ATLANTA — Chick-fil-A has stepped up its connection to college football and become a sponsor of ESPN College GameDay.
Atlanta-based Home Depot remains the title sponsor of the Saturday show, but Chick-fil-A, an Atlanta-based chicken sandwich chain, will be featured in the popular picks segment.
 RICH ADDICKS/Cox News Service The ESPN College Game Day show came to the Georgia Tech campus on Sept. 2, 2006 For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
In the segment, ESPN analyst Lee Corso predicts the winning team by donning the mascot head or gear of one of the competing teams. It's the culmination of the show, drawing cheers or jeers from the crowd depending on Corso's pick.
Aptly enough, ESPN GameDay's first show this season will be in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff, an Aug. 30 matchup between the University of Alabama and Clemson University.
The move is significant for the chain of about 1,400 restaurants because it does little national advertising, choosing instead to focus on local and regional efforts.
College students, alumni and fans make a great audience for Chick-fil-A, said Steve Robinson, the company's senior vice president of marketing. GameDay and football tailgating create a lively atmosphere for marketing products, he said.
"It's a great environment," Robinson said. "We like our brand being associated with people having fun. Obviously, our brand gets used a lot in the high school and college tailgating. We don't do a lot of NFL tailgating because we're closed on Sunday."
The agreement includes Chick-fil-A TV commercials during the show and a live shot of a Chick-fil-A fan interaction area. Event staff in College GameDay and Chick-fil-A co-branded uniforms will escort a crate carrying the mascot head for Corso's announcement.
ESPN talked with Chick-fil-A in the offseason about ways to incorporate the brand into the show, said Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN customer marketing and sales. The Corso segment just "felt right," he said.
Chick-fil-A is known for its own mascots, a set of cows that encourage people to eat chicken.
"I think the brands have to have a natural reason that they connect," Erhardt said. "In this instance, ESPN GameDay and Chick-fil-A have that natural connection."
College football has been the company's chief national outlet, running advertisements on national broadcasts of ESPN and CBS college football games.
Chick-fil-A also sponsors the Chick-fil-A Bowl each December at the Georgia Dome. The August kickoff game it is sponsoring also will be at the Georgia Dome.
College football has been a good way to promote Chick-fil-A, which does not have the resources for large national TV campaigns, Robinson said.
The chain has been spreading across the United States in recent years but has traditionally been concentrated in the Southeast and Southwest. That matches up well for broadcasts of SEC, ACC and Big 12 games, he said.
"We like the collegiate niche," Robinson said. "We're very active during the football season. When our budget grows a little bit, we'll hopefully move into the basketball season."
Joe Guy Collier writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: jcollier AT ajc.com
