This article is brought to you by Krispy Krunchy Chicken.

Look around the globe and you’ll see a universal truth—sports teams have some of the most loyal fan bases you can find. They also have significant brand awareness and reach with consumers, oftentimes on a scale much larger than most brands or retail stores could generate.

“Stadiums are a great opportunity for Krispy Krunchy,” said Alice Crowder, chief marketing officer at Krispy Krunchy Chicken. The foodservice provider is the official fried chicken of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots and sells its chicken in Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium.

“We’re not only offering a great product to fans while they’re at the game, we’re giving more people an opportunity to try our food—and the best way to hook a consumer is by getting our chicken in front of them,” said Crowder. “We want to be in a consumer’s consideration set, and if we have to get trial outside of convenience stores initially, we believe we can drive them back to a c-store location to get it again.”

Crowder explained that many consumers might be more willing to try a new food at a sports event, thereby introducing the brand to consumers who may not have known it even existed. “It gives retailers an opportunity to connect their store with that consumer who hasn’t purchased food in a convenience store before,” she said.

Since becoming the official fried chicken partner of the two professional teams, Crowder said the company has seen sales increase for its operators located in the vicinity of the sports stadiums.

“They’re selling more chicken than they were before, and it’s a much wider radius than we initially thought it would be. There’s a positive impact and it’s driving more profit for our c-store operators,” she explained. “Through these sports partnerships, we offer retailers a solution that has the backing of a huge sports team that their customer roots and cheers for—they have an existing fandom and loyalty that c-stores are drawing from. There’s a huge halo effect.”

To attract more fans to the product, Krispy Krunchy also developed special packaging for stores near the stadiums as a way for operators to connect with the consumer fan base. “An independent convenience store owner can’t afford to be a sponsor of the Red Sox, but through us, they’re a de facto sponsor, and that’s a way to differentiate to their customer and give them more relevancy and legitimacy,” she said. “Plus, it’s expensive to go to a professional sports event. This way, our operators can connect to fans who may not be able to make a game, but still appreciate feeling that affinity and connection to their team.”

Partnering with teams that have deeply rooted fan bases and consumer allegiances makes an operator’s funnel bigger, said Crowder. “We are now pushing consumers who want Krispy Krunchy Chicken in the direction of their store. This type of partnership is an endorsement for consumers—they may have never heard of Krispy Krunchy, but they say ‘if it’s good enough for the Red Sox, then it’s good enough for me.’ In that environment, they’re more willing to take a risk and try a new food,” said Crowder. “That expands a retailer’s potential audience and helps them generate additional new sales.”

This is part one in a two-part series on Krispy Krunchy Chicken. Look out for part two on Thursday.