Kentucky Derby adds sponsor
2/1/2006 12:39:35 PM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Derby will have a sponsor for the first time, striking a five-year deal with a fast-food restaurant company that owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
Yum Brands Inc., based in Louisville, becomes the first named sponsor of the Derby at Churchill Downs, and the race will be referred to as the Kentucky Derby, presented by Yum Brands, it was announced Wednesday.
The Yum logo will appear under the famed twin spires for the Derby on May 6, and will also be shown on a sign above the starting gate, on the jackets of the pony riders who escort the horses during the post parade, on television billboards and elsewhere around the track.
"You'll see very discreet signage. It won't look like a baseball stadium," Churchill Downs Inc., president Tom Meeker said at a news conference.
It was the latest change at the track, which spent $121 million US and more than three years reworking the grandstand, including Millionaire's Row, in what track officials said was an effort to restore the lustre of horse racing. The renovations were finished in time for the 2005 Derby.
Yum Brands, also the parent of Long John Silver's and A&W restaurants, will receive six 30-second television ads on NBC's Derby broadcast and two 30-second commercials on ESPN and ESPN2 during their coverage.
"We thought it was time for us to begin to build awareness of the Yum corporate name," company chairman David Novak said.
Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day, who retired last year, supports the deal, but said in a telephone interview, "It will take some getting used to, obviously. I know there will be the naysayers, `They're watering it down' or whatever they want to say about it. But, personally, I think it's good."
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The Derby, the first leg of racing's Triple Crown, carries a $2 million purse. The deal will not affect the purse, but a portion of the sponsorship's revenues will go to race purses during the track's spring and fall racing meets.
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