Courtesy: USA TODAY SportsDuck Dynasty to the rescue.
Less than two months after the Independence Bowl ended its sponsorship with AdvoCare, the annual college football game has announced its partnership with Duck Commander, the company founded by Phil Robertson, the patriarch and star of the hit A&E reality series Duck Dynasty.
The Shreveport Times announced the deal on Sunday, citing a six-year partnership. "We can confirm that Independence Bowl Foundation officials are very excited about a partnership with Duck Commander," Missy Setters, the executive director of the Independence Bowl, said in a statement.
And the pairing is actually a perfect match.
Why? The Independence Bowl takes place in each year in Shreveport, La. and the Duck Commander headquarters is located about 100 miles away in Monroe, La. What's more? Phil Robertson himself was a former Louisiana Tech quarterback, so the local Louisiana bowl will be sponsored by a local company founded by a former local college football player.
Phil Robertson's son Willie, who also stars on the hit series, currently serves as CEO of Duck Commander. According to CNN Money, the estimated net worth of Duck Dynasty was $500 million in January.
In 2012, AdvoCare reportedly paid $800,000 for its sponsorship and the deal is said to be "on par" with the previous sponsor.
An official announcement is expected to be made during a news conference held on Wednesday.
The sponsorship comes on the heels of Alan Robertson's announcement that the famous family is now also a title sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint cup race.
In December, Phil Robertson made headlines after he was briefly suspended from the A&E series when he grouped homosexuality in with bestiality as deviant behavior in an interview with GQ, although A&E announced he would be returning to the show just over one week later.
The season five premiere of the show subsequently suffered a 28 percent drop in viewership when compared to its season four premiere following Phil's controversial comments.