Buffalo Wild Wings To Sponsor Citrus Bowl, Beginning In 2015

Buffalo Wild Wings announces a new college football partnership with Citrus Bowl, beginning in 2015.

Earlier in 2014, it was reported that the Citrus Bowl would be taking on a new partner in Buffalo Wild Wings. On Tuesday, Buffalo Wild Wings officially announced that partnership, a multi-year bond beginning on New Year’s Day in 2015.

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“We are honored to add Buffalo Wild Wings as a title sponsor and business partner,” said Steve Hogan, chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Sports. “We’re fortunate to begin an exciting new era for Orlando’s New Year’s Day tradition with a partner who is as committed to the fan experience as we are.”

The newly named Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl will play host to a clash between an SEC team and a Big 10 team, which conveniently and poetically aligns themselves with the companies origins in Columbus, Ohio.

“The origins of Buffalo Wild Wings, the first one started right across from the Ohio State campus. So our origins have been around college sports,” Bob Ruhland, vice president of marketing at Buffalo Wild Wings, told FanSided on Tuesday morning. “Sally Smith, our CEO, has had some goals, one was that we would get involved with the NCAA. Dreams probably more than goals.

“The second dream was that at some point in time we’d have our own bowl game. Two years ago we signed a deal with Cactus Bowl, which was the Valley of the Sun Bowl, before it was the Insight Bowl, before Buffalo Wild Wings had it.

“We got into bowl sponsorships a couple of years ago, and the point where we could opt out of our partnership with the Valley of the Sun and Fiesta committee, we decided to opt out and test the water for other bowls that are available.”

That opportunity came when Capital One decided to move on from the Citrus Bowl to the Orange Bowl. Buffalo Wild Wings’ decision to move east was a very strategic and thought out move on their part. With Buffalo Wild Wings roots in Big Ten country, the decision to select a bowl with a Big Ten tie-in seems like a factor, though Ruhland says that wasn’t the case.

“When you’re sponsoring a bowl, you’re kind of beholden to the bowls that are up for bid and sponsorship at that point in time,” Ruhland said. “We knew with the changing picture there might be other bowls where people jockeyed around, sponsors that moved out of sponsoring bowls, or moving up to a different bowl, and that’s what happened with Citrus.”

“…The Citrus Bowl is an incredible property, a top-five bowl played at one o’clock in the afternoon on New Year’s Day and it’s just perfect for us. We have this national footprint and one of the challenges we needed to find a way to get around when we were doing the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in Tempe, in what was the Cactus Bowl, was an 8:15 p.m. Mountain Time kickoff, which was a bit of a challenge with the East Coast.

“With the Citrus Bowl it all works out perfectly because it is one o’clock in the afternoon… It’s a perfect time slot for us with a perfect partner in ESPN, who has the broadcast rights, and it fits the bill that it is a Big Ten and an SEC match up. When I say it fits the bill, I mean that it will be a highly watched game.”

Ruhland went on to say that the restaurants on the West Coast will open up early for breakfast to accommodate for the early start.

During the deal with Capital One, the “Citrus Bowl” title was dropped, labeling it simply the Capital One Bowl. With the new Buffalo Wild Wings partnership, the bowl’s original title will be brought back and restored.

“I think down the road the playoff structure could change, it won’t change for probably at least five to 10 years, but I think that was the reason everyone went back to having the fruit or moniker included,” Ruhland said, citing the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl as an example. “The bowls that are the top echelon of bowls that are played, wanted to go back to their roots and bring back ‘Citrus,’ or ‘Peach.’

“Regardless of whether a sponsor comes in or out, and this has nothing to do with Buffalo Wild Wings, there is some ownership and brand associated with that bowl game, and I think that was the background behind that.”

With major sporting events comes lots of smaller related events in the host city, Buffalo Wild Wings is bringing that atmosphere to their restaurants around the country with Buffalo Wild Wings’ GameBreak^TM. That gaming platform will feature an interactive game-day Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl promotion, built specifically for the game, for fans watching at any one of the 1,043 restaurants throughout the country, with prizes handed out both locally and nationally.

“This sponsorship is another unique way to connect with our guests – creating the ultimate social experience for our sports fans – and allowing the fans not at the game to be a part of the action as well,” added Ruhland.

For those in the Orlando, Florida area, there will be a fan fest to attend that is free and open to the public, not just ticket holders to the game. There will be food vendors, beverage vendors and games amongst the various activities. In one of the more intriguing events, Buffalo Wild Wings is bringing their “Blazin’ Wing Challenge” competition to the fan fest. In the event, eaters try to down the spiciest wings Buffalo Wild Wings has to offer, a competition available any day at their restaurants around the country.

“We have this stage where we do ‘Blazin’ Wing Challenges,’ we did this actually back when we did the Cactus Bowl,” Ruhland said, saying they like to pit fans from each team against one another. “We do this every [roughly] every 30 minutes. You might have a team of four people who represent the Big Ten team and four people who represent the SEC team and just this good natured rivalry we play out with Buffalo Wild Wings that have the Blazin’ sauce on them.”

Ruhland added: “Even though it’s hot, the flavor is delicious.”

The Blazin’ sauce is the hottest Buffalo Wild Wings has to offer, but they have 21 different flavors and seasonings to match every palate.

In addition to the free fan fest, Ruhland added that Buffalo Wild Wings will be getting involved with the Citrus Bowl Parade.

“It is a very well attended parade,” Ruhland said. “It is one of the best attended, and we’re exciting about participating in that parade.”

The Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl will be played Jan. 1. It will be the 69th annual game, making it the seventh-oldest of all the current bowl games. To learn more about the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, please visit www.BuffaloWildWingsCitrusBowl.com or follow the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on Twitter @BWWCitrusBowl.

Buffalo Wild Wings announces a new college football partnership with Citrus Bowl, beginning in 2015.

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