Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced today that it has reached a multi-year sponsorship renewal agreement with Harley-Davidson. The world’s most famous motorcycle maker, which first became a core sponsor of the UFC® in 2008, will continue to be featured across multiple platforms including Pay-Per-View and television broadcasts, online, and in the UFC’s famed Octagon®.
On the heels of this major announcement, the companies also jointly announced the launch of a new promotion that gives fans the opportunity to bring a UFC event to their city in late 2012. Beginning next month, fans can visit http://www.ufc.com/hometownthrowdown and vote for their city to win the Hometown Throwdown event. The fully-interactive site will include all of the latest information on the promotion, as well as unique offerings from Harley-Davidson. The city finalists will be announced in early 2012, with the winner being crowned in the spring. The event is expected to be held next summer.
“Harley-Davidson has been a great partner for the UFC since 2008 and we’re excited to continue working with them for years to come,” UFC President Dana White said. “We love keeping the fans involved and so does Harley-Davidson, so we’re also excited to partner with them for the Hometown Throwdown. This is a great promotion. Fans are always asking for us to bring a UFC event to their city and now they’re in control. If they want the UFC in their city, they just have to rock the vote.”
Further demonstrating its commitment to the UFC and its athletes, Harley-Davidson was instrumental in the UFC putting on its first event in the state of Wisconsin last night. In front of thousands of fans at Bradley Center in Harley-Davidson’s hometown of Milwaukee, Chris Lytle defeated Dan Hardy in the exciting welterweight main event. For his victory, Harley-Davidson awarded Lytle with a 2012 Harley-Davidson HD BLACKLINE motorcycle with 103 Cubic Inch Engine.
“We were excited to have the UFC visit Harley-Davidson’s hometown of Milwaukee this weekend for the first time ever,” said Harley-Davidson Chief Marketing Officer Mark-Hans Richer. “To celebrate UFC’s arrival in our hometown, we wanted to present the winner of the main event with a gift that only Harley-Davidson could pull off. So, Chris Lytle is going home with a new, 2012 Harley-Davidson HD Blackline. Now, we look forward to the Hometown Throwdown promotion and giving UFC and Harley-Davidson fans the opportunity to bring a major UFC card to their city next year.”
