Lipton Iced Tea Named Title Sponsor Of Historic 2013 Bowling's U.S. Open

ARLINGTON, Texas, Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA), the bowling industry's premier trade organization, today revealed the official title sponsor of this year's highly anticipated Bowling's U.S. Open tournament Lipton Iced Tea. For the second year in row, the bowling industry has teamed up with the brand's ready-to-drink portfolio for a principal sponsorship deal to lead the industry's preeminent bowling tournament. The 2013 Bowling's U.S. Open will be held in Columbus, OH, beginning July 20, and will combine the Men's, Women's and Senior Women's tournaments.

The sponsorship deal with Lipton Iced Tea marks the first time a title sponsor has ever been named for Bowling's U.S. Open. The multi-layered sponsorship program includes an integrated mix of branding, experiential and digital/social media that will target bowling fans and enthusiasts throughout the U.S., as well as robust on-site activations at each of the host centers and at the Open final.

"We're so pleased to once again partner with PepsiCo and welcome back Lipton Iced Tea as the title sponsor of Bowling's U.S. Open.  In addition to being an iconic brand, Lipton Iced Tea is a fantastic product that is a favorite of pro bowlers as well as our fans and enthusiasts," said Steve Johnson, executive director of BPAA.  "Lipton leads a great class of sponsors that have already signed on for this year's Open, a testament to the strength of the event."

With more than 100 years of experience, Lipton is one of the world's great refreshment brands, with a portfolio of ready-to-drink iced teas for every occasion, including Lipton Iced Tea, Pure Leaf Iced Tea and Brisk Iced Tea. 

To support this first-of-a-kind groundbreaking event, additional sponsors committed to date include: Jani-King, Storm Bowling Products, Ebonite, Brunswick Bowling & Billiards, Columbia 300, Roto Grip, Turbo, Dexter, and Bowling Music Network.

The Men's and Women's U.S. Open competition will take place simultaneously, beginning Saturday, July 20, at three host centers – Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl, Columbus Western Bowl and Holiday Lanes.  The event will conclude with the top four men and top four women bowlers earning a spot in the finals, on Saturday, July 27, at Columbus Western Bowl.  The U.S. Open Finals will be telecast live in a two-hour event on ESPN at noon EST that Saturday, where the winner of the Men's and the winner of the Women's U.S. Open will be crowned.

For additional information about Bowling's U.S. Open event in 2013, fans can log on to www.BowlingsUSOpen.com.

About Bowling Proprietors' Association of America
Founded in 1932, the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA) is headquartered in Arlington, Texas at the International Bowling Campus.  The BPAA provides it's more than 4,000 member centers with group purchasing programs, business and educational seminars, legislative representation and proactively promotes the association and bowling industry.  The mission of the BPAA is to enhance the profitability of all of its members and raise the profile of bowling, America's top-ranked participatory sport.  For additional information please visit www.bpaa.com or call 1-800-343-1329.

About Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership
The Pepsi Lipton Tea partnership is a joint venture between Purchase, NY-based PepsiCo and London-based Unilever. The partnership includes a complete portfolio of ready-to-drink iced teas for every occasion, including Lipton Iced Tea, Pure Leaf Iced Tea and Brisk Iced Tea.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also, means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong operations in more than 100 countries and sales in 190. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day. In the United States and Canada the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Becel, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Good Humor, Hellmann's, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragu, Simple, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemme, Vaseline, and Wish-Bone. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with goals to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as to source all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Unilever employs more than 13,000 people across North America –generating over $9 billion in sales in 2011. For more information visit www.unileverusa.com or www.unilever.ca.

SOURCE Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA)