Sponsorship Proposal:

Buffalo Bills

&

Yancey’s Fancy

Wayne HenryPresident & CEOYancey’s Fancy857 Main RoadCorfu, NY, 14036

Dear Mr. Henry,

The Buffalo Bills would like to present to you an invitation of a potential sponsorship agreement. We have identified your company, Yancey’s Fancy, as a potential sponsor because of your deeply rooted tradition and your commitment to Western New York.

When you walk into a Buffalo Bills tailgate you are overwhelmed with a variety of sights, sounds, and smells. One of those very distinct smells is the scent of freshly sliced Yancey’s Fancy Smoked Gouda and Bacon (my personal favorite) cooking on a burger. We decided since Yancey’s Fancy is already such a large part of Bills tailgates, why not make it official?

After much research, we determined that your company’s values, target markets, and demographics match ours and a partnership with you would greatly benefit both sides. We believe that a partnership with us will allow for you to grow your brand not only through Western and Upstate New York, but throughout the country where ever Bills fans are. The loyalty Bills fans have to our partners based out of Western New York is unmatched, and can be seen through our partnership with Sahlen’s Hotdogs.

Enclosed within the attached sponsorship proposal is an outline of the benefits your company will receive by partnering with the Buffalo Bills. We intend to increase brand awareness through television and radio ads, and ads within New Era Field as well. The goal of this will ultimately be to increase sales for Yancey’s Fancy. Along with the aforementioned advertisements we also plan to increase sales by offering concession stand food with your cheese featured instead of our current cheese. Finally, we want to increase customer loyalty by introducing a Bills Backers punch card to encourage fans to visit your factory and purchase the finest cheeses in all of New York.

I look forward to speaking with you in the near future and I am positive that a partnership between Yancey’s Fancy and the Buffalo Bills will be beneficial to both parties. Thank you for your time and consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions regarding the proposal.

Go Bills!

Sincerely,

Brent RossiExecutive VP of Marketing & Brand Strategy

History and Overview

The Buffalo Bills played their first competitive game in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. After the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the Bills started play in the Eastern division of the American Football Conference. With many draft picks stocked up in the late 70’s into the early 80’s, the Bills started making positive changes on the field. This led to an unprecedented four consecutive Conference Titles and four consecutive Super Bowl appearances, something that has yet to be replicated.

The Buffalo Bills have one of the most loyal fan bases in all of sports. The official fan organization, The Bills Backers, can be found at dedicated restaurants all around the country and even in Europe and Oceana. More recently, the focus of Bills fandom has turned to the Bills Mafia. These enthusiastic fans are not only a vital function for the Bills success, they are also vital to our sponsors. They have been a huge part in our sponsorship successes with New Era Cap Company and Sahlen’s Hotdogs.

Ownership and Management

The Bills primary owner and President was Ralph Wilson, from 1960 until his death in 2014. After a long elimination process, Terry and Kim Pegula were unanimously selected to be the next owners. The Pegula’s also own the Buffalo Sabres, and in their short time running both teams have united Buffalo under the “One Buffalo” slogan. The new, unified Buffalo has brought great success to sponsors of one or both of the teams.

Buffalo Bills Game DaysVenue

The Bills play in New Era Field, one of the only bowl stadiums in America. New Era Field is located in Orchard Park, a suburb of southern Buffalo. This has been the home of the Bills since 1973. The location allows for quick travel time from just about all of Buffalo and has ample parking around the stadium. New Era Field has a capacity of 73,079, which includes 56 dugout suites and 65 boxes at club level. The most recent renovations happened in 2012 which included two new sponsor boards on either side of the video scoreboard. The stadium commits itself to conservation efforts with the Blue Team Recycling effort, which is aimed at involving fans in the recycling effort by handing out bags for recyclables during tailgates.

Pregame Events

Before each home game, an electric atmosphere can be found on “The Billevard.” The Billevard is located in front of the stadium and can only be described as the ultimate tailgate experience. On the Billevard, you can find a range of activities from a virtual reality run out on the field to a barber cutting Bills patterns into fans’ hair. The Billevard is also home to our food truck rodeo and beer garden on game days. It is the perfect place for Bills fans to interact with the team and the team’s sponsors.

The Fan Zone is another great pregame option. This event is located at the training center right next door to New Era Field. In the Fan Zone, fans will be able to enjoy the brand-new media lounge that features more virtual reality options and a mechanical Bills helmet to ride. This atmosphere is geared towards families and allows young Bills fans to learn the history of the Bills as well as participate in common scouting combine activities. The area is conducive to letting our sponsors interact with the fans in the best way possible, by allowing our sponsors to utilize their space for interactive displays.

Game Day Optimization

To optimize the fan’s game day experience, the Bills introduced the Bills Mobile App in 2012. The app allows for fans not at the game to get play-by-play updates, as well as on-demand highlights and player/coach interviews. For fans at the game, the app gives them access to all of the Bills social media on one screen and real-time stat updates. The app has been used by many of our sponsors to successfully reach fans all across the country.

New Era Field also offers complimentary wireless internet to the Bills faithful. While it may seem like a small gesture, the fans have really enjoyed the ability to use their mobile devices during the game.

Attendance and Audience FiguresAttendance Figures:

2016: 8 home games 548,073 total fans at home games 68,510 average fans per home game

2015: 8 home games 559,047 total fans at home games 69,881 average fans per home game

Audience Demographics:

Bills Fans:

The typical Bills fan is a Caucasian male, between the ages of 18-49, with an average household income of over $75,000 per year.

