NEW YORK Online travel site Expedia.com, which last November signed a multiyear deal to become the official travel sponsor of the NFL, this season will break its first multimedia effort to support the alliance.
The push, to coincide with the start of the 2008 NFL campaign, will include TV spots, Internet and possibly print featuring Matt Hasselbeck, veteran quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, and Washington Redskins' quarterback Jason Campbell. In the spots, the players discuss what makes Expedia is the best venue to find exclusive deals on airline tickets and hotel reservations for NFL fans following their home teams during road trips. The site is also touted as the place to go for travel accommodations covering Super Bowl XLIII, which will take place Feb. 1, 2009, in Tampa, and the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
Expedia's NFL alliance includes a dedicated Web site, Expedia.com/nfl. Online support for the new campaign will include 32 destination guides, one for each NFL team, where Hasselbeck and Campbell offer their "best picks" among hotels, restaurants and other venues in each city.
Ad spending was not disclosed. Bellevue, Wash.-based Expedia spent $90 million in media (not including online) in 2007 and $30 million-plus January-May 2008, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Expedia's lead agency is independent Doner, Southfield, Mich.
Expedia last season ran an NFL-themed sweepstakes that included travel packages to Super Bowl XLII in Arizona and the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl.
