Organizations choose to sponsor a float in the Republic Bank Derby Festival Pegasus® Parade for a variety of reasons. The following are some examples of the benefits received through involvement in the Festival's float program.  

The parade route creates a venue to display Your Company's community involvement before a captive audience of more than 250,000.

Beyond the crowds along Broadway, the Pegasus® Parade reaches an additional viewing audience via the live broadcast on WAVE 3 TV, Louisville's NBC network affiliate. This telecast, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM, consistently receives one of the largest ratings in the Metropolitan Louisville area. In 2007, the broadcast received a Nielson rating of 9.1 and a 17 share (translating into an estimated 120,000 viewers, locally). All floats receive mention, by the WAVE-TV talent, as they pass through “TV zone” on the route.

Floats are also showcased at the Republic Bank Derby Festival® Parade Preview. This fun family event, attended annually by approximately 10,000 people, gives the public a sneak preview of the floats before their parade down Broadway. It provides an additional and unique exposure opportunity for Your Company's float sponsorship.

The Preview Party is an excellent controlled venue for Your Company to hand out promotional items for additional exposure and Your Company's promotion. This opportunity attracts visibility to Your Company's float and further promotes your product or service. (Items are not permitted to be distributed on the parade route.)

Through print medium, Your Company, as a Float Entrant, will receive special recognition as a Float Sponsor with Executive Sponsor status in numerous Derby Festival®-produced publications. By Festival's end, Your Company will receive millions of promotional mentions.

Your Company will be prominently featured in the Official Parade Program, including a listing and a sketch of your float.  Ten-thousand (10,000) are distributed at the Parade Preview Party and the Review Stand Area on the Pegasus Parade route.

Your Company will receive mention on the official Derby Festival Website.

Updated daily in season, the site topped 1 million page views between April and May.  www.kdf.org provides the entire Festival schedule with sponsor mentions as well as a complete sponsor listing.  The Festival website is maintained all year and averages 200,000 page views monthly during the off season.

Your Company will receive an advanced ticket order form.  This will allow Your Company to purchase Derby Festival event tickets prior to public sale.

Your Company's employees receive a twenty-percent discount on Derby Festival® merchandise, including posters, T-shirts, hats, etc. through the Kentucky Derby Festival® licensed merchandise vendor

Your Company will receive a complimentary ticket package that includes:

• Four (4) Derby Festival® Pegasus® Parade Float Position Draw Tickets 
   

• Ten (10) Derby Festival® Pegasus® Parade Bleacher Seat Tickets
   

• Two (2) Derby Festival® Pegasus® Parade Float Awards Luncheon Tickets

Your Company will receive a Derby Festival® Pegasus® Parade commemorative plaque displaying a photograph of Your Company's Float and the Award that it received in this year's Parade.

Your Company will receive a Derby Festival® Pegasus® Parade "Float Entrant" recognition plaque at the Pegasus® Parade Preview event. A representative, from Your Company will be called upon to appear, on stage, at the program, to accept the recognition.

If you are interested in sponsoring one of these units in the Republic Bank Derby Festival Pegasus® Parade, please contact Dodie Holderfield, Advertising/Promotions Manager (800) 928-3378 x.820 or (502) 584-3378 x. 820.