NFL Viewers:(All figures from the 2016-17 season)Age:

18-34: 23.1% 35-49: 24.2% 50+: 47.9%

Gender: Male: 53.5 Female: 46.5

Annual Income: < $25,000: 16.3% $25,000-$49,999: 21.5% $50,000-$99,999: 32.3% $100,000+: 29.9%

69%

31%

Gender

Male

Female

Media Coverage

Radio Broadcasts:

The home station of the Buffalo Bills is WGR 550 AM. The station is broadcast throughout Western and Upstate New York as well as on Sirius/XM radio. Bills radio has approximately seventeen affiliates across New York. Bills games can even be heard on the radio in Toronto.

Television Broadcasts:

Preseason:

Preseason coverage and games can be found on Buffalo’s ABC affiliate, WKBW channel 7. Coverage and games can also be found on the sister channels in Syracuse, Erie, and Rochester. The coverage and games are broadcast to all of Western and Upstate New York.

Regular Season:

All regular season games are produced by the NFL. In the event a game is covered by ESPN, it will also be picked up by WKBW.

New Developments:

At the start of the 2016 season it was announced that a new rights deal was made including the Buffalo Sabres. The Bills and Sabres had most of their team programming moved to MSG – Western New York. This channel gives Buffalo sports fans one network to be caught up on all things Buffalo sports related. This move is a major part of One Buffalo’s success in unifying the

city of Buffalo. Now getting your Buffalo sports news is easier than ever. This also provides our sponsors a unique opportunity to get their brand in front of as many fan’s eyes as possible.

Social Media:

The Bills utilize multiple different forms of social media to interact with fans.

Facebook (860,398 likes):

Twitter (793,000+ followers):

Instagram (387,000+ followers):

Snapchat:

Organizational CompatibilityTradition

The Bills and Yancey’s Fancy are both deeply rooted in tradition. Yancey’s Fancy tradition can be traced back to the opening of the new factory in Corfu, NY. It was here that Leo Kutter and his two young sons would start the tradition of innovative cheese crafting that is still beloved by many Western New Yorkers. Just like the Bills, the tradition did not change when ownership changed for Yancey’s Fancy in 1998. It is amazing that this great tradition still remains so strong today. The Bills traditions date back to the late 80’s with the addition of the Bills version of “Shout” by the Isley Brothers. Every time the Bills score a touchdown the song is played and all of New Era Field can be heard singing along. The Bills also added the “12th Man” to their Wall of Fame in 1992 to celebrate the fans’ loyalty to the team during their Super Bowl runs. While the name has changed to the “Bills Backers,” the tradition of the Bills having some of the loudest fans in the country remains the same.

Commitment to Western New York

Yancey’s Fancy and the Bills have been part of Western New York for as long as most people can remember. Yancey’s Fancy’s commitment dates back to when Leo Kutter decided to relocate his factory from Cowlesville, NY to Corfu, NY. While both locations are in Western New York, Corfu offers a much more central location for shipping throughout Western and Upstate

New York. The first sentence of Yancey’s Fancy’s motto is “Yancey’s Fancy is New York’s artisan cheese.” This is a powerful statement because it implies Yancey’s Fancy is not going anywhere anytime soon. The Buffalo Bills’ commitment to Western New York can be seen in their community work throughout Buffalo. Their biggest program is called “Touchdown for Teachers,” in which they honor seven of Buffalo’s top teachers and the grand prize winner is given a $2,000 grant for their school. The Bills also just signed a contract extending their stay in Buffalo until the end of the 2023 season.

Sponsorship PackageThe specific goals for the sponsorship package are as follows:

Increase brand awareness Increase sales Customer loyalty

Increase Brand Awareness

Yancey’s Fancy will receive stadium signage featuring the logo and select cheeses The Bills website will feature the Yancey’s Fancy logo along with their other current

sponsors Opportunities to set up in the Bills Fan Zone and the Billevard to spread awareness of

the company and its products Create a contest to have Bills fans submit new cheese flavor ideas with the winner

receiving a wheel of their flavored cheese Introduce the Yancey’s Fancy brand on MSG-WNY, WGR Bills Radio, and on select social

media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) Label Yancey’s Fancy as the “Official Cheese of the Buffalo Bills” Run Yancey’s Fancy ads during radio broadcast of Bills games

Increase Sales

Substitute regular cheese used in concessions with Yancey’s Fancy to allow fans to taste the cheese

Allow Yancey’s Fancy to set up a table and tent at the Fan Zone, Billevard, and various other tailgate spots to hand out samples and to inform fans of their product

Advertise the introduction of Yancey’s Fancy on the video board and inform fans their cheese is now being used on concession stand food

Create fun promotional events to run during gameso Cheese wheel race, winner gets a Yancey’s Fancy gift card

Customer Loyalty

Develop a Bills Backer punch card, every tenth purchase of Yancey’s Fancy is free (only available at the Yancey’s Fancy factory to encourage fans to visit the location)

Encourage Bills fans to sign up for a mailing list for updates and news (exclusive offers through mailing list)

Package Price

Total Package Value: $250,000Yancey’s Fancy Investment: $200,000

Impact Measure

In order to ensure the success of the sponsorship, evaluations will be taken at all three levels of the sponsorship package.

Increase Brand Awareness

Document traffic to Yancey’s Fancy’s website during and after the regular seasono Includes recording click paths

Measure television exposure on MSG-WNY Administer brand awareness surveys to fans during and after games to gauge the level

brand awareness throughout the fan base

Increase Sales

Record any increases in sales of concessions with Yancey’s Fancy cheese Record differences in cheese sales before, during, and after the season Determine the number of coupons given away in the Fan Zone and the Billevard, then

determine how many coupons were redeemed

Customer Loyalty

Record the number of Bills Backer punch cards that are used for cheese sales at the factory

Monitor the mailing list and keep track of new subscribers and unsubscribers