Regional Relationship Marks a First Between the Golden Arches®, Four Universities
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – During the upcoming 2016-17 collegiate football and men’s basketball seasons, McDonald’s® Restaurants of Central Illinois and Peoria/Bloomington will be promoting a first-of-its-kind partnership with four in-state university athletic programs – Bradley, Eastern Illinois, Illinois and Illinois State.
The four-school corporate partnership with the 97 area McDonald’s restaurants was secured by Learfield’s Fighting Illini Sports Properties on behalf of the four schools. Learfield, multimedia rights holder for Fighting Illini Athletics and Bradley Athletics, is managing the broad program launch for Eastern Illinois and Illinois State as well including oversight of numerous components.
Kicking off with the football season this month, the partnership allows for the respective McDonald’s locations to have use of all university marks and promote its involvement through in-store branding including promotional window clings and game schedules on customers’ cups. In addition, all area McDonald’s restaurants will offer a “Buy One, Get One” 10-piece Chicken McNuggets® Mobile App coupon to fans when any team scores 21 points or more at their respective home game. The promotion will be available for 48 hours only at all Central Illinois and Peoria/Bloomington McDonald’s restaurants following the game via the McDonald’s Mobile App. To learn more and download the McDonald’s Mobile App, visit, www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/mcdonalds-mobile-app.
Complementing the fan-app promotion, the McDonald’s corporate partnership allows for in-game signage and mentions at all four football and basketball venues of each university. Additionally, a significant digital component will leverage McDonald’s partnership and promotions with exposure on the athletic websites for each university and a social media campaign on Facebook, by agency Think Social.
“We are very excited to join in this partnership with the area universities,” said Gary Birschbach, local McDonald’s owner/operator and president of the Central Illinois Co-op. “Many of our local owner/operators are not only fans, but are alumni of these universities, so we will be showing a lot of team spirt in our restaurants.”
“We know that our customers will download and embrace the benefits of the McDonald’s mobile app,” said Terry Clark, local McDonald’s owner/operator and president of the Peoria/Bloomington Co-op. “The app offers delicious food offers, a restaurant locator, menu information and more – and of course the game day offer! We are proud to be a part of this sponsorship and part of our local communities.”
“We couldn’t wait to roll this partnership out among the four schools, the regions and of course, McDonald’s loyal fan base,” said Fighting Illini Sports Properties General Manager Randy Younker. “We had the distinct opportunity to work directly with these two groups to craft something innovative for their brand, fun for all of our schools’ fans, and ultimately a unique way to give back to four in-state university athletic programs simultaneously. We’re excited about it.”
About McDonald’s
McDonald’s USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 25 million customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. Customers can now log online for free at approximately 11,500 participating Wi-Fi enabled McDonald’s U.S. restaurants. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com or follow us on Twitter at @MyIllinoisMcD & @MyPeoriaMcDs and any of the 97 McDonald’s Restaurants of Central Illinois and Peoria/Bloomington Facebook pages.
About Learfield
Learfield has long been immersed in the collegiate athletics landscape and manages the multimedia and sponsorship rights for 120 collegiate institutions, conferences and arenas. The company also supports athletic departments at all competitive levels as title sponsor of the prestigious Learfield Directors’ Cup. To learn more about Learfield and its history, visit www.learfieldsports.com.