Sixth Annual BBVA Compass Bowl Set for Saturday, Jan. 7

Sixth Annual BBVA Compass Bowl Set for Saturday, Jan. 7

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, announced the sixth annual BBVA Compass Bowl will be played on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110608/DA16402)

The game will feature a team from the BIG EAST Conference against a team from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and will be televised nationally at 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT on ESPN.

"We are pleased to once again play our game on a Saturday which offers our fans a great opportunity to participate in all of the day's activities," said Mark Meadows, Executive Director of the BBVA Compass Bowl. "Last year we had another good crowd and our highest-rated telecast playing on the final weekend before the National Championship Game."

The largest television audience in the bowl's history watched the ESPN telecast as Pittsburgh sophomore running back Dion Lewis rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown. Lewis was named the recipient of the Fred Sington Most Valuable Player Award en route to the Panthers' 27-10 win over Kentucky.

Since its inception in 2006, the bowl has directly donated $125,000 to local children's charities through its partnership with the Monday Morning Quarterback Club. In addition, the bowl has distributed thousands of complimentary tickets to local youth groups, charitable organizations and military families through donations by its conference partners and sponsors.

Tickets will go on sale to the public beginning on Monday, Aug. 1, 2011 on-line at www.bbvacompassbowl.com. Ticket pricing for 2012 will be $50 for East and West stands and $30 for Corner seats. Corporate packages, which include prime ticket locations, hospitality benefits and corporate exposure, are available now by calling the bowl office at (205) 733-3776, ext. 3.

To get up-to-the-minute information, be sure to follow the Bowl on Facebook at BBVACompassBowl.

ABOUT BBVA COMPASS

BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates more than 717 branches including 379 in Texas, 93 in Alabama, 78 in Arizona, 65 in California, 45 in Florida, 36 in Colorado and 21 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 20 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (3rd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (5th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the nation's leading Small Business Administration (SBA) lenders, earning 'Lender of the Year' honors in 2009 and 2010. Additional information concerning BBVA Compass can be found on our website www.bbvacompass.com.

BBVA Compass is a subsidiary of Compass Bancshares, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) (MAD: BBVA). BBVA is a financial services group with approximately $770 billion in total assets, 48 million clients, 7,400 branches and approximately 109,000 employees in more than 30 countries. BBVA ranks among the top 20 largest financial institutions in the world based on market capitalization and 21st in Global Finance magazine's list of the "World's 50 Safest Banks" for 2010. BBVA provides its customers around the world with a full range of financial services, including commercial and wholesale banking, retail banking services, consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards, securities brokerage, wealth management, pension plan management and insurance. The BBVA Group maintains a leadership position in Spain, Mexico, Latin America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States, as well as operations in China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. More information about the BBVA Group can be found at www.bbva.com.

Editor's note: BBVA Compass is the trade name of Compass Bank and is a trademark of Compass Bancshares, Inc. Compass Bank, member FDIC.

ESPN REGIONAL TELEVISION/EVENT OWNERSHIP

The nation's largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,200 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 3,400 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. - SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, WAC) and manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.

ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events:

Collegiate Football

Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (Honolulu); Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas (Houston); MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.) and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards

Collegiate Basketball

76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Champions Classic (Madison Square Garden; debuts 2011); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City) and BracketBusters

Collegiate Lacrosse

ESPNU Warrior Classic

Others

Hawaiian Islands Invitational (Soccer) and ESPN National Golf Challenge

For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.

SOURCE BBVA Compass

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110608/DA16402
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
BBVA Compass

CONTACT: Rachel Margolis of ESPN, +1-860-766-2798, Rachel.L.Margolis@espn.com; or Ed Bilek of BBVA Compass, +1-205-297-3331, Cell, +1-205-612-3378, edbilek@bbvacompass.com; or Norm Reilly, BBVA Compass Bowl Media Relations Director, +1-205-936-1793, nreilly@uab.edu

Web Site: http://www.bbvacompassbowl.com

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