Hercules Tires Expands Partnerships in Sports

Hercules Tires, a subsidiary of American Tire Distributors (ATD), is expanding its sports sponsorship portfolio by being named an official corporate partner of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, the title sponsor of the Sun Belt Football Championship, and extending its title sponsorship of the Big South Conference’s for two years.

“Hercules Tires is excited to continue to grow our sport sponsorship portfolio with some of the top leagues in sports,” said Josh Simpson, Senior Vice President of Hercules Tires.  “As we continue to expand our brand visibility beyond the tire industry, we are looking forward to joining forces and taking part in the excitement of the upcoming football and basketball season.”

The partnership with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will feature:

• A portfolio of assets including on field signage, a digital sweepstakes, a social media content series and game day social media feature – the Hercules Performer of the Game.
• Broadcast and brand visibility with the ability to use the team’s primary and secondary marks throughout the broadcasts in advertising, promotions and merchandising.

Hercules’ multi-year agreement with the Sun Belt Conference marks one of the largest sponsorship agreements in Sun Belt history and includes:

• An integrated marketing presence throughout the year, allowing the brand to connect with alumni, fans, students, and employees of Sun Belt Schools at all conference championship events.
• The 2021 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship on Saturday, Dec. 4, which will air on ESPN. The game will feature the champions of the conference’s East and West Divisions and will be played at the site of the divisional winner with the best overall conference record.

Lastly, the Big South Conference’s extension continues a partnership that began in 2020. The multi-year extension marks one of the largest sponsorships in Big South history, with the following features:

• The 2022 and 2023 Hercules Tires Big South Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will held for the next two years in Charlotte, N.C. The 2022 Hercules Tires Big South Basketball Championships is scheduled for March 1-6, and will feature four games a day leading up to Championship Sunday on March 6. The women’s tournament will begin Tuesday, March 1 with first round games, while the men’s event begins Wednesday, March 2 with first round contests.  The women’s quarterfinals are Thursday, March 3, followed by the men’s quarterfinals on Friday, March 4.  Each championship semifinal round will be Saturday, March 5, with both championship contests set for Sunday, March 6.  The official 2022 Hercules Tires Big South Basketball Championship brackets will be released at a later date.
• In addition to the title sponsorship, Hercules Tires will continue to have an integrated marketing presence, allowing the brand to ongoing connections with Big South alumni, fans, students, and employees at all conference championship events. Hercules Tires will also return as the title sponsor of the annual Big South Basketball Campus Tour.

Hercules Tires was founded in 1952 and has been owned by American Tire Distributors (ATD) since 2014. The brand is sold by more than 4,000 tires dealers in the United States and Canada.

ABOUT HERCULES TIRES

Hercules Tires is widely recognized as the industry's premier value brand with a comprehensive selection of passenger, UHP, light truck, medium truck and specialty tires.  Since 1952, independent tire dealers and distributors have trusted Hercules to deliver outstanding quality, exceptional support, and unsurpassed value.

Hercules is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Tire Distributors, Inc.  American Tire Distributors is one of the largest independent suppliers of tires in the North American replacement tire market. The company offers an unsurpassed breadth and depth of inventory, frequent delivery and value-added services to approximately 80,000 customers across the U.S. and Canada.

ABOUT VAN WAGNER

Van Wagner, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Van Wagner Group LLC, creates, advises, and sells on behalf of world-class teams, leagues, brands, properties, and colleges. An innovator in the sports and media business, Van Wagner is a global leader in high-impact broadcast visible signage throughout the MLB, NBA, NCAA, and the highest levels of international soccer, sponsorships sales, premium ticketing, college multi-media rights, and in-venue content production at the world’s biggest sporting events. www.vanwagner.com.

WHAT’S THE BIG SOUTH?

Founded in 1983, the Big South Conference has been an exemplary leader in college athletics, dedicated to developing student-athletes through the pursuit of excellence in the classroom, community and field of play.  The league’s growing presence as an NCAA Division I athletic conference is made evident by its multitude of athletic accomplishments, innovative marketing and media partnerships, increased television packages and most importantly, its commitment to fostering the academic, personal, social, athletic and leadership development of its student-athletes.  Comprised of 12 member institutions (Campbell University, Charleston Southern University, Gardner-Webb University, Hampton University, High Point University, North Carolina A&T State University, Longwood University, Presbyterian College, Radford University, UNC Asheville, USC Upstate and Winthrop University) sharing a common geographic region and similar academic values and purposes, the Big South’s remarkable history of achievement is characterized by the league’s 19 championship sports and the profound academic and life successes of its more than 4,200 student-athletes.  The Big South Conference: Where Winners Are Made.

About the Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is made up of 12 members: App State, Arkansas-Little Rock (Little Rock), Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe (ULM), South Alabama, Texas-Arlington (UTA), Texas State and Troy. 

About Hamilton Tiger-Cats

A proud member of the Canadian Football League, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have a rich 152-year history which includes 15 Grey Cup Championships. The team’s mandate is to connect and energize the Hamilton community through Tiger-Cats football, while committing to a pursuit of excellence both on and off the field. As part of that promise, the Tiger-Cats are extremely active in Hamilton and surrounding communities, running numerous programs to promote healthy, active and empowered youth. For more information, visit Ticats.ca or call 905-547-2287.