{"id":31464,"date":"2024-11-17T03:31:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T03:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/?post_type=events_openings&p=31464"},"modified":"2025-02-10T15:05:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T15:05:30","slug":"saatva-takes-center-court-as-title-sponsor-of-2024-empire-classic","status":"publish","type":"events_openings","link":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/events-and-openings\/saatva-takes-center-court-as-title-sponsor-of-2024-empire-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Saatva Takes Center Court as Title Sponsor of 2024 Empire Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Smarter Luxury Sleep Company headlines the nationally-televised sporting event benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project for the second year in a row.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Saatva<\/a>, the Smarter Luxury Sleep Company, is pleased to announce its Title Sponsorship of the 2024 Empire Classic<\/a> on November 24, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019re thrilled to sponsor this prestigious event once again, especially here in our hometown,\u201d said Ron Rudzin, founder and CEO of Saatva. “It\u2019s an honor to stand behind Wounded Warrior Project<\/a>, a remarkable organization dedicated to empowering and supporting the brave men and women who have served our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in New York, Saatva was the first company to sell luxury, American-manufactured,  made-to-order mattresses<\/a> online. Its name, \u201cSaatva,\u201d is derived from the Sanskrit word meaning truth, purity, and wholeness, which guides the brand in everything it does. Unlike most online mattress brands, Saatva delivers and sets up all its products in the customer’s home, creating an ultra-luxury and hassle-free buying experience. By selling directly to the consumer, Saatva is able to offer the highest quality at the best price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This showcase-style event will be played on November 24, 2024, at the Prudential Center, home of the NHL\u2019s New Jersey Devils<\/a> and the Seton Hall Pirates<\/a> men’s basketball team. The high-profile match-up will feature two perennial basketball powers, Villanova<\/a> from the Big East Conference versus Maryland<\/a> of the Big Ten Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are delighted to welcome Saatva back as the Title Sponsor of the Empire Classic,” said Rick Giles, President of the Gazelle Group<\/a> and producer of the event. “We look forward to introducing college basketball fans to Saatva’s made-to-order mattresses and luxury bedding products. With the arena located near Saatva\u2019s new Paramus<\/a> and New York City retail locations, Saatva will have a significant presence at New Jersey’s premier arena and during the national TV broadcast on ESPN.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Field:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This will be Villanova\u2019s fourth appearance in the Empire Classic, and they have a 5-2 all-time record in the event, winning the championship in 2020.  Kyle Neptune has the Wildcats on track to make their 10th NCAA Tournament in the past 11 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be Maryland\u2019s fourth appearance in the Empire Classic, and they have a 7-3 all-time record in the event, winning the championship in 2006.  Kevin Willard will add a top recruiting class to a young nucleus returning from last year\u2019s team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2023 Saatva Empire Classic<\/a>, the defending national champion UConn Huskies<\/a> beat the Texas Longhorns<\/a> and Indiana Hoosiers<\/a>.  The semifinals boasted the highest neutral site attendance of the college basketball regular season, with over 19,000 fans on hand.  UConn’s Saatva Empire Classic title paved the way to a 37-3 season and a second consecutive National Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Learn more about the 2024 showcase <\/em>here<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>follow along on X<\/em><\/a> for the latest news and updates.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out highlights from the event below:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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About the Gazelle Group:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Gazelle Group (@Gazelle_Events<\/a>) is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally recognized college sports events, such as the Empire Classic, Legends Classic, Gotham Classic, Sunshine Slam, College Basketball Invitational, Holiday Face-Off, Deacon-Wolverine Challenge, Boardwalk Battle, Jersey Jam, and Holiday Hoopfest as well as on-campus events at Duke, Kentucky, Ohio State, Marquette and other institutions across the country. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit www.gazellegroup.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Wounded Warrior Project:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wounded Warrior Project (@WWP<\/a>) is the beneficiary of the Empire Classic. With the mission to honor and empower Wounded Warriors, WWP is the hand extended to encourage warriors as they adjust to their new normal and achieve new triumphs. Offering a variety of programs and services, WWP is equipped to serve warriors with every type of injury \u2013 from the physical to the invisible wounds of war. For more information on the Wounded Warrior Project, please visit https:\/\/www.woundedwarriorproject.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Prudential Center:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prudential Center (@PruCenter<\/a>) is the world-class sports and entertainment venue located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Opened in October 2007 and recently celebrating its 15th year as a marquee destination, the state-of-the-art arena is the home of the National Hockey League\u2019s (NHL) three-time Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils, Seton Hall University\u2019s NCAA Division I Men\u2019s Basketball program, and more than 210 concerts, family shows and special events each year. Ranked in the Top 5 worldwide by Pollstar, Billboard and Venues Today, Prudential Center is recognized as one of the premier venues in the United States, and hosts over 2 million guests annually. For more information about Prudential Center, visit https:\/\/www.prucenter.com<\/a>. Prudential Center is a HBSE<\/a> property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32131,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"events":[59],"class_list":["post-31464","events_openings","type-events_openings","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","events-offsite-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_openings\/31464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_openings"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/events_openings"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"events","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/press-room.saatva.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events?post=31464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}