Eckrich® Launches into a Two-year Partnership with the USC Trojans at the Start of the 2018 College Football Season


SMITHFIELD, Va., Aug. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eckrich®, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and perfectly seasoned deli meats, and the University of Southern California Trojans (USC) have announced a two-year partnership for Eckrich to become the Official Smoked Sausage and Deli Meat of the USC Trojans.

Eckrich and USC will highlight the official partnership throughout the football season to inspire Trojan fans to tailgate or homegate with Eckrich smoked sausage and deli meats. Eckrich will have a presence across USC’s social, digital and radio platforms and will offer local consumers opportunities to win tickets to a select game throughout the season.

In addition, Eckrich will host a $1 Million Challenge at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as part of their Road to the National Championship sweepstakes, for the fourth consecutive season. This year’s feature game is on November 24th when the Trojans will host Notre Dame. Fans can visit www.EckrichFootball.com to register for their chance to go on-field and throw for one million dollars during a break in the game action.

“We are incredibly excited to be the Official Smoked Sausage and Deli Meat of the USC Trojans,” said Mike Paribello, senior director of marketing Smithfield Foods. “College Football is a deep-rooted passion for consumers across generations and brings friends and families together each and every Saturday to celebrate their favorite team around the foods they love. Eckrich is excited to be at the center of that celebration. The Trojans have a storied football history and a very passionate fan base and we look forward to connecting Eckrich with USC students, alumni, fans, and families in the coming season.”

“We are thrilled to extend our relationship with Eckrich for the next two years,“ said Jeanne Vetter, Associate General Manager, Corporate Partnerships at Fox Sports Media Group and USC’s property rights holder. “Eckrich is a perfect fit for Trojan fans when they get together for tailgates or to watch the team any time it takes the field.”

For more information about the brand’s season-long activities and the Road to the National Championship sweepstakes visit www.EckrichFootball.com. For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.Eckrich.com or follow Eckrich on Facebook and Twitter.

Eckrich is also the Official Smoked Sausage and Deli Meat Sponsor of The College Football Playoff (CFP).

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. LEGAL RESIDENTS OF SPECIFIC STATES WITHIN THE 50 UNITED STATES (D.C.) WHO ARE THE AGE OF MAJORITY IN THEIR STATE OF RESIDENCE AT THE TIME OF ENTRY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes ends 12/20/18. For Official Rules, prize descriptions and odds disclosure, visit www.eckrichfootball.com. The $1,000,000 prize will be awarded as a 40-year annuity for which the winner will receive $25,000 annually for 40 years. Sponsor: Smithfield Packaged Meats Sales Corp., 4225 Naperville Rd., Lisle, IL 60532.

About Eckrich
Founded by Peter Eckrich in 1894, Eckrich has a rich heritage starting from a small meat market in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to one of the most recognized regional premium deli and meat brands on the market today. Through it all, Eckrich meats have been recognized for their great taste and supreme quality, craftsmanship, care, and pride. For more information, visit www.Eckrich.com. Eckrich is a brand of Smithfield Foods, Inc.

About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Nathan’s Famous®, Farmland®, Armour®, Farmer John®, Kretschmar®, John Morrell®, Cook’s®, Gwaltney®, Carando®, Margherita®, Curly’s®, Healthy Ones®, Morliny®, Krakus® and Berlinki®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety, and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com, and connect with us on FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn.

About University of Southern California
USC has one of the nation’s most successful athletic programs. Trojan teams have won 129 national championships (97 men’s, including a national-best 84 NCAA titles, and 32 women’s), more than all but 2 other schools. USC’s men athletes have won more individual NCAA titles (326) than any other school (the Women of Troy have another 78 individual NCAA crowns). Troy has more Olympians, medalists and gold medalists than any school: since 1904, 453 Trojans have competed in the Games, winning 144 gold medals (with at least 1 gold in every summer Olympics from 1912), 92 silver and 71 bronze. Four Trojans have won the prestigious Sullivan Award as America’s top amateur athlete: diver Sammy Lee (1953), shot putter Parry O’Brien (1959) and swimmers John Naber (1977) and Janet Evans (1989). Two Women of Troy have won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the top collegiate woman athlete of the year: Cheryl Miller (1983-84) and Angela Williams (2001-02). Trojan women have won 16 Honda Awards, as their sport’s top female athlete. USC student-athletes have received 53 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships (in the Top 10 among all schools) and Troy has had 36 first team Academic All-Americans and 4 athletes who were Rhodes Scholars. USC fields 21 intercollegiate teams, 9 men’s (football, basketball, baseball, track and field, swimming and diving, tennis, golf, water polo, volleyball) and 12 women’s (basketball, track and field, swimming and diving, tennis, golf, water polo, volleyball, rowing, cross country, lacrosse, sand volleyball).

About the College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 seed vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual. This season’s Playoff Semifinals will take place Saturday, December 29, 2018, at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and Capital One Orange Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be Monday, January 7, 2019, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Contact:
Hunter PR on behalf of Eckrich
Megan Milano
MMilano@HunterPR.com
(212) 679-6600