Mercury Insurance Kicks-Off College Sports Sponsorship With UCLA Football

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Aug. 29, 2011) – The college football season is set to kick-off Saturday, and so is Mercury Insurance’s first foray into Southern California college sports sponsorships. The Los Angeles-based company announced today it has a signed an agreement with UCLA Athletics to sponsor Bruins football and basketball.

“We’ve had great success the last few years with our sports sponsorships,” said Erik Thompson, Mercury advertising director, “and we feel college football and basketball are an ideal fit. UCLA has a loyal fan base that’s very passionate about the university, and we hope to connect with them through a variety of touch-points that will display our products and services to millions of Bruins fans and alums.”

Mercury is running a special consumer ticket promotion in conjunction with the sponsorship: the “Get a Quote, Get a Pair of Bruins Tickets” deal from August 26 to October 30. “UCLA football fans can get a pair of free tickets to the Bruins game of their choice (excluding Texas on Sept. 17 and Colorado on Nov. 19) simply by completing an online Mercury auto insurance quote at www.mercuryinsurance.com/ucla,” said Thompson. “Once the online quote is completed, fans will be sent an e-mail providing instructions on how they can collect their tickets.”

Mercury is using Facebook and Twitter to reach fans about the ticket promotion and will also have a booth at Bruin home games in the “Fan Zone” located outside the Rose Bowl. Thompson said local Mercury agents will staff the booth, and fans can spin “the prize wheel” to win various gifts, including an all-expense paid trip for two to a 2012 UCLA football road game.

Besides partnering with UCLA, Mercury – one of the largest private-passenger auto insurance companies in California – is a sponsor of the LA Kings and LA Dodgers, as well as title sponsor of the Mercury Insurance Open, the Women’s Tennis Association tour stop in Carlsbad, California.

ABOUT MERCURY INSURANCE (www.mercuryinsurance.com)

Mercury Insurance (MCY) is a multiple-line insurance organization offering predominantly personal automobile and homeowners insurance through a network of independent agents in California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Arizona, New York, Georgia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Since 1962, Mercury has specialized in offering quality insurance at affordable prices - core values that distinguish Mercury in the marketplace.