MAC Announces Multi-Year Extension With Marathon Petroleum
MAC ANNOUNCES MULTI-YEAR EXTENSION WITH MARATHON PETROLEUM
2016 marks 14th year as title sponsor for the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game
Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced today a multi-year contract extension with Marathon Petroleum Company LP as the title sponsor for the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game through the 2018 college football season.
This year marks the 20th anniversary for the MAC Football Championship Game, with Marathon as title sponsor for the 14th consecutive season with the previous 13 Championship Games at Ford Field in Detroit.
“Our relationship with Marathon Petroleum as the title sponsor of the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game showcases the Conference’s students, coaches and fans to a national television audience on ESPN2,” said MAC Commissioner, Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher. “This extension ensures the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game will continue its proud legacy of great college football excitement from Ford Field in Detroit.”
“We’re proud to partner with the Mid-American Conference in hosting this championship game,” said Marathon Petroleum’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Tom Kelley. “Our involvement with the championship is yet another way we can strengthen our relationships with these tremendous schools, as well as celebrate the outcome of the Conference championship in MPC’s hometown region.”
This year’s Marathon MAC Football Championship Game will be held Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN2. The Marathon MAC Football Championship Game is the second-longest running college football conference championship game in the nation. In addition, with Ford Field as the host, this also makes the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game is the second-longest consecutive venue outside of the SEC’s title game from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
IMG, the multimedia rights partner of the MAC, negotiated the extension.
Marathon Petroleum became the title sponsor of the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game in 2003 when No. 14 ranked Miami, led by Ben Roethlisberger, defeated No. 20 ranked Bowling Green, 49-27. This season’s 2016 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game will be the 14th year for Marathon as title sponsor and this three-year contract extension will ensure the continuation of this relationship with the MAC through the 2018 college football season.
The MAC began staging a conference football championship game in 1997 and originally the game was played on campus sites through 2003. The game moved to Detroit in 2004 and this year’s 2016 Marathon MAC Football Championship will mark the 13th season for the game at Ford Field.
Since moving to Detroit, 10 of the 12 MAC full members have appeared at least once in the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game in Detroit, led by Northern Illinois with seven appearances, followed by Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Miami and Ohio with three appearances each.
In December 2014, the MAC and Ford Field announced a contract extension to keep the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field through the 2019 football season.
MAC Members Participation in Marathon MAC Football Championship Game in Detroit:
Akron (1 -- 2005);
Ball State (1 -- 2008);
Bowling Green (3 -- 2013, 2014, 2015);
Buffalo (1 -- 2008);
Central Michigan (3 -- 2006, 2007, 2009);
Kent State (1 -- 2012);
Miami (3 -- 2004, 2007, 2010);
Northern Illinois (7 -- 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015);
Ohio (3 -- 2006, 2009, 2011);
Toledo (1 -- 2004).
MAC Football Championship Game Results:
1997: Marshall 34, Toledo 13 (Huntington, W.V.)
1998: Marshall 23, Toledo 17 (Huntington, W.V.)
1999: Marshall 34, Western Michigan 30 (Huntington, W.V.)
2000: Marshall 19, Western Michigan 14 (Huntington, W.V.)
2001: Toledo 41, Marshall 36 (Toledo, Ohio)
2002: Marshall 49, Toledo 45 (Huntington, W.V.)
2003: Miami 49, Bowling Green 27 (Bowling Green, Ohio)
2004: Toledo 35, Miami 27 (Detroit, Mich.)
2005: Akron 31, Northern Illinois 30 (Detroit, Mich.)
2006: Central Michigan 31, Ohio 10 (Detroit, Mich.)
2007: Central Michigan 35, Miami 10 (Detroit, Mich.)
2008: Buffalo 42, Ball State 24 (Detroit, Mich.)
2009: Central Michigan 20, Ohio 10 (Detroit, Mich.)
2010: Miami 26, Northern Illinois 21 (Detroit, Mich.)
2011: Northern Illinois 23, Ohio 20 (Detroit, Mich.)
2012: Northern Illinois 44, Kent State 37 2OT (Detroit, Mich.)
2013: Bowling Green 47, Northern Illinois 27 (Detroit, Mich.)
2014: Northern Illinois 51, Bowling Green 17 (Detroit, Mich.)
2015: Bowling Green 34, Northern Illinois 14 (Detroit, Mich.)
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Founded in 1946, the Mid-American Conference is an NCAA Division I, 12-member conference that sponsors 23 championships and is one of 10 members of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). With total enrollment of nearly 300,000 students, the league represents institutions of higher learning in five (5) states - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, and Ohio.
Current MAC schools that hold full membership and the year they joined are -- East Division: University of Akron (1992), Bowling Green State University (1952), University at Buffalo (1998), Kent State University (1951), Miami University (1947), Ohio University (1946). West Division: Ball State University (1973), Central Michigan University (1971), Eastern Michigan University (1971), Northern Illinois University (1975-86, rejoined in 1997), University of Toledo (1950), Western Michigan University (1947). The conference office is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
