FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Liz Greene, Blockbuster
NFL 10/02/01 (214) 854-3190
Brian McCarthy/Mike Signora, NFL
212-450-2000
The NFL, Blockbuster and DIRECTV announced today that fans may vote for players for the 2002 Pro Bowl at more than 5,200 participating Blockbuster stores nationwide. Fans may also vote on NFL.com, the NFL’s official website.
Interactive voting kiosks will be located in participating Blockbuster stores from Oct. 15 to Dec. 2. Fans can also cast their votes at NFL games and online at NFL.com from Oct. 15 to Dec. 2.
As part of this arrangement, consumers who purchase a DIRECTV system at participating Blockbuster stores from Oct. 15 to Nov. 15 and activate programming by Dec. 3 will be entered in a sweepstakes for a chance to win one of 10 trips to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii after the NFL season. See participating Blockbuster stores for full official rules. DIRECTV is the exclusive mini-dish distributor of NFL SUNDAY TICKET, the NFL’s satellite subscription package of Sunday afternoon games.
“Becoming the official retail sponsor of the NFL All-Star balloting expands the Blockbuster brand beyond movies and video games,” explained Curt Andrews, senior vice president and chief of marketing for Blockbuster. “Many of our customers are NFL fans, and with more than 70 percent of the U.S. population living within 10 minutes of a Blockbuster store, it makes perfect sense for Blockbuster to host balloting for the 2002 Pro Bowl.”
As in previous years, fan votes will account for one-third of the 2002 NFL Pro Bowl final vote.
Blockbuster will support this promotion in-stores, via direct mail to its members and online at blockbuster.com. TV, print and radio advertising will also support the program, with spots scheduled on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 for TV, ESPN Magazine and NFL Insider for print and Westwood One for radio.
For the past seven years, Blockbuster has also hosted in-store balloting for the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, whichhonors the actors and actresses in the top performing movies as well as music artists of the top-selling albums in a nationally televised awards ceremony. In 2001, more than 22 million votes were cast in 67 categories, making it one of the largest publicly voted awards presentations in the world.
“Blockbuster provides an exciting and unique way for fans to vote for their favorite NFL players, just as they have for the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards,” said John Collins, the NFL’s senior vice president of marketing and entertainment programming.
This marketing relationship builds on the relationship that Blockbuster and DIRECTV announced in Sept. 2000, when the two companies signed a multi-year agreement that includes distributing DIRECTV System equipment in more than 4,100 participating company-operated Blockbuster stores. As part of the agreement, the companies launched a co-branded pay-per-view service Blockbuster Ticket only on DIRECTV in May, 2001. Blockbuster is currently one of the top DIRECTV retailers in the country.
Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) is a publicly traded subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) and is the world’s leading renter of videos, DVDs, and video games with nearly 7,800 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company may be accessed internationally at blockbuster.com. Viacom is the No. 1 platform in the world for advertisers, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising, and online.
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