April 6, 2011 | Volume 9, Issue 23

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Marking their "Territory"!

In-state Arizona rivals partner with State Farm to compete on the field as well as in the community.

CONTACT

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Kenneth Dike
Senior Account Executive
IMG
Phone: 520-668-4681
Email: [email protected]

James Francis
Senior Associate A.D.
University of Arizona
Phone: 520-621-8001
Email: [email protected]

ORGANIZATION

Athletic Departments of University of Arizona and Arizona State University

PROGRAM TITLE

State Farm Territorial Cup Series

OBJECTIVES

Dating back to 1899, University of Arizona's in-state rivalry with Arizona State University has a long and storied history that has caused much debate for Arizonans on who has the stronger athletic program. Since those early years in the 20th century, most of that discussion has revolved around the storied football programs; each year culminating with "The Duel in the Desert," the annual rival football game between the two schools that rewards the victor with the Territorial Cup, one of the oldest rival trophies in the NCAA. In 2009, the two institutions wanted to raise the bar and build a platform that would create an iconic message between the two major state universities in Arizona and celebrate not just the football programs, but all sports and participating student-athletes.

The idea of creating a formal Rivalry Series between University of Arizona and Arizona State University goes back to the creation of the Bedlam Series in Oklahoma (between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) and the Gauntlet in Southern California (USC and UCLA). Since then, and partnering with IMG, the in-state rivals have studied examples of this program nationwide and wanted to develop a point system competition program between the two schools. More importantly, they wanted to find a corporate partner that would invest the resources, both locally and nationally, to expand the point system competition into a multi-layered approach that would tie-in community outreach, promotional activation, scholarship donation and a heavy media exposure presence to activate the concept year-round.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

In 2009, University of Arizona and Arizona State University decided to create a formal Rivalry Series to tackle these objectives and was able to secure State Farm Insurance as the title sponsor for platform. The collection of games and competitions was then called the State Farm Territorial Cup Series, a name inspired by the trophy awarded to the winning football team in their annual tilt.

Each academic year, University of Arizona and Arizona State University will compete against one another in 18 common varsity intercollegiate sports, with each sport being worth one point in the overall point system structure. Since there are 18 points in total, in order to be awarded the State Farm Territorial Cup, one school must accumulate at least 9.5 points. In sports in which the teams play only once in a given season (such as football), the game winner collects the full point. For sports such as baseball and softball, which the two rivals compete in multiple games, the team with the larger amount of head-to-head victories claims the full point (If teams split the season match-ups, each team receives a half point for that sport). Lastly, for sports such as golf, cross country and track and field, the point is awarded to whichever team finishes higher in the Pac-10 Championship. At the conclusion of the academic year, the university with the most points will earn the State Farm Territorial Cup Series Trophy, in addition to bragging rights in the state.

Furthermore, the State Farm Territorial Cup Series does not just include athletic competition, but a scholarship fund element as well as a wonderful community outreach tie-in with the State Farm Territorial Cup Series Food Fight. The purpose of the Food Fight is to collect as much food as possible at events during the school year, with proceeds benefiting local Tucson and Phoenix communities with the help of Community Food Bank in Tucson and St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix. Additionally, State Farm will donate $20,000 to each university's education scholarship fund to help deserving students.

A short video telling the story of the historic Territorial Cup.

MEDIA

An initial press release was created when the program was announced, along with its very own dedicated website, www.territorialcupseries.com. Additionally, the website embeds the Cup Series' social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter, which are updated daily with insight into the rivalry and updates on future competitions. Furthermore, the State Farm Territorial Cup Series is promoted year-round through traditional media, radio game broadcasts, in-venue exposure, game program print ads and on each university's athletic websites.

PARTNERS

State Farm Insurance was extremely excited to be able to sponsor the Arizona in-state rivalry and more importantly tackle larger issues that live within the community. State Farm's VP-Agency Mike Dannewitz stated, "The aim of our partnership is not only spotlight athletic programs offered by each university, but also to help alleviate hunger in the community and address the educational funding challenges each university is currently experiencing. State Farm is proud to be a part of such a storied past of two nationally renowned universities, and we wish luck to both schools in the State Farm Territorial Cup Series."

RESULTS

University of Arizona won the inaugural State Farm Territorial Cup Series in the 2009-2010 academic year by the final point tally of 10.5 to 7.5 and currently lead the 2010-2011 academic year, 7.5 to 3.5. However, the bigger result has been outside the athletic competition. Each school has received $40,000 in direct student-athlete scholarships through the first two years of the program and over 15,500 meals have been supplied through the community outreach driven by the Food Fight.

A screenshot of the State Farm Territorial Cup Series website highlighting the Food Fight.

LOOKING AHEAD

Because of the multi-year partnership agreed upon with State Farm back in 2009, the hope is the State Farm Territorial Cup Series will become a staple for the in-state rivalry for years to come!

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