The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. signed a multi-year agreement renewing its title sponsorship of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic played annually at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
With the agreement, Goodyear extends its more than six-decade association with college football that started with the Goodyear Blimp providing aerial coverage of the 1955 Rose Bowl. From the Rose Bowl to the Cotton Bowl, the blimp has covered more than 2,000 college football games. The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic hosts marquee matchups as a member of the “New Year’s Six,” the top bowl games included in the College Football Playoff Semifinal rotation. The Cotton Bowl hosted a College Football Playoff Semifinal in 2018 with Clemson defeating Notre Dame. The Goodyear Cotton Bowl will host semifinals in 2021 and 2024.
“Few games capture the college football experience and tradition like the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, and we are proud to continue our title sponsorship ofthis celebrated game,” said Mike Dwyer, Goodyear’s chief customer officer, North America consumer. “Goodyear has been a part of college football for more than 60 years and we are pleased to continue that authentic connection.
In addition to the Cotton Bowl, Goodyear will continue its collaboration with ESPN as the bowl’s exclusive media rights holder and will provide aerial coverage for many of ESPN’s college football games. ESPN will also bring to life Goodyear’s position in the sport with multimedia support across their platforms, and Goodyear will remain an Official Sponsor of the College Football Playoff.
To celebrate the sponsorship renewal, Goodyear and the Cotton Bowl continued their tradition of creating life-sized sculptures –made out of tires –of the mascots of the competing teams. The sculptures unveiled before this year’s Cotton Bowl were the University of Notre Dame’s mascot, The Notre Dame Leprechaun, and Clemson University’s mascot, The Clemson Tiger.
The artwork was created by tire artist and former minor league baseball pitcher, Blake McFarland and took more than 500 hours to create. The statues were constructed from more than 375 Goodyear-branded tires and 3,200 hidden screws. After the game, Goodyear donated each sculpture to the universities.
“Each year we look forward to how Goodyear honors the participating teams in a creative way that is distinctively Goodyear,” said Michael Konradi, Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic chief marketing officer. “Goodyear’s history in college football and commitment to continually enhance the bowl game experience is one of the many reasons we’re proud to extend our partnership.”
