The AST Dew Tour, the premier action sports tour, today announced a multi-year deal with the Eurosport group to provide a live international feed of NBC telecasts during AST Dew Tour event finals. 20 hours of live television and 20 hours of highlights programming will be broadcast each season. The multi-year deal will broadcast AST Dew Tour through 2009 on Eurosport channels and provide promotional content for the group’s network of websites.
“Our relationship with Eurosport is just another way that we reach our international fans through unique distribution platforms,” said Wade Martin, President of the AST Dew Tour. “We are excited to offer a live telecast during Saturday and Sunday of event Finals to more than 50 countries.”
Live coverