FORT MYERS, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2013) – Rib City has signed on as the official bat boy/girl sponsor of the Boston Red Sox Spring Training games for the 2013 season.

As part of the sponsorship beginning Feb. 21, the Fort Myers-headquartered barbecue chain will be holding an in-house drawing to select two bat boys/girls from those who have registered at any Lee County Rib City location or at the restaurant’s vendor location on-site at JetBlue Park at Fenway South.

One semi-final winner will be drawn from each of Rib City’s eight Lee County locations and the on-site vendor site at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on Thursday, Mar. 28. Each of these semi-finalists will win a $50 gift certificate to Rib City. From the semi-finalists, two winners will be drawn for the opportunity to serve as an honorary bat boy/bat girl at the Saturday, Mar. 30 spring training home game of the Boston Red Sox vs. the Minnesota Twins at 1:35 p.m. and will also receive four free game tickets. Anyone ages 10 to 17 may register until March 27th.

Rib City has eight Lee County stores located at 80 West Hancock Bridge Parkway and 4836 Leonard Street in Cape Coral, 10431 Corkscrew Commons Drive in Estero,, 13908 State Road 80, 13750 Fiddlesticks Blvd. and 11561 Majestic Palms Blvd. in Fort Myers, 1480 Lee Blvd. in Lehigh Acres and 13181 N. Cleveland Ave. in North Fort Myers. Entries will also be accepted during Red Sox Spring Training home games at Rib City’s vendor site at JetBlue Park at Fenway Fenway South, the Red Sox’s 106-acre Spring Training and Player Development Complex located off of Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers.

According to company President Craig Peden, for the second consecutive year Rib City has signed on as an official concession vendor at JetBlue Park at Fenway South for the 2013 Spring Training season. Rib City will serve as an official concession vendor during spring training under Aramark, the Red Sox food and beverage partner and concessionaire. Rib City will sell their award-winning baby back ribs, pulled pork sandwiches and sides along Fenway South Drive – a street festival reminiscent of Yawkey Way in Boston. The company will also supply a la carte items to the private suites and picnics.

“We are very excited to be bringing our quality barbecue products once again to all of the Red Sox Spring Training fans this season and additionally serving as the official bat boy/bat girl sponsor this year,” said Peden.

Rib City is a family-owned national barbecue chain. Founded in Fort Myers in 1989, there are currently 13 corporate restaurants in Florida and 16 franchise restaurants across the country including Washington, Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Virginia­.

The Rib City concession at the new park will begin serving on Thursday, Feb. 21 with the traditional, single-admission double-header against the Northeastern University Huskies and Boston College Eagles starting at 1:35 p.m.

The club’s Grapefruit League calendar begins on Saturday, February 23, with a JetBlue matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays (1:35 p.m. first pitch). This will be the first of six spring matchups with the Rays, including a St. Patrick Day’s tilt at JetBlue Park on Sunday, March 17 (1:35 p.m. first pitch).

The Red Sox will host the New York Yankees on Sunday, March 3 at 1:35 p.m., and will welcome Mayor’s Cup rival Minnesota to JetBlue Park four times. The 2013 spring slate also features eight scheduled JetBlue night games, including a matchup with Team Puerto Rico on Tuesday, March 5 as the Puerto Rican team prepares for the third World Baseball Classic.

Rib City offers a menu of barbecued meats, specialized sauces and complementary side dishes such as made-from-scratch baked beans and coleslaw. Rib City achieves authentic backyard barbecue flavor by slowly cooking baby back ribs and chicken over selected hardwoods – including Red Oak – carefully balancing heat and cooking time to seal in the distinctive Rib City BBQ taste. Meats can be topped with one of four secret recipe sauces: brown sugar-based sweet sauce, vinegar-based tangy sauce, Carolina mustard sauce or hot sauce. Additional menu items include fried okra, three-cheese fries, fried shrimp, coconut cream and southern pecan pies and more.

Rib City’s complete menu is available online at www.ribcity.com.

Rib City is listed with the Franchise Registry, a list of franchise systems whose franchisees have the benefits of a streamlined review process for U.S. Small Business Administration financings.