STATE FARM MAGIC CC: BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Alabama Sports Foundation has announced that State Farm Insurance Company has committed to serve as the title sponsor of the Magic City Classic for the 2009-2011 matchups.

The Magic City Classic is the largest attended black college football game in the country and features the Alabama A&M Bulldogs against the Alabama State Hornets at Birmingham's Legion Field. The game will be played on Oct. 31 this year.

Last year's crowd of 69,213 led all black college games in attendance and broke the Classic's record of 68,593 set the previous year.

State Farm has been a part of the game for seven years, most recently serving as the half-time sponsor. Increasing their sponsorship level enables State Farm to expand their reach in the southeast region.

"State Farm has long enjoyed the partnership with the Magic City Classic and now with our expanded partnership we are better able to show our support for the local community, college athletics and this great Birmingham tradition while enhancing the State Farm brand in the marketplace," explained Rich Fuller, State Farm Southern Zone Marketing Manager.

State Farm, headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois, is the largest provider of auto insurance in the nation and is a leader in home owners, health and life insurance. The company markets its products through more than 17,000 agents in the United States and Canada.

"The Magic City Classic is so important to the success of both universities' athletic programs and we are very appreciative of State Farm's commitment to this important event. State Farm, along with all of our corporate partners, understands the significance of this game to our region and realizes it is a great opportunity to market their products and services to a very large and loyal fan base." said Faye Oates, Executive Director of the Magic City Classic.

In conjunction with the new title sponsorship, State Farm and the Magic City Classic will be unveiling three new logos and encouraging fans to vote on their favorite. Logos are posted on www.themagiccityclassic.com and the winning logo will be announced August 28th.

TSU CHOOSES FANRAISER: The Texas Southern University Department of Athletics is launching a fundraising effort using the social media product of FanRaiser.org. TSU has agreed to use the FanRaiser Cause to equip its academic support center. The campaign began August 21.

"We are excited about the opportunity to use this social media network in raising funds to enhance our academic support center for our student-athletes," said Charles McClelland, TSU Athletics Director. "This computer equipment will provide our student-athletes valuable assistance in the pursuit of their academic goals."

The FanRaiser Cause is a service which allows an athletic department to post a specific need on the FanRaiser.org website. The details of the Cause are displayed on a dedicated page which includes the purpose of the Cause and the dollar amount needed to successfully fund the Cause. FanRaiser has also developed widgets which can be posted on affiliated websites to show the progress of the campaign. TSU has set a goal of $54,500 for this Cause.

"We are pleased that TSU has chosen to use our services for this social media effort," said FanRaiser CEO Kenn Rashad. "The Tiger faithful will get the opportunity to raise money using viral social networking techniques we've developed specifically to serve college athletic programs."

FanRaiser.org is a non-profit organization created to provide fundraising solutions and services to collegiate athletic programs throughout the United States.

© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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