FULLERTON, Calif. – Football season has kicked off and so have Yokohama Tire Corp.’s annual pigskin sponsorship programs. For the third straight year, Yokohama is using one of America’s most popular sports as a marketing tool, offering a variety of dealer and consumer promotions throughout the professional and college seasons in conjunction with the National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, as well as two high-visibility college teams, the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. The football campaign, the “Home Team Pride” jersey promotion, began Aug. 29 and runs through Oct. 17.

“America is ready for football season and so are we,” said Shawn Denlein, Yokohama director of sales, consumer products. “Once again the gridiron will help highlight our lineup of tires, including ADVAN, S.drive, PARADA, Geolandar, AVID and the all-new dB Super E-spec. These promotions, including the Home Team Pride jersey campaign, have proven to be a big hit with our dealers and their customers.”

The Home Team Pride promotion involves a jersey giveaway where dealers in the specific markets offer free, official replica team jerseys to every customer who buys any four Yokohama tires. Yokohama will also have signage, product displays and events at the stadiums, plus radio and television spots, presence on the teams’ Web sites and newsletters and other corporate identifications.

The football promotions follow successful Yokohama marketing ventures with two powerhouse NBA teams, the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.