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Allstate Signs Multiyear Title Sponsorship Agreement for BCS Bowl Game

NORTHBROOK, Ill.--March 22, 2006--With the 2006 Mardi Gras celebration complete, another Big Easy tradition is set to return to New Orleans in January 2007, bringing tourism revenues back to the city. Allstate, the largest publicly held personal lines insurance company in America, announced today a multiyear sponsorship agreement with the FOX Broadcasting Company and the Sugar Bowl Committee, to become the title sponsor of the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Superdome is set to air Wednesday, January 3, 2007, on FOX.

By signing on as the title sponsor of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Allstate adds to its already robust college football sponsorship portfolio featuring local sponsorships of more than 50 college football programs around the country through the Allstate "Good Hands(R)" field goal net program. As part of this multiyear sponsorship, in 2008, Allstate will also be the title sponsor of the Allstate BCS National Championship Game, as well as the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Both games will be held at the Superdome in New Orleans.

"By becoming the title sponsor of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, it provides us another opportunity to reach some of the most passionate sports fans in the country, about Allstate's products and services," said Allstate Chief Marketing Officer Joe Tripodi. "However, it transcends our typical sponsorship as it allows us to be part of an event that has both a positive economic impact on New Orleans, and is part of the fabric of the wider Gulf Coast community."

"Having a title sponsor with the stature of Allstate is indeed a privilege and will go a long way toward showing people across the country and New Orleans that the Sugar Bowl is back and well along the road to recovery," said James C. Landis, Sugar Bowl President.

"The Sugar Bowl Committee is excited to have Allstate as a title sponsor of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and happy to have the game back home in New Orleans where in 2005 it produced an economic impact of more than $175 million dollars for the local area," said Sugar Bowl Chief Executive Officer Paul Hoolahan. "Having great companies like Allstate on board allow us to bring the Sugar Bowl back to New Orleans and make it even bigger than it was before."

"As the new home of the BCS, we at FOX are extremely excited to be partnering with Allstate and the Sugar Bowl for the next four years", said Neil Mulcahy, Executive Vice President, FOX Sports Sales. "FOX is thrilled to expand our marketing partnership with Allstate."

Allstate plans to link its local sponsorship of more than 50 Division I-A universities throughout the country with the Allstate Sugar Bowl through local market activation that will include Allstate's famous Good Hands(R) logo on field goal nets around the country.

The announcement of Allstate's Sugar Bowl sponsorship continues the company's move toward event and sports sponsorship activities that resonate with consumers, which also include sponsorship of NASCAR, Evernham Motorsports, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard(R) and the U.S. Olympic Team.

About Allstate

Now celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of Allstate Insurance Company, The Allstate Corporation is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the "You're In Good Hands With Allstate(R)" slogan, Allstate helps individuals in approximately 17 million households protect what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow through approximately 14,100 exclusive agencies and financial professionals in the U.S. and Canada. Customers can access Allstate products and services such as auto insurance and homeowners insurance through Allstate agencies, or in select states at allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate(R). Encompass(SM) and Deerbrook(R) Insurance brand property and casualty products are sold exclusively through independent agents. The Allstate Financial Group provides life insurance, supplemental accident and health insurance, annuity, banking and retirement products designed for individual, institutional and worksite customers that are distributed through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, financial institutions and broker-dealers.

About the Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl Committee, which hosted its first game on New Year's Day in 1935, consists of volunteer men and women from the New Orleans area business and civic community. In addition to the annual Football Classic, the Bowl hosts or sponsors championship competitions in high school football, high school swimming, sailing, high school and youth soccer, golf, volleyball, high school track and field and triathlon. The Bowl also administers the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame and the New Orleans Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. Allstate becomes only the third title sponsor in the Bowl's 73-year history. USF&G Insurance became the Bowl's first title sponsor in 1986, followed by NOKIA, a Finnish telecommunications and mobile phone company, in 1995 to 2006.