SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference has reached a three-year corporate sponsorship agreement with Ingles Markets. Ingles will serve as the official grocery store of the Southern Conference and will be a prominent partner with the Southern Conference Basketball Championships presented by General Shale and the Arby’s SoCon Wrestling Championship, all of which will be held in Asheville, N.C.
Ingles’ sponsorship solidifies an existing relationship between the company and the SoCon, who, together with Eblen Charities, are already working collaboratively on the Hoops Against Hunger and Headlock on Hunger campaigns to provide disadvantaged children access to food during break times from school. The campaigns encourage the donation of cash and nonperishable food items at regular-season basketball and wrestling contests and at the Southern Conference Basketball Championships presented by General Shale and the Arby’s SoCon Wrestling Championship.
“Ingles has always been committed to community service projects such as these hunger initiatives, and we are grateful to be able to partner with them,” said Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino. “Ingles’ participation will greatly enhance our basketball and wrestling championships in Asheville.”
Based in Asheville, Ingles was founded by third-generation grocer Robert Ingle in 1963. Focusing on smaller towns and rural communities, the store soon expanded into the neighboring states of South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, and now the chain boasts approximately 200 stores in six Southeastern states with annual sales of nearly $4 billion.
“Ingles is pleased to be the official grocery store of the Southern Conference,” said Melissa Leavell, director of advertising at Ingles. “We’re especially proud to work with the SoCon to combat child hunger in the greater Asheville community.”
The Southern Conference Basketball Championships presented by General Shale and the Arby’s SoCon Wrestling Championship are scheduled to be contested in Asheville through 2017. The basketball tournaments will take place at UNC Asheville’s Kimmel Arena and the U.S. Cellular Center, while Kimmel will host the wrestling tournament.
The 2015 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale (March 6-9) will be the 95th edition of the tournament, making it the oldest collegiate league basketball tournament in America. The 2015 tournament will be the 16th contested in Asheville, which has hosted the championship each year since 2012 after previously serving as the tournament’s home from 1984-95. The Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale (March 5-8), which originated in 1984, will be making its fifth appearance in Asheville in 2015 (1995, 2012-14).
The 2015 Arby’s SoCon Wrestling Championship (March 7) will be the 78th edition of the tournament and will be the fifth contested in Asheville after a four-year run there from 1992-95.
ABOUT INGLES MARKETS
Ingles Markets, Incorporated is a leading supermarket chain with operations in six Southeastern states. Headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, the Company operates 202 supermarkets. In conjunction with its supermarket operations, the Company operates neighborhood shopping centers, most of which contain an Ingles supermarket. The Company also owns a fluid dairy facility that supplies Company supermarkets and unaffiliated customers. The Company's Class A Common Stock is traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market's Global Select Market under the symbol IMKTA. For more information, visit Ingles' website www.ingles-markets.com.
ABOUT THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
The Southern Conference, in its 94th season of intercollegiate competition, is a national leader in emphasizing the development of the student-athlete and helping build lifelong leaders and role models. The conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first conference basketball tournament (1921), to tackling the issues of freshman eligibility (1922), to developing women’s championships (1984) to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer. The Southern Conference is the nation’s fifth-oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association. The conference currently consists of 10 members in six states throughout the southeast and sponsors 20 varsity sports and championships that produce participants for NCAA Division I Championships.
ABOUT SOCON SPORTS PROPERTIES
SoCon Sports Properties, created in 2013, is the official multimedia rights holder for the Southern Conference. We provide the excitement and attraction of college athletics as a unique advertising and marketing opportunity to communicate your company’s message while influencing your business. SoCon Sports Properties (SSP) offers corporate customers a multitude of marketing and multimedia sponsorship opportunities that include television, venue signage at all of our Championship events, event impact and gameday marketing, as well as corporate marketing, promotions, hospitality, print and brand exposure on SoConSports.com.
SSP can build a customized marketing package for your business or corporation that capitalizes on our loyal fans throughout each season, during Championship events, as well as throughout the entire Southern Conference member institutions' footprint.
Please contact SoCon Sports Properties for more information on collaborating with the Southern Conference and its multiple media and marketing platforms and Championship events.
Contact Information: Rick Thompson, SoCon Sports Properties
702 North Pine Street Spartanburg, SC 29303
678-448-2115
rthompson@socon.org
-www.SoConSports.com-