ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), one of the nation's leading food companies, has reached a multi-year agreement with ESPN Regional Television to become the title sponsor of the newly created Hawaii Bowl beginning with the 2002 event, December 25 at 8 p.m. ET (3 p.m. local) from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The announcement was made by Tim McMahon, ConAgra Foods Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Marketing, and Chuck Gerber, ESPN Regional Television Executive Vice President and General Manager.

ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, Inc., owns and operates the newly created college football bowl game certified by the NCAA Football Bowl Certification Committee this past May. Under the direction of ESPN Regional Television, the University of Hawai'i will provide marketing, management and game day operations support for the ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl. The ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl will match a team from Conference USA against a team from the Western Athletic Conference.

"We felt it was important to secure one of America's finest companies as the sponsor of our new bowl and we found that in ConAgra Foods," said Gerber. "We are thrilled to partner with them on this Bowl game."

As part of the sponsorship, ConAgra Foods will receive extensive on-air advertising on ESPN during the ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl, plus exposure through ESPN Regional Television, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. Additional benefits will include on-site signage during the event, game program advertisements, event tickets, merchandise and hospitality.

"ConAgra Foods is excited to join up with ESPN in sponsoring the Hawai'i Bowl," said McMahon. "Besides being a great college football tradition ... it is held on one of America's favorite holidays and a great showcase for the many brands of ConAgra Foods, including Butterball Turkeys, ReddiWip, Hunt's tomatoes, Parkay, Gulden's, Swiss Miss, and many, many more."

Hawai'i Governor Ben Cayetano said, "The nationwide television broadcast on Christmas Day will show the rest of our nation what we island residents already know. Hawai'i is an outstanding state blessed with stunning natural beauty and some of the warmest people in the world. The State of Hawai'i is pleased to have ConAgra foods as the title sponsor of the Hawai'i Bowl."

University of Hawai'i Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Hugh Yoshida said, "We are excited about the Bowl game and the association with ESPN. Having ConAgra Foods as the title sponsor of the event shows the value of having a bowl game in Hawai'i on Christmas day."

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said, "ConAgra Foods has demonstrated they can be a great inter-collegiate corporate partner as witnessed by their BIG EAST Conference sponsorship. Everyone's goal is to build this Bowl into a national event and what better promotional partner than ConAgra Foods."

Conference USA Commissioner Mike Slive said, "We are excited that a Fortune 500 company is partnering with the Hawaii Bowl. Conference USA is pleased to be part of the first annual ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl."

The ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl will be part of ESPN and ESPN2's extensive bowl lineup. Last year, the networks combined to present 15 post-season college football bowl games, highlighted by Capital One Bowl Week featuring 12 games in six days. The Hawaii Bowl will mark the first non-all-star post-season game in Hawaii since December, 2000 when the Jeep Oahu Bowl and the Jeep Aloha Bowl were played in Honolulu.

ConAgra Foods is also the title sponsor of the ConAgra Foods BIG EAST Men's Basketball Championship and a year-round sponsor of BIG EAST basketball on ESPN Regional Television, the syndication rights holder for the conference.

ESPN Regional Television - Event Ownership
ERT is the nation's largest producer and distributor of collegiate sports programming, producing more than 550 sporting events a year. In addition to event ownership, ERT produces 400 events for national, regional and local networks, serves as the exclusive syndication rightsholder for college conferences (Big 12, Big Ten, BIG EAST, Conference USA, Mountain West and WAC) and exclusive marketing rightsholder for select schools (Kansas, Oregon, UNLV, TCU, UAB, South Florida and Iowa State).

In addition to the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl, ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several other collegiate sporting events. Examples have included the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Sega Sports Las Vegas Bowl, the AXA East - West Showdown, ESPN The Magazine's College Basketball Awards, The Home Depot College Football Awards, the C-USA Men's Basketball Tournament, the Mountain West Men's Basketball Tournament, the Charlotte Holiday Classic and the Las Vegas Showdown.

In recent years, ESPN, Inc. has created or acquired events it owns, markets and televises to increase its value to advertisers and affiliates. Examples include the ESPY Awards, X Games and Winter X Games, Skins Game, Great Outdoor Games, Jimmy V Men's Basketball Classic, Action Sports and Music Awards and much more.

ConAgra Foods
ConAgra Foods, Inc. is one of North America's largest food companies with a strong presence in consumer grocery as well as restaurant and foodservice establishments. ConAgra Foods' consumer brands include: Hunt's tomato products, Healthy Choice, Banquet meals, Armour meats, Bumble Bee tuna, Louis Kemp seafood, La Choy, Chun King, Lunch Makers, Knott's Berry Farm, Wesson, Country Pride, Blue Bonnet, Kid Cuisine, Parkay, Reddi-wip, Marie Callender's, Cook's ham, Butterball, Act II, Slim Jim, Eckrich, Chef Boyardee, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM cooking spray, Snack Pack puddings, Van Camp's, Peter Pan, Hebrew National, Gulden's mustard, Pemmican jerky, Swift Brown 'N Serve sausages, Swiss Miss, and many others. For more information, please visit www.conagrafoods.com.

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