SACREMENTO, CA (Dec. 20, 2016) – Today, The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), in conjuction with Crown Sports United, announced an extended partnership with Blue Diamond Almonds, the world’s leading almond brand. Crown Sports United will serve as an agent for USSA’s major events, including the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, the Putnam Investments Freestyle Challenge and U.S. Alpine Championships. It currently serves as the global sales representative tasked with marketing property and intellectual rights within the USSA portfolio.
Sacramento Basketball Holdings, LLC (SBH) launched Crown Sports United in 2014 as a full service consulting practice to assist with sponsorship development and brand building for a wide range of clients. With the full resources of the Sacramento Kings and extended partnerships, Crown Sports United assists with partner prospecting, negotiations, activation and measurement. In addition to USSA, select clients include Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and Visit Sacramento, which utilized Crown Sports United services for the 2014 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
“We’re excited to help USSA athletes by creating a unique partnership with Blue Diamond,” said Sacramento Kings President and Crown Sports United Executive Chris Granger.
Blue Diamond extends their Olympic endeavors with a four-year deal with USSA in the run up to 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. As part of the partnership, Blue Diamond will be deeply incorporated into the athlete’s preparation and training. Blue Diamond will work with the USSA’s Director of High Performance and High Performance Dietician to incorporate Blue Diamond Almonds into athlete snacks and meals at the USSA’s Center of Excellence, the organization’s training facility in Park City, UT.
“Our work with USSA in the past was powerful,” said Blue Diamond CEO Mark Jansen, “and our future partnership is just as promising. We’re on track to build our relationship with the next generation of American athletes and to build our brand with the next generation of almond fans.”
“We continue to seek out sponsors that want to activate their brands and products with our athletes and events in unique and authentic ways,” said Michael Jaquet, USSA chief marketing officer. “Integrating Blue Diamond Almonds in to our High Performance program at the COE and then telling that story through digital, social, and television assets helps us on many fronts. We can now do this for the next four years which will be very impactful to our programs. We are very excited to welcome back our friends at Blue Diamond to the USSA corporate sponsorship program and roster.”
