Reading: Bridgestone Returns as Title Sponsor of UK NFL Match

American Football returns to the UK this week-end with the San Diego Chargers taking on the New Orleans Saints at Wembley Stadium. The match, which is becoming an annual fixture on the British sporting calendar, will be sponsored by American tyre company Bridgestone Firestone.

Bridgestone, which is the official tyre of the NFL, will provide LED boards, stadium signage and will also sponsor the pre-match build up on Sky Sports. John Baratta, president, Consumer Replacement Tire BFNT, explained the company’s involvement in the event, “As a global company, sponsoring the International Series game is a terrific opportunity for the Bridgestone brand to get high exposure here in the United States, in Europe and beyond. We’re thrilled that the Bridgestone NFL International Series has been such a success and is helping us reach football fans across the world with our message that for drivers who want to get the most out of their cars?it’s Bridgestone or nothing.”

The game will be shown live on BBC2 and Sky Sports, as well as being beamed to over 200 countries around the globe. It has captured the imagination of British sports fans, with the 55,000 tickets selling out immediately on release. Mark Waller, senior vice-president of marketing and sales at the NFL, said, “We are pleased to welcome Bridgestone back to the International Series. We continue to see tremendous excitement from our sponsors and fans who are clamouring for more football. We expect the atmosphere to be electric when the Saints and Chargers take the field.”

Last year’s game at Wembley, between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins, attracted a crowd of 81,176, and further matches are scheduled over the next three years.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 12:54 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.