This Brand Will Spend $1 Million This Year Sponsoring Youth Sports

A Minnesota-based grocery chain has committed $1 million to sponsor over 1,500 youth sports teams in key markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast. The sponsorships which began last spring, it says, underscore the company's commitment to its local neighborhoods.

All told, the sponsorships have supported 1,542 teams--761 baseball teams and 781 soccer teams--providing more than 20,000 kids with the opportunity to participate in sports. While many companies spend on youth sports at the store-level, it's refreshing to see a brand make this type of strategic commitment to grassroots sports at the corporate level.

"As America's Neighborhood Grocer, we are continuously looking for opportunities to give back to our local communities, particularly in areas that promote healthy lifestyles," said Shelly Nelson, Supervalu corporate director of strategic media services. "Because diet and exercise are important to well-being, we saw this sponsorship as a complement to our focus on helping our shoppers eat well and a nice way to support stronger--and healthier--neighborhoods."

Supervalu is currently sponsoring 781 youth soccer teams across the country. Markets being sponsored this fall (# of stores in parenthesis) include Philadelphia (140), Billings, Montana/Boise, Idaho (54), Bakersfield, Ca/San Diego, CA/Santa Barbara, CA/Las Vegas, NV (191), Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (93), Norfolk, VA (22), Chicago, IL (112) and Boston, MA/Burlington, VT/Portland, ME (169). The company also sponsored 761 youth baseball teams in the same markets last spring.