Last week, as reported in Marketing’s Marketing Daily, Evra Taylor reported that Pizza Pizza (Pizza 73 for those in Alberta) announced a partnership with True North Sports & Entertainment to sponsor the Winnipeg Jets. The Canadian quick-serve restaurant chain will have onsite concessions at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre, the Jets’ home arena. Pizza Pizza has similar sponsorship deals at Ottawa’s ScotiaBank Place, Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, Montreal’s Bell Centre and with five NHL hockey teams.
In a statement, Pat Finelli, chief marketing officer for Pizza Pizza, said the Jets partnership “is about doing good work together to benefit fans, and to have fun as a team. That is what we are all about. Plus it will surely have a positive impact on our business in the region.”
Pizza Pizza is trying to grow its presence in Manitoba. The chain will be opening its fifth store in Winnipeg this month, with five more Winnipeg locations expected in 2012. It has also been focusing on growing its Saskatchewan, Quebec and Nova Scotia operations. “We’re very excited about this new agreement. The city of Winnipeg is great, with excellent demographics for us,” Finelli said.