by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
As college football prepares for its summer hibernation after spring practice, the Gator Bowl Association continues to look for both a title sponsor for its 2012 game and a chief marketing officer.
After a meeting with its board of trustees March 30, the association has plans for finding both.
The board discussed a deadline for when it wanted to have a title sponsor signed for the 2012 game, which will be played Jan. 2.
The Progressive auto insurance company was the title sponsor for this year’s Jan. 1 game after Konica Minolta decided not to renew its sponsorship.
Progressive had exclusive rights through March 15 to sponsor the 2012 game. The deadline passed, so the association can talk with other potential sponsors as well as continue talks with Progressive.
“We targeted July 1 as a time when we would move forward from a budgeting standpoint,” said Rick Catlett, association president and CEO.
“If we don’t have someone on board by then, we’ll start adjusting our budget to move forward without a title sponsor,” he said.
The association is working with its broadcast partner, ESPN, to find a title sponsor. One of the negotiating issues with Progressive involved television advertising, said Catlett.
“Progressive wanted more 30-second spots during the game, so we are discussing how we might be able to get that done,” said Catlett.
Though he would not reveal the name, Catlett did say there are negotiations with other companies.
Meanwhile, Catlett also is taking on the duties of chief marketing officer.
Erik Dellenback, the former chief marketing officer, left at the beginning of March to become executive director of the new Tim Tebow Foundation.
“We spread out the marketing responsibilities throughout our staff to handle those responsibilities when Erik left,” said Catlett.
“We’ve decided to hire two entry-level coordinators to help take some of the burden off of our staff and I will assume the duties of the chief marketing officer for the next 90 days,” he said.
During that time, Catlett will assess the position and develop a job description so the association can advertise for the position.
The two new hires are LeAnne Crabtree, who will handle Gator Bowl Committee relations, and Stacy Heitzman, coordinator of the Patch Program. Heitzman coordinated the Patch Program as an intern during last year’s Gator Bowl.
At more than 200 members, the Gator Bowl Committee is a sizable group of volunteers and Crabtree will be charged with keeping the members informed about committee meetings and volunteer opportunities, searching out new members and making sure members stay active with the organization.
“It’s a great organization and a great group of people,” said Crabtree. “I like working with a nonprofit and sports for an organization that has that family feel to it.”
Heitzman is looking for “bigger and better” things from “The Patch” program for the 2012 Gator Bowl.
The Patch is the official jersey patch of the Gator Bowl team participants and offers fans discounts at Jacksonville businesses when purchased through the Gator Bowl Association.
“I’m glad to be back with a great organization and I’m ready to make ‘The Patch’ bigger and better next year,” said Heitzman. “We will be offering more discounts and benefits through the program next season.”
She also said she liked the family atmosphere in the office.
“During the interview process, they talked about the organization being like a family and you definitely feel that way,” said Heitzman.
“The people here make it exciting to come into work every day and I like that I am working on something that people will come to and remember for the rest of their lives. I like being a part of that,” she said.
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