Yum! Brands extends Kentucky Derby sponsorship

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Yum! Brands and Churchill Downs Racetrack announced a five-year extension of their sponsorship agreement on Thursday.

The agreement began in 2006, and the extension will continue the partnership until 2015. It guarantees that the race will be run as the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands when it is held on May 7.

It will be the sixth consecutive Derby for which the Yum! Brands -- the Louisville-based parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Long John Silver's -- serves as the presenting sponsor.

"Churchill Downs is very pleased to have reached this agreement with Yum! Brands, a great corporate citizen in our hometown, that extends its presenting sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby for five more years," said Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs Racetrack. "Our partnership with Yum! Brands has been positive for both companies and good for the Kentucky Derby, an event that is a great American tradition and a springtime sports party known and loved around the world."

The presenting sponsorship agreement will not impact the purse of the Kentucky Derby, which stands at $2 million guaranteed.