TUPELO, Miss., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- BancorpSouth Bank, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS), a
$13.4 billion-asset financial holding
company, is teaming with Cellular South, the nation's largest
privately owned wireless communications provider, as the official
game sponsor of the Friday, Oct. 15
"Y'all vs. Us" high school football rivalry game to be played in
Tupelo.
The game will feature two north Mississippi powerhouse football teams, the
Tupelo High School Golden Wave and
the South Panola High School Tigers from Batesville, in an exciting Friday night match
up that will be televised live in prime-time across the
Southeast.
Tupelo and South Panola are both heading into the game
with strong season records. Tupelo
is 5-1 and South Panola, 6-0, is
ranked No. 1 in the nation by Rivals.com, No. 2 by USA Today.
The "Y'all vs. Us" integrated original sports program is a
Cellular South initiative that showcases the drama, passion and
community pride around high school football in the South. Now
in its second season, the program features live, prime-time
broadcast of five of the oldest and biggest high school football
rivalries in Mississippi,
Alabama and Tennessee. The Tupelo-South Panola game is the
third game in the series.
The game will be televised live by Fox Sports South (FSSO), with
the telecast reaching up to 12.9 million cable and satellite
households in seven Southeastern states. Kickoff is at
7 p.m. with a standing-room only
crowd expected at Tupelo High School football field.
The game will feature NFL-caliber pyrotechnics, aerial video and
the world's largest mobile Jumbotron video messaging and display
board.
"We're pleased to partner with Cellular South on this truly
outstanding program that they launched last year. High school
football is huge in the South so it's only fitting that our two
Mississippi-based companies would
be involved. Tupelo and South
Panola will receive major regional exposure that's good for
the schools as well as our communities," said Aubrey Patterson, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of BancorpSouth.
Hu Meena of Jackson, president and CEO of Cellular South,
said the "Y'all vs. Us" program helps participating schools,
students and communities find new and creative ways to interact
with and celebrate these famous high school football rivalries.
"From marching bands, intense coaches and dedicated young
players to cheerleaders, dance teams and pep squads, the 'Y'all vs.
Us' program explores the drama, passion and community pride
associated with these rivalries and captures the many compelling
human interest stories that come from this competition," Meena
said. "We're thrilled to have BancorpSouth involved in the
'Y'all vs. Us' program – it's an outstanding Mississippi-based bank that believes as we do
in the value of giving back to communities in which it serves."
BancorpSouth will have corporate tents located near the ticket
sales areas from which it will provide gameday giveaways for each
schools' supporters. In addition, BancorpSouth will feature its
popular mobile banking app in game-related promotional venues.
The South Panola Tigers are legendary for their amazing 89-game
winning streak, the third longest ever, nationwide. The two teams
play each other annually, with one of the most memorable games
being in 2008 when Tupelo nearly
ended the Tigers' national winning streak. Tupelo failed to
convert a two-point conversion with less than a minute left,
providing South Panola a 14-13
win.
As one of the single largest and most comprehensive sports
programming and customer engagement initiatives undertaken by a
company, the Cellular South "Y'all vs. Us" program features a wide
variety of user-generated content, contests, games, new
sports-related game applications and interaction with social
networking sites.
Cellular South, headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi, is a privately-owned
diversified mobile communications company passionately committed to
helping customers get the most out of their wireless devices and
services. The nation's largest privately owned wireless
communications provider accomplishes this goal by providing the
most reliable and advanced 3G nationwide wireless voice and data
network, offering industry-leading family and unlimited flat rate
voice, text and mobile web plans, and through its online and
in-store Discover Centers, which give customers easy, simple and
convenient tools, tips, advice and information on how to get the
most out of their mobile phone. For more information about
Cellular South and its products and services, visit
www.cellularsouth.com.
BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered
in Tupelo, Mississippi, with
approximately $13.4 billion in
assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 314 commercial banking,
mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. BancorpSouth Bank also operates
an insurance location in Illinois.
BancorpSouth's common stock is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol BXS.
SOURCE BancorpSouth, Inc.
Copyright . 13 PR Newswire