Tyre makers get behind US college basketball

College basketball seems to be a popular current choice for sponsorship deals in the US, with two tyre makers announcing plans to support tournaments. Hankook Tire America stated on 17 November that it would advertise during nine men’s tournaments during November and December, while Continental Tire the Americas reported it has been named title sponsor for two marquee college basketball tournaments, the Las Vegas Invitational and the Las Vegas Classic.

“Hankook Tire is excited to be working with men’s college basketball as an advertising partner in one of the most thrilling sports series available to American sports fans,” said Soo Il Lee, president of Hankook Tire America Corp. “This sponsorship broadens our involvement in sports marketing and puts us in a prime position to gain brand awareness at a time when interest in college basketball is likely to continue to grow during the next few months. Our behind home plate advertising in professional baseball provided Hankook with exceptional brand building opportunities and we are confident that our involvement with men’s college basketball will provide us with similar positive benefits.”

 The nine tournaments that Hankook will support are the Ticket City Classic-Austin, CBE Classic, Charleston Classic, Puerto Rico Tip Off, Ticket City Classic-NY/NJ, Maui Invitational, Jimmy V Classic, NIT-Season Tip Off and the 2011 Showcase. Hankook Tire signage will be visible courtside during the televised tournaments.

The Conti-sponsored Las Vegas Invitational will take place on 25 and 26 November, while the Las Vegas Classic will be held a month later, on 22 and 23 December. “To add the Las Vegas Invitational and Las Vegas Classic to Continental Tire’s growing list of elite sports partnerships is certainly an honour,” said Travis Roffler, director of marketing, Continental Tire.  “We’ve had a lot of success with our current college partner’s, Duke University and University of North Carolina, and their sports programmes so this partnership made perfect sense.  The list of competing schools in both tournaments is impressive and we look forward to some very entertaining games.”