Domino's Pizza Becomes the 'Official Pizza of the NCAA®'

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ), the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, is now the “Official Pizza of the NCAA” and several of its 23 national championships. Domino’s is joining forces with NCAA Corporate Champion Coca-Cola^®, the Official Fan Refreshment of the NCAA, Turner Sports and CBS Sports in a multi-year partnership. This marks the first time Domino’s has partnered nationally with collegiate athletics, and the first national sports marketing sponsorship for the company since 2007.

“We are very proud to be the ‘Official Pizza of the NCAA,’ and look forward to a terrific opportunity to connect our brand with national and local platforms showcasing our country’s finest student athletes,” said Russell Weiner, Domino’s Pizza chief marketing officer. “Hard work, commitment to winning and an emphasis on team achievement are all attributes Domino’s and the NCAA have in common, and we are excited to bring these traits to life through this partnership.”

Through the partnership, Domino’s will have rights to such NCAA events as NCAA March Madness, the Men’s Final Four^®, Women’s Final Four^®, Men’s Frozen Four^®, the Men’s College World Series^® and Women’s College World Series^®.

“Coca-Cola’s involvement with the NCAA and our championships has brought a tremendous amount of positive exposure to our long-standing partnership,” said Peter Davis, NCAA director of corporate alliances.  “With this announcement as the ‘Official Pizza of the NCAA,’ we welcome Domino’s Pizza to our NCAA championships, and we are excited to see the energy with this new relationship.”

"We're excited to have Domino's as an NCAA marketing partner, and look forward to their NCAA activation in conjunction with Coke,” said Will Funk, senior vice president of NCAA partnerships and branded programming within Turner Sports Ad Sales.

“We continue to enjoy a long and successful relationship with Coca-Cola, and we are excited to partner with them to welcome Domino’s to the NCAA Corporate Marketing Team,” said Devron Edwards, CBS Sports director of NCAA marketing.

About Domino’s Pizza^®

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery. Domino’s is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “DPZ.” As of the fourth quarter of 2010, through its primarily locally-owned and operated franchised system, Domino’s operated a network of 9,351 franchised and Company-owned stores in the United States and over 65 international markets. Domino's Pizza had global retail sales of over $6.2 billion in 2010, comprised of over $3.3 billion domestically and over $2.9 billion internationally. 

In June 2010, Pizza Today named Domino’s its “Chain of the Year” – making the company a two-time winner of the honor. In late 2009, Domino’s debuted its ‘Inspired New Pizza’ – a permanent change to its hand-tossed product, reinvented from the crust up. Helped by the launch of its Domino's Smart Slice school lunch pizza in late 2010, Domino's Pizza is collaborating with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to serve healthier school foods and beverages in the United States.  In 2011, Domino’s was ranked #1 in Forbes Magazine’s “Top 20 Franchises for the Money” list.

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About CBS Sports

CBS Sports, a year-round leader in television sports, broadcasts a portfolio of events on the CBS Television Network, including the NFL’s American Football Conference; THE NFL TODAY; college basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; golf, including The Masters® and PGA Championship; college football, including the SEC ON CBS; the U.S. Open Tennis Championships; CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR, including track & field, auto racing and gymnastics.  In addition, the division directs the CBS College Sports Network, a 24-hour national cable network; produces Inside the NFL for Showtime; and partners with CBS Sports.com in creating a recognized leader among sports Internet destinations.

About Turner Sports

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is an industry leader in televised and online sports programming, airing championship level sporting events on TBS, TNT and truTV, and managing some of the most popular sports sites on the Internet. Turner Sports’ television line-up includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, NASCAR and professional golf. The company’s digital portfolio includes SI.com, NASCAR.COM, NCAA.com, PGATOUR.COM, GOLF.com and PGA.com, as well as an accompanying collection of mobile websites and connected device apps. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBALEAGUEPASS, NBA Mobile, the NBA Game Time App, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.NCAA.org and www.NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.  The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola—and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—Enterprise, The Hartford, Infiniti, LG, Lowe’s, Planters, Reese’s, Unilever and UPS.

NCAA, Final Four, March Madness Women’s Final Four, Men’s Frozen Four, Men’s College World Series and Women’s College World Series are  licensed by or trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

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