BancorpSouth Teaming with Cellular South as High School Football's 'Y'all vs. Us' Game Sponsor

TUPELO, Miss., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS), a $13.4 billion-asset financial holding company, is teaming with Cellular South, the nation's largest privately owned wireless communications provider, as the official game sponsor of the Friday, Oct. 15 "Y'all vs. Us" high school football rivalry game to be played in Tupelo.

The game will feature two north Mississippi powerhouse football teams, the Tupelo High School Golden Wave and the South Panola High School Tigers from Batesville, in an exciting Friday night match up that will be televised live in prime-time across the Southeast.

Tupelo and South Panola are both heading into the game with strong season records. Tupelo is 5-1 and South Panola, 6-0, is ranked No. 1 in the nation by Rivals.com, No. 2 by USA Today.

The "Y'all vs. Us" integrated original sports program is a Cellular South initiative that showcases the drama, passion and community pride around high school football in the South.  Now in its second season, the program features live, prime-time broadcast of five of the oldest and biggest high school football rivalries in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. The Tupelo-South Panola game is the third game in the series.  

The game will be televised live by Fox Sports South (FSSO), with the telecast reaching up to 12.9 million cable and satellite households in seven Southeastern states.  Kickoff is at 7 p.m. with a standing-room only crowd expected at Tupelo High School football field.

The game will feature NFL-caliber pyrotechnics, aerial video and the world's largest mobile Jumbotron video messaging and display board.

"We're pleased to partner with Cellular South on this truly outstanding program that they launched last year.  High school football is huge in the South so it's only fitting that our two Mississippi-based companies would be involved.  Tupelo and South Panola will receive major regional exposure that's good for the schools as well as our communities," said Aubrey Patterson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BancorpSouth.

Hu Meena of Jackson, president and CEO of Cellular South, said the "Y'all vs. Us" program helps participating schools, students and communities find new and creative ways to interact with and celebrate these famous high school football rivalries.

"From marching bands, intense coaches and dedicated young players to cheerleaders, dance teams and pep squads, the 'Y'all vs. Us' program explores the drama, passion and community pride associated with these rivalries and captures the many compelling human interest stories that come from this competition," Meena said.  "We're thrilled to have BancorpSouth involved in the 'Y'all vs. Us' program – it's an outstanding Mississippi-based bank that believes as we do in the value of giving back to communities in which it serves."

BancorpSouth will have corporate tents located near the ticket sales areas from which it will provide gameday giveaways for each schools' supporters. In addition, BancorpSouth will feature its popular mobile banking app in game-related promotional venues.

The South Panola Tigers are legendary for their amazing 89-game winning streak, the third longest ever, nationwide. The two teams play each other annually, with one of the most memorable games being in 2008 when Tupelo nearly ended the Tigers' national winning streak.  Tupelo failed to convert a two-point conversion with less than a minute left, providing South Panola a 14-13 win.  

As one of the single largest and most comprehensive sports programming and customer engagement initiatives undertaken by a company, the Cellular South "Y'all vs. Us" program features a wide variety of user-generated content, contests, games, new sports-related game applications and interaction with social networking sites.

Cellular South, headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi, is a privately-owned diversified mobile communications company passionately committed to helping customers get the most out of their wireless devices and services.  The nation's largest privately owned wireless communications provider accomplishes this goal by providing the most reliable and advanced 3G nationwide wireless voice and data network, offering industry-leading family and unlimited flat rate voice, text and mobile web plans, and through its online and in-store Discover Centers, which give customers easy, simple and convenient tools, tips, advice and information on how to get the most out of their mobile phone.  For more information about Cellular South and its products and services, visit www.cellularsouth.com.

BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, with approximately $13.4 billion in assets.  BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 314 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.  BancorpSouth Bank also operates an insurance location in Illinois. BancorpSouth's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BXS.

SOURCE BancorpSouth, Inc.