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TheStar.com reports that Tim Horton’s has signed up for title sponsorship of the NHL All-Star Game to be held in January 2012 in Ottawa.  This will be a great marketing opportunity for the franchise’s doughnut and coffee products.  Tim Horton’s will have in-arena signage and their logo at centre ice.  It has more than 3,000 franchises in Canada and 600 in U.S.

Tim Horton’s has signed on as the title sponsor for January’s NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa, deepening the already profound bond between Canada’s favourite sport and its number-one source of doughnuts and coffee.

The deal includes title sponsorship of the game, in-arena signage and a Tim Horton’s logo at centre ice.

Last hockey season Tim Horton’s, which has more than 3,000 franchises in Canada and more than 600 in the U.S., sponsored the NHL’s Heritage Classic, an outdoor game at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

With no similar event scheduled for a Canadian venue this year, executives from the league and Tim Horton’s decided the All-Star Game, which takes place Jan. 29, 2012, presented the best opportunity to capitalize on the marketing momentum they created last season.

“It all pointed to the All-Star Game,” said Kyle McMann, the NHL’s vice president of marketing partnerships. “It really becomes a celebration of hockey…on a national stage.”

For Tim Horton’s, the partnership with the league helps extend a hockey sponsorship portfolio that includes deals with all seven Canadian NHL clubs and a “Timbits” program that helps fund a nationwide network of youth hockey clubs.

York University sports marketing professor Vijay Setlur says it’s also an opportunity for Tim Horton’s to raise its profile in states like New York and Massachusetts, where hockey is popular and where Tim Horton’s hopes to wrest market share from Dunkin’ Donuts.

“From both sides of the border, it makes sense,” Setlur says. “They know much the NHL has grown in popularity over the last couple of years and they want to be part of that positive momentum. It doesn’t hurt to have extra (U.S. exposure).”

And for NHL the deal is part of a broader plot by sports leagues to wring more sponsorship dollars from special events.

Photo by shine.is.dead