Local SUBWAY(R) Restaurants share in success of Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — Amid the roar of success as the Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes have emerged as a different kind of hero for their sponsors – a hero of increased ratings and media exposure. In fact, the ratings for the last game of the Stanley Cup finals on NBC reached nearly 3.6 million viewers nationally, according to Nielsen – this is approximately 20 times more viewers than for a regular season game.

“The Hurricanes’ win in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup was an advertiser’s dream,” said Lewis Finch, president of MarketSmart Advertising of Raleigh and account executive for local SUBWAY(R) Restaurants. “This is a unique case of local advertising dollars benefiting a brand on the national level.”

Every time Rod Brind’Amour scrambled for the puck or Mike Commodore bodychecked an opponent against the glass, the logos of sponsors, like SUBWAY(R) Restaurants, were visible along the “dasher boards” surrounding the ice, providing the backdrop for the Hurricanes’ arena-filled wins.

Raleigh’s RBC Center hosted four of the final games of the Stanley Cup, including the legendary night of June 19 when the Hurricanes won it all. The ratings for these four home games totaled more than 8 million viewers nationwide, according to Nielsen.

“Dasher boards gave us an unconventional vessel for projecting the SUBWAY(R) brand to the millions of viewers who watched the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup,” Finch said. “We are proud that SUBWAY(R) could be associated with this homegrown success story.”

While the team was very popular locally, Hurricanes’ games throughout the regular season fetched merely respectable ratings on cable’s Fox Sports Net and Outdoor Life Network, according to MarketSmart Advertising Media Director Nancy Brinson. However, ratings went from marginal to phenomenal when NBC took over coverage for the playoff game on Saturday, June 10.

“People all over North America were tuning in to watch the Hurricanes play,” Brinson said. “The advertisers who stayed with the team until the end really reaped the rewards.”

In Canada, where hockey is a vital part of the national identity, SUBWAY(R) Restaurants gained additional exposure from the millions of viewers who watched the Stanley Cup Finals on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

For more information on local SUBWAY(R) Restaurants and their sponsorship of the Carolina Hurricanes, please call Jamie L. Martin at (919) 420-6072.

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About SUBWAY(R) Restaurants
With more than 26,000 locations in 83 countries, the SUBWAY(R) Restaurant chain is the world’s largest submarine sandwich franchise. In 2002, the SUBWAY(R) chain surpassed McDonald’s in the number of restaurants open in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Milford, Conn., the SUBWAY(R) Restaurant chain was co-founded by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck in 1965. This partnership marked the beginning of a remarkable journey — one that made it possible for thousands of individuals to succeed in owning their own business. The SUBWAY(R) chain was named the number one franchise opportunity in all categories by Entrepreneur magazine in its Annual Franchise 500 ranking for 2005. This marks the 14th time in 18 years that SUBWAY(R) Restaurants has received this distinction. For more information on SUBWAY(R) Restaurants, please visit www.subway.com.