by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
This year’s Konica Minolta Gator Bowl may not have drawn two of the country’s best-known college football programs or the biggest crowd to ever fill Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. However, Texas Tech’s 31-28 win over Virginia was a success off the field, in the eyes of the game’s title sponsor and in the opinion of Gator Bowl Association President Rick Catlett.
Recently, Catlett received the Joyce Julius and Associates Inc. sponsors report for the game. The report, which was commissioned by Catlett, shows the host city and sponsor exposure. Using a formula that combines several facets, Joyce Julius is able to calculate to the minute the value of national exposure for both Jacksonville and Konica Minolta.
“Every time the announcers say ‘Jacksonville’ or there’s a clear, in focus shot of the Jacksonville logo for five seconds, a value is applied to each mention,” said Catlett. “Every time there’s a beauty shot of Downtown, there’s a small value applied. Those values are based on what we would pay for a 30-second commercial.”
According to the report, the city itself received six hours and 53 minutes of national exposure through 21 direct mentions. Joyce Julius calculated that to be worth $1.66 million. A vast majority of that exposure came in the form of camera shots of the midfield logo that combined the sponsor’s name and Jacksonville.
Outside of Konica Minolta, others that received plenty of exposure during the game were Nike, with 17 hours and 45 minutes worth of exposure valued at $2.84 million, and Geico, which through eight mentions got almost $900,000 worth of national exposure.