Land O’Lakes renews FLW Outdoors sponsorship

MINNEAPOLIS – Land O’Lakes – the nation’s No. 1 marketer of branded butter and deli cheese – has renewed its FLW Outdoors sponsorship, thus continuing the company’s commitment to tournament fishing.

Illustrating a belief that the sport-fishing industry has a great deal to offer corporations in terms of brand awareness, Land O’Lakes remains a sponsor of FLW Outdoors’ varied fishing circuits for the fifth consecutive year. The sponsorship covers the $5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour, $3.88 million EverStart Series, $7 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, $1 million Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail and $2.9 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit.

In addition to its core sponsorships, Land O’Lakes remains at the helm of one of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s most sought-after designations – the Land O’Lakes Angler-of-the-Year title. This prestigious honor annually goes to the tour’s best and most consistent angler.

“Land O’Lakes’ partnership with FLW Outdoors has proven to be effective,” said Steve Dunphy, vice president of retail/deli sales for Land O’Lakes. “As competitive fishing’s popularity continues to grow, we believe our relationship with FLW Outdoors will continue to flourish as well. The sponsorship provides an opportunity for our products to reach a wide audience of anglers and their families while also showing our support of a sport that is clearly significant to a large number of Americans.”

Land O’Lakes is among a growing list of innovative companies that have recognized professional fishing as a vital business. With 55 million anglers casting lures into bodies of water around the country for the sake of sport or leisure, the fishing public presents a sizable and largely untapped market base.

Lucrative and well-organized fishing tournaments – like the 170 put on each year by FLW Outdoors – create a powerful marketing tool for sponsors searching for a method to reach the angling masses. FLW Outdoors’ premier fishing tournaments – along with its public-outreach campaigns highlighting conservation, youth and family involvement, and strengthening the sport’s future – are at the forefront of an industry movement to bring sport fishing into the public spotlight.

As an FLW Outdoors sponsor, Land O’Lakes will be featured through a variety of media formats. The brand will appear on the 2003 “FLW Outdoors” television program broadcast to 55 million subscribers across the country by the Outdoor Life Network. The Land O’Lakes brand will also be publicized through FLW Outdoors Magazine advertisements, prominence on FLWOutdoors.com, signage at tournaments, and inclusion in tour promotional and public relations materials.

Through the years, Land O’Lakes has enhanced its FLW Outdoors sponsorship by establishing a superior team of professional anglers who often skim tournament waters across the country in head-turning, NASCAR®-style boats bearing the Land O’Lakes name and logo. The 2003 professional angling team comprises Renee Hensley, Edwardsburg, Mich.; Judy Israel, Clewiston, Fla.; Eric Olson, Minneapolis; Karen Savik, St. Louis Park, Minn.; Carl Svebek III, Sam Rayburn, Texas; Jerry Williams, Conway, Ark.; and Jerry’s son Keith Williams, Conway, Ark.

Hensley became the first woman to win a national bass-fishing championship when she won the Co-angler Division of the 2001 EverStart Series Championship on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., while Israel recently became the third woman in history to win a Wal-Mart BFL tournament when she won the Co-angler Division at Thousand Islands in New York.

Christine Creed, vice president of marketing and sales for FLW Outdoors, said Land O’Lakes’ presence has been a welcome addition to FLW Outdoors’ exemplary team of tournament-trail sponsors.

“We are delighted that Land O’Lakes has agreed to extend its partnership with FLW Outdoors,” Creed said. “Their reputation as a leading producer of quality dairy products has reflected favorably upon FLW Outdoors through sponsorship association, especially with the Land O’Lakes Angler-of-the-Year award program.”

FLW Outdoors is the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its five tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please browse this Web site.

Land O’Lakes, headquartered in Arden Hills, Minn., has been making America’s favorite brand of butter and other high-quality dairy products since 1921. For more information about Land O’Lakes, visit LandOLakes.com or call (800) 328-9680.