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**MCDONALD'S TEAMS UP WITH NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS ON $21 MILLION DEAL**
McDonald's Named Official Quick Service Restaurant at CMGI Field -- First McDonald's Ever Inside a National Football League Stadium
BOSTON, May 8, 2002 - McDonald's Corporation and the MAC Inc. Co-op, (McDonald's restaurant Owner/Operators of eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire), and the New England Patriots announce a 10-year, $21 million agreement that will make McDonald's the official quick service restaurant (QSR) at CMGI Field. The agreement is a landmark one for McDonald's as these will be the first McDonald's restaurants inside the "bowl" of a National Football League stadium anywhere in the country.
The agreement, which includes both food service and advertising/marketing components, provides increased brand presence and category exclusivity inside the much anticipated, state-of-the-art stadium. The local McDonald's Co-op will contribute to the advertising and marketing components, which will provide interior and exterior signage as well as inclusion in New England Patriots and New England Revolution radio and television advertising. The McDonald's Corporation will construct and operate the in-stadium restaurants.
There will be four McDonald's restaurants inside the stadium -- one in each end zone and one on both the east and west sides of the upper concourse. A limited menu consisting of Quarter Pounders®, Chicken McNuggets®, McDonald's World Famous French Fries, and soft drinks, will be available in order to provide quick service to the anticipated high volume of fans who will come to the restaurants in concentrated time periods. The four restaurants are expected to create approximately 125 new jobs.
"We expect CMGI Field to be the most fan-friendly facility of its kind," said Patriots Vice Chairman Jonathan Kraft. "We are emphasizing fast and friendly service from all of our concessionaires. McDonald's has been providing that service to billions of patrons for generations. By adding McDonald's to our concession options, we are giving our fans the most popular and most familiar fast-food service in the world."
"We are proud to be the first McDonald's restaurants in any NFL stadium in the country," says John S. Lambrechts, McDonald's Regional Vice President. "This is an ideal partnership opportunity for McDonald's. It allows us to work with the Kraft family and reach out to our customers in a new and exciting venue."
"On behalf of the McDonald's Owner/Operators in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, we are proud to be associated with a championship team and one of New England's most prominent business and philanthropic families," says Sid Boorstein, McDonald's Owner/Operator and MAC Inc. Co-op President. "We are looking forward to being on their winning team for many seasons to come."
At a cost of $325 million, CMGI Field is the largest privately-financed construction project in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has generated over 1,200 jobs. It will host a number of limited capacity events throughout the spring and summer, beginning with a capacity crowd of 22,000 for the New England Revolution home opener on Saturday, May 11. When CMGI Field is completed, it will be the largest outdoor entertainment venue in New England with a capacity of 68,000 seats. The first full-stadium event will take place on Aug. 17 when the Patriots host the Philadelphia Eagles. The grand opening of CMGI Field is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2002 when the Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season premiere of Monday Night Football.
There are 323 McDonald's restaurants throughout eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and part of Connecticut serving over 300,000 customers each day. Together, the independent entrepreneurs who own and operate area restaurants and the McDonald's Corporation employ nearly 16,000 people, purchase more than $166 million in goods annually from regional suppliers, and are collectively one of the largest employers in the region.