For the start of the new season Pizza Hut has penned a new football partnership with EA Sports to become the official sponsor of the Madden NFL 20 Championship Series – a deal which sees the ;pizza chain have its own virtual stadium.
The series, which is an esports event where fans and players of the popular video game compete throughout the season for a chance to scoop a $200,000 prize.
The ‘Pizza Hut Stadium’ made its virtual debut the weekend before the new NFL season kicked off on 5 September and the drink’s behemoth is promoting the tournament through Madden’s official Twitch and YouTube channels with commentary similar to that found in real NFL games.
Competitive Madden has a new home…welcome to @PizzaHut Stadium!
#MaddenClassic kicks off tomorrow on https://t.co/AqnEkJoCGy #Madden20 pic.twitter.com/SPL2zpt7Yu— Madden NFL 20 (@EAMaddenNFL) August 29, 2019
The virtual stadium, which will appear exclusively as the location of the M20 games throughout the upcoming MCS, boasts:
> The seating capacity is about 71,000.
> The footprint is about 770,000 square ft.
> The volume inside the roof is about 219,400,000 cubic ft.
> There are 381 total luxury suites in the stadium (one more than AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)
The Madden NFL 20 Championship Series begins at the start of September, continue through the Playoffs and gamers who advance will compete again during the Super Bowl and then around the NFL Draft where the winner is be crowned.
“Gamers used to be seen as the guys in the basement sitting alone, eating pizza and crushing Mountain Dew,” says Marianne Radley, chief brand officer at Pizza Hut.
“It’s different now. Today, it is about community. It’s modern, high-tech and there’s elite competition. It’s evolved, so who doesn’t want to be a part of that?”
Accoring to Radley, Pizza Hut doesn’t have any key specific key performance indicators for the Madden sponsorship and claims that the deal is more about being a natural fit with the Pizza Hut brand.
“There is a moment happening in terrestrial sports, esports, pop culture, brands and influencers – they are all converging,” adds Radley.
“This is a natural place for us. So from a KPI standpoint, there is none.”
Comment:
Positioned as the first-ever virtual stadium deal in esports, this move comes a year after Pizza Hut replaced Papa John’s as the official sponsor of the NFL.
Pizza, watching sport and playing eSport go hand-in-hand, so why wouldn’t Pizza Hut double down on its football footprint?
Once Coca-Cola signed the first sponsorship deal with a virtual player (Alex hunter from EA Sports FIFA) back in 2017 (see case study) it was only a matter of time until we saw the first virtual sports stadium naming rights sponsorship.
What next?
The virtual training kit sponsor or an official virtual tractor partner?
Brand are increasingly marketing through gaming as they seek to engage the hard to reach Millennial and Gen Z audiences.
Pizza Hut is just one of a number of sponsors for the Madden NFL 20 Championship Series.
The Madden 20 Classic is presented by Starbucks Cold Brew, while Snickers is another of the official MCS sponsors.
Links:
Pizza Hut
http://blog.pizzahut.com/2019-nfl-draft-sweepstakes
https://www.facebook.com/pizzahut
https://www.youtube.com/user/pizzahut
Madden NFL
https://www.easports.com/madden-nfl
https://www.instagram.com/eamaddennfl/
https://twitter.com/EAMaddenNFL
https://www.facebook.com/EASportsMaddenNFL
EA
https://www.facebook.com/EASPORTS
https://www.youtube.com/user/EASPORTS
NFL
http://www.nflshop.com/source/bm-nflc…
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