INDEPENDENCE BOWL NAMES ADVOCARE AS NEW TITLE
SPONSOR
DALLAS-BASED COMPANY BECOMES FIFTH SPONSOR FOR I-BOWL
Shreveport,
La. – The Independence Bowl proudly announced AdvoCare as its new title sponsor on Thursday during a press conference
at Independence Stadium’s club level. The official name of the 34-year old game is the “AdvoCare V100 Independence
Bowl.”
The 2009 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl will kick off at 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec.
28 from Independence Stadium and will be televised to a national audience on ESPN2.
AdvoCare,
based in Dallas, is a premier health and wellness company that offers more than 70 exclusive nutritional and skincare products.
Charles E. Ragus, a Shreveport native and former Northwestern State University football player, founded AdvoCare in 1993.
AdvoCare becomes the Independence Bowl’s fifth sponsor in its history, joining Poulan-Weed Eater, Sanford, MainStay,
and PetroSun.
“AdvoCare is both honored and proud to be named the title sponsor of the 2009 Independence
Bowl,” said Richard Wright, AdvoCare President and CEO. We are excited to partner with the Independence Bowl to help
make it one of the premier sporting events of the 2009 college bowl season.”
Wright,
also a Shreveport native, is a former chairman of the United Way of Northwest Louisiana and co-founder of Praeses Corporation.
Wright also served on the senior staff of Congressman Jim McCrery, and Wright served two years on the Independence Bowl’s
executive committee, as well as multi-year terms on the board of directors.
“This game
has two of the best college conferences in the nation, the SEC and Big 12, and we are looking forward to an exciting AdvoCare
V100 Independence Bowl game on Monday Dec 28th,”
said Wright.
“On a personal note, my wife Sherry and I have been very involved in the Shreveport
community most of our lives and know how committed the community is to the success of the Independence Bowl and how committed
the Independence Bowl is to its sponsors,” said Wright. In fact I have actually served on this committee for many years.”
AdvoCare has several world-class endorsers including NFL star Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, PGA
golfer Rod Pampling, and major league baseball players Brad Hawpe, a former LSU player, and Minnesota’s Scott Baker,
a Shreveport native and 2007 Independence Bowl Carl Mikovich Sportsperson of the Year recipient. Other notable endorsers are
NFL players John Carney, Julius Jones, and Wes Welker, NBA players Michael Redd and Matt Harpring, and Grammy Award winner
Michael W. Smith.
“We can look back with pride at what our organization has accomplished
over the past 34 years, and we are looking forward with great excitement to what the future holds with our new partnership
with AdvoCare,” said 2009 Independence Bowl chairwoman Toni Goodin. It is a perfect fit and the new partnership
will allow the Independence Bowl to grow even stronger over the next several years.”
In 2002, the Direct Selling Association recognized the company's DebtBuster® System with its prestigious
Education for Life Award. In 2003, AdvoCare earned the Dallas 100 Award recognizing the fastest growing privately held companies
in the Dallas area for the seventh consecutive year, and placed in the Top 10 for the second year in a row.
MEMBERSHIP, SPONSORSHIPS, AND TICKET INFO
Information on becoming a member of the Independence Bowl Foundation or a corporate sponsor of the bowl
is available at the Bowl Office located on the ground floor of the American Tower in downtown Shreveport at 401 Market Street,
Suite 120. Those interested may also contact the Bowl Office at 318.221.0712 or toll free at 888.414.BOWL (2695) or by visiting
the bowl’s official website at
www.independencebowl.org.
