CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati and Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) have entered into a multiple-year agreement during which Allegiant will be the club’s Official Airline Partner.
The cornerstone agreement includes club and stadium assets – both at Nippert Stadium in 2019 and 2020 and at West End Stadium starting in 2021 – as well as community programming, fan experiences, game day and in-game activations, media and digital activations and the presenting sponsorship of the FC Cincinnati Golden Boot Award.
Allegiant is well-known as the Hometown Airline for Tri-State residents with daily departures to many of the country’s top leisure destinations, including Los Angles, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Myrtle Beach, Phoenix, Austin and seven cities in Florida.
Among other public-facing elements of the partnership are an Allegiant Gate at both Nippert Stadium on FCC game days and then a permanent gate at the under-construction West End Stadium, which is set to open in March 2021.
Allegiant will also offer the popular “Allegiant Fan Flyaway Promotion” each year of the partnership, providing the opportunity for FC Cincinnati fans to win two tickets to any Allegiant destination during each home game, as well as the grand prize of an all-expense paid trip to an FCC road game wherever Allegiant flies.
Additionally, the club’s annual goal-scoring champion will win the Golden Boot Delivered by Allegiant.
“We’re so pleased Allegiant is part of the FC Cincinnati family,” FCC President and General Manager Jeff Berding said. “Our fans have embraced the ease and accessibility the airline offers and how easy it is for them to go all over the county out of CVG. For a fanatical fan base like ours, ease of travel to our away games – and for personal enjoyment and vacations, too – is especially important. This partnership is a great fit for both of us and we’re looking forward to a long, productive relationship.”
“We’re thrilled to deepen our connection to the Cincinnati community by joining forces with the fan-favorite FC Cincinnati team,” said Scott DeAngelo, Allegiant chief marketing officer. “As the Hometown Airline of 122 cities across the country, it is a priority for us to connect with the people we serve in those cities, so a partnership like this one that enables us to work with the hometown team is a game-changing opportunity for us, while we make it easy for fans to conveniently and affordably travel to follow the team.”
Two standouts in the Greater Cincinnati community, Allegiant and FC Cincinnati are a natural fit as FCC begins its Major League Soccer era.
Allegiant has served the Cincinnati area with its brand of convenient, friendly, ultra-low-cost nonstop air service since 2014 and now serves 19 cities from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Since beginning service in Cincinnati, Allegiant has transported more than three million area travelers to the country’s most sought-after vacation destinations. The company also operates an aircraft base at CVG, housing five Airbus aircraft and employing nearly 200 local residents as pilots, flight attendants, aircraft mechanics and more.
FC Cincinnati is one of the hottest sports properties in America, having taken the North American sporting landscape by storm since its founding in late 2015. Building on record-setting crowds and successful and record-setting on-field performances – as well as world-wide acclaim for its rabid fanbase – FC Cincinnati earned an expansion berth in Major League Soccer after three years in the United Soccer League, the second division of soccer in the U.S. and Canada. Now, almost three months into its inaugural MLS campaign, FC Cincinnati has continued to draw world-renowned crowds and ranks third in MLS in attendance behind two teams that play in NFL stadiums.
ABOUT FC CINCINNATI
FC Cincinnati is a professional soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer, having entered the league as its 24th team this season. The club’s ownership group is led by managing owners Carl H. Lindner III, Scott Farmer and George Joseph. MLS extended Cincinnati an expansion team in May 2019, providing the club the fastest run-ups to its first-division launch in league history – 277 days. Originally founded in 2015 by Lindner III and current President Jeff Berding, FCC played in the United Soccer League for three seasons (2016-18) before moving to MLS this year. The team currently plays its home games at the historic Nippert Stadium on the campus of the University of Cincinnati, and has begun construction on a $250 million, privately funded soccer-specific stadium in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati that is expected to open in early 2021. | Follow the team on social media on Twitter,Instagram, Facebook or YouTube, or visit the club’s official website: fccincinnati.com.
ABOUT ALLEGIANT
Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is focused on linking travelers to world-class leisure destinations. The airline offers industry-low fares on an all-jet fleet while also offering other travel-related products such as hotel rooms and rental cars. All can be purchased only through the company website, Allegiant.com. Beginning with one aircraft and one route in 1999, the company has grown to over 80 aircraft and more than 300 routes across the country with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For downloadable press kit, including photos, visit: http://gofly.us/iiFa303wrtF.
