.”
The Bowl has a seven-year agreement with ESPN. This year’s inaugural game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
"We are excited to be a part of the inaugural Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl," said Dave Brown, ESPN director of programming and acquisitions, college football. "It has been a pleasure to watch Gary Cavalli and his team successfully negotiate the conference agreements and sign Diamond of California as the sponsor, which is the final piece of the puzzle. We welcome Diamond of California as the San Francisco Bowl title sponsor and look forward to working closely with them and the Bowl in the future."
About Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl
This year, San Francisco joins the rich tradition of college football post-season bowls by hosting the inaugural Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl. The game, one of three new bowls certified by the NCAA for 2002, will be held on New Year’s Eve at 7:30 PST in Pacific Bell Park.
In its first year of operation, the Bowl has established a number of important partnerships, securing multi-year agreements with the leading sports television network, ESPN, two of America’s most successful and high-scoring conferences—the Big East and Mountain West—and a title sponsor, Diamond of California.
The Bowl’s host city, San Francisco, ranks as the number one tourist destination in the United States. Pacific Bell Park, the spectacular home of the San Francisco Giants, is a proven football venue, having hosted the East-West Shrine Game and the XFL Demons.
The game is overseen and promoted by the nonprofit San Francisco Bowl Game Association, headed by John Marks, President of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Association retained Giants Enterprises to provide game operations and management services. Veteran Bay Area sports executive Gary Cavalli, former Associate Athletic Director at Stanford and CEO of the American Basketball League, was hired as the Bowl’s executive director.
The Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl is expected to bring 10,000 – 20,000 football fans to San Francisco between Christmas and New Years. The game will generate an anticipated $10 million in revenue for the City, benefiting the tourism and hospitality industries during a traditionally slow period, according to the San Francisco Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.
Tickets for the inaugural Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl are available at tickets.com, at Giants dugout retail stores, and by phone at (415) 947-BOWL. Tickets are priced at $65 club level, $50 field and view sideline reserved, $40 field and view end zone, and $40 end zone bleachers.
About Diamond of California
Formed in 1912 by a group of California walnut farmers, Diamond of California has evolved into one of the state’s largest grower cooperatives, with 1,900 grower-members and 1,200 full-time and seasonal employees. Headquartered in Stockton, California, Diamond adheres to exacting standards and utilizes innovative processing technology to produce a full product line of culinary nuts. The company operates the largest and most technologically advanced walnut processing and packing plant in the world, a 550,000-square-foot production facility in Stockton, situated on 75 acres. Diamond also has four centrally located collecting stations throughout California. Diamond markets an 18-item line of recipe-ready nuts ranging from chopped hazelnuts to pine nuts, macadamia nuts and slivered almonds, in addition to many forms of walnuts.
