Bridgestone and TPC Give Entourage Fans A Chance to Hit the Links

Sports organizations looking for new ways to align with entertainment entities should consider benchmarking a recent sweepstakes promotion that TPC and Bridgestone ran on the Official Facebook page of HBO's hit show Entourage.

To help drive buzz for the show's season premiere on Sunday, HBO officials were running a five (5) day sweepstakes on the show's Official Facebook fan page that gave all participants a chance to win some extremely amazing prizes.

On Wednesday, June 23rd, Bridgestone & TPC Golf Courses teamed up with HBO to feature a sweepstakes prize package on the fan page that offered consumers the chance to win a Professional Staff Bag autographed by Fred Couples, a set of Cavity Back Irons, and two (2) rounds of golf at any TPC Course (excluding transportation to and from). The winner of the sweepstakes will be announced live by Emmanuelle during the Live Stream event on Sunday at 8pm EST / 11pm PST, which will be made available live on Entourage Facebook page through a special application and on LiveStream.com.

The Facebook fan page cross-promotion served as a terrific way for the PGA Tour, Bridgestone, and TPC Officials to target a large segment of young male consumers. The Official Entourage Facebook fan page has attracted 1.6MM avid followers and is widely recognized as a terrific entertainment platform to reach the male demo. The PGA Tour also capitalized on the unique cross-promotional opportunity by having the Golf Channel feature a segment on it on Inside the PGA Tour.

Check out a visual of the promotional execution below:

The Vikings and HBO Team Up on Entourage Offer...

Are you looking for new ways to leverage media and entertainment partners? Are you looking for new promotional ideas to offer your fan base?

The Minnesota Vikings have teamed up with HBO Home Entertainment to offer fans a chance to win an unforgettable experience. The collaborating parties are offering a "Win Your Own Entourage Weekend" that will enable one (1) lucky Vikings fan to take his entourage to see the team battle against the Phoenix Cardinals in Glendale, AZ on December sixth.

The impressive Entourage prize package includes:

• Four (4) first-class round trip flights to Arizona
• Four (4) tickets to the game
• Hotel accomodations at the team hotel
• Ground transportation
• Spending money

The Vikings feature two (2) web buttons at the bottom of the Entourage promotional page that guide fans to pages where they can purchase Entourage on DVD and other HBO Home Entertainment movies.

It is very interesting to see sports organizations begin to flirt with media and entertainment properties. The Los Angeles Dodgers have experimented with great success while other properties are still trying to develop key relationships. Look for more offers like the Vikings' Entourage Weekend to come in the near future!