NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association (NBA) presented the Orlando Magic with the inaugural NBA Team Sponsorship Activation of the Year Award at the annual NBA Sponsorship Workshop in Toronto on May 2. All 30 NBA teams submitted a total of more than 50 programs and the voting was conducted by a panel of team sponsorship executives.

The league recognized the Magic for its creative and highly effective “3-Point Hot Shot Promotion” partnership with restaurant chain Tijuana Flats. Each time the Magic hit 10 or more 3-pointers in a home game during the 2011-12 season, Magic fans had the opportunity to receive a free taco by showing their ticket stub at any Central Florida Tijuana Flats location the following day. During the 2011-12 season, the Magic hit 10 or more 3-pointers in 16 games, resulting in more than 12,000 ticket-stub redemptions with 25 percent coming from first-time customers for the restaurant.

The Magic featured the “Tijuana Flats 3-Point Hot Shot Promotion” prominently across all team assets, including social media, in-arena signage, and during all local game broadcasts, as well as at all Central Florida Tijuana Flats locations. The promotion stood out not only for the sales success, but the unique way the team and sponsor were able to quantify the results. They collected valuable customer information on sales by scanning all redemptions back into the Magic’s Customer Relationship Management System, which allowed both the team and Tijuana Flats to remarket in a more customized fashion.

“The NBA Team Sponsorship Activation of the Year is a way to acknowledge the many great platforms that our teams and their partners have created together,” said NBA Executive Vice President of Team Marketing & Business Operations Chris Granger.  “The Magic’s partnership with Tijuana Flats is the perfect example of the sort of high-quality, effective activation that is so valuable for teams, partners, and fans. This standout promotion not only resulted in an increase in sales, but also helped the team develop a unique customer information collection system that has changed the way they understand and interact with their fans.”

“On behalf of the Magic and the entire corporate partnership department we are grateful and honored to be recognized by our esteemed colleagues,” said Magic Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and Marketing Chip Bowers. “Through a team approach focused on creative, strategic and quantifiable activation our partnership with Tijuana Flats was able to provide a return that was truly valued by both the partner and the Magic.”

“This is the first time that Tijuana Flats has participated in a sponsorship of this magnitude,” said Brian Wheeler, CEO and founder of Tijuana Flats. “The commitment and dedication that the Magic has provided to this partnership reflects strongly in the overwhelming redemptions we have received. Our Central Florida guests were already fans of the Magic, but this activation brought it to a whole new level.”