A
consumer Web site designed to bring business to the Joystar network
of home-based travel agents will be a sponsor on "Wheel of Fortune"
for the TV game show's entire 25th anniversary season, which
debuted Sept. 10.
Bill Alverson, CEO
of Travelstar, parent of Joystar and VacationCompare, said VacationCompare.com would sponsor trips offered as
prizes on "Wheel of Fortune."
The trips are
valued at $3,000 to $4,000, Alverson said.
VacationCompare was
the sole travel sponsor for the premiere episode this season and is
slated to sponsor several theme weeks during the year.
"Wheel of Fortune"
will air 195 times during the season, but Travelstar won't be
involved with every show.
Alverson said
VacationCompare expected to offer up to three trips on some shows
for a projected season total of about 200. Each trip will be
accompanied by a plug for VacationCompare.
VacationCompare
expects to benefit from show reruns as well, he said.
Alverson said it
was hard to estimate the ultimate dollar value of his company's
season-long sponsorship because contestants might not always win
the trips.
In its press
materials, Travelstar said "Wheel of Fortune" has more than 46
million viewers a week and that an average of 13 million tune in
nightly.
VacationCompare's
business model involves inviting visitors to VacationCompare.com to
provide details of the trips they seek. Their requests for quotes
are fed to a select group of Joystar agents, who can bid for the
business.
Alverson said the
VacationCompare program is available to experienced agents only and
that approximately 125 Joystar agents from a network of 4,000 have
opted in.
He said that
bidding was cut off at five agents for each trip.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Nadine
Godwin at [email protected].