ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 1, 1990                   TAG: 9006010098
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COMMITTEE SEEKING SPONSORS

To basketball fans, a conference tournament is one thing. To businessmen, it's quite another.

John Clarke, Dominion Bank's regional executive officer and a member of the Roanoke '91 Metro Conference Tournament committee, made that point Thursday in the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium lobby.

"It's a $7.5 million economic impact on the Roanoke Valley," Clarke told a gathering of about 125 at a reception formally introducing the Metro '91 logo and corporate sponsorship packages, and aimed at securing corporate money for the event. "It starts in 279 days. Get ready. Get your fair share."

The response of area businesses could determine the event's success and its chances of returning to Roanoke. Virginia Tech will play host to the Metro Tournament for the first time in the league's 16-year history, and it's only the fifth time the event has not been held in Louisville, Ky., or Memphis, Tenn.

"[Sponsorship] is vital to doing it the way we want to do it," said tournament director Danny Monk, an associate athletic director at Tech. "In order to do the extra, to make us stand apart . . . we need to generate this type of income."

The tournament committee presented sponsorship packages of $1,000, $2,500 and $5,000, for which businesses would receive either two, four or eight VIP tickets and an assortment of corporate perks.

Less than a half-hour after Clarke, Monk, Roanoke coordinator of special events Laban Johnson and tournament co-chairman Jess Newbern finished short speeches, promised money was flowing. Johnson and Newbern said they had received a combined eight or nine commitments for sponsorships totaling at least $50,000. Monk said the committee figures it can gross between $100,000-$120,000 from the corporate packages.

Jack Fisher of Finnegan and Agee Advertising, whose clients include Moore's Building Supplies, local McDonald's and Advance Auto Parts, said he was on a "fact-finding mission" and would report to his clients on the sponsorship possibilities.

"As an event, I believe in it," Fisher said. "It's a terrific idea and I think it's going to do a lot for the valley." 


 by CNB