Coach Roy Williams and UNC Athletics Receive Part of NCAA Final Four Court as a Gift
Steiner Sports Press Release
January, 2009
University of North Carolina basketball fans can soon purchase a part of history as Steiner Sports Memorabilia, Inc. and Tar Heel Sports Properties have donated a portion of the floor from the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four to Coach Roy Williams and the UNC Athletics Department.
The center jump circle logo formerly inside Detroit's Ford Field now has arrived in Chapel Hill. To commemorate the Tar Heels' fifth national title, Steiner Sports will be offering fans and alumni the opportunity to purchase a piece of the floor online, via tarheelblue.com and steinersports.com, in the near future. Steiner Sports will cut up the floor into small, souvenir pieces and approximately 200 of the pieces will be autographed by Coach Williams and several members of the championship team.
"The Tar Heels have such a widespread, tremendous fan base across the country that we knew if we were able to capture a part of this year's Final Four and make that available to them, it would be valuable," said Pete Kelly of Steiner Sports Memorabilia, Inc.
"We wanted to do something special to mark the Tar Heels' 2009 championship," said Gary Sobba, general manager of Tar Heel Sports Properties, a property of Learfield Sports and the multimedia rights holder of UNC Athletics. "The floor is expected to go on sale today. We expect this to be immensely popular and fans can order the floor on-line. What an outstanding memory to grab hold of from the Tar Heels' victory in Detroit."
In addition to North Carolina, Learfield Sports manages the multimedia rights for more than 50 collegiate institutions and associations. It also titles the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, oversees marketing partnerships for the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) and provides exclusive sports programming to more than 1,000 radio stations nationwide. The company is an operating unit of Jefferson City, Mo.-based Learfield Communications, Inc., which made its initial foray into the world of sports marketing in 1975.
