Q) How much do we spend on advertising annually?
A) The amount we'll spend on the partnership in 2008 represents about 1 percent of what we spent on advertising in 2007 (we spent about 300 million in 2006).

Q)We recently had a reduction in force to save money. How can we reconcile spending this money on a sponsorship?
A) The only relationship between the two is that both actions are designed to help us grow our business. The auto insurance business, like many industries, is very price competitive. Following our reorganization in September in which we combined our Agency and Direct Businesses into one Personal Lines organization, we determined that there were some redundant activities in Personal Lines. In addition, we reviewed IT staffing levels and determined that we were overstaffed in IT. The decision to let go about one percent of our countrywide work force was driven by the need to reduce redundant activities and staff to more appropriate levels in IT. These changes will also allow us to operate more efficiently which can help us bring lower prices to more customers and grow our business.
We continuously invest in advertising and sponsorships in order to build awareness of Progressive and grow the business. While we are
very excited about our partnership with the Indians and the national awareness this can bring the company, the amount we'll spend on this
per year is a small percentage of our overall annual advertising spend. This sponsorship now becomes part of that yearly amount we'll
spend; it will not be incremental to that amount, and our expectations are that it will give us national exposure, help build awareness and help us grow faster.

Take that information for what it's worth...

I'm not a big fan of cooperate names on stadiums/parks, however, it seems to be everywhere else. If this money can be used to keep our home grown talent or sign a big free agent then I'm all for it. Like most of you, I think I'll still be referring to it as "the Jake".

Sorry for the lengthy post.