Corporate clout: Company CEO says renewed Sun Bowl game backing to be discussed [El Paso Times, Texas]

(El Paso Times (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 27--EL PASO -- Gerald Rubin is not ready to tip his hand on whether his company will extend its sponsorship of the Brut Sun Bowl game.

Helen of Troy has been the game's title sponsor for six years at an annual cost of about $1 million, which includes paying for the bowl's halftime show, said Rubin, the company's founder and CEO. The company's sponsorship contract with the Sun Bowl ends after Thursday's game.
"I don't know if we'll continue the sponsorship," Rubin said last week. "I'm sure there will be discussions after the game." The bowl has been named for Helen of Troy's Brut cologne the past four years. It was named for its Vitalis hair tonic for the first two years of the El Paso company's bowl sponsorship.

Bernie Olivas, Sun Bowl executive director, said, "It will be tough to find someone else" because of the recession. "If Gerry says no, we'll have to go looking. Sometimes, you get lucky. Some bowls have found a sponsor in two months, some in two years." The Sun Bowl, now in its 76th year, struggled to survive when it had no title sponsor in 1994 and 1995 after it lost its first title sponsor, insurance and financial services company John Hancock.


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