Boston Pizza primed for World Cup fever

Come early, stay late, OLE your day away at 340 locations across Canada

BURNABY, BC, June 11 /CNW/ - Boston Pizza International Inc. today announced it is ready to welcome Canadian soccer fans at its restaurants across Canada with day and night World Cup festivities. Participating restaurants will be opening early, giving away prizes, offering two World Cup exclusive breakfast items, and providing coverage of every available game.

"Boston Pizza is going all out to create the perfect World Cup atmosphere for soccer fans to eat, drink, and watch the game," says Steve Silverstone, Boston Pizza, Executive Vice President of Marketing. "We are ready to welcome sports fans across Canada to cheer on their favourite teams over breakfast, lunch, or dinner."

Participating stores will be hosting daily World Cup viewing parties, with soccer coverage dominating the multiple flat-screen TVs in the sports bars, which will be decked out with World Cup memorabilia including team flags and jerseys. Stores will also be holding giveaway contests with prizes including collectable World Cup 2010 soccer shirts, scarves, party hats, noisemakers and food items.

Beginning June 11th and continuing until the final game in July, participating Boston Pizza restaurants will be opening as early as 7 a.m. to allow dedicated fans to watch their teams live. This will accommodate the time difference between Johannesburg and Canada, which ranges from five to nine hours depending on the time zone.

Boston Pizza will also be featuring two new menu items, created specifically for soccer fans - the Breakfast Wrap (eggs, bacon, cheddar and potato skins in a tortilla wrap) and the Omelette Pizza (eggs, bacon, mozzarella, peppers and tomatoes).

Contact your local Boston Pizza for participation inquiries.

About Boston Pizza

Boston Pizza International Inc. is Canada's No. 1 casual dining brand with more than 340 restaurants in Canada and system-wide sales of $850 million in 2009. Annually, Boston Pizza serves more than 40 million guests. The company has been recognized as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies every year since 1993 and was named one of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures by Waterstone Human Capital for 2007 and 2008. Boston Pizza International Inc. is headquartered in Richmond, B.C. and has regional offices in Mississauga, Ontario and Laval, Quebec. For more information visit www.bostonpizza.com.

For further information: Jordan Holm, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, [email protected], 604-303-6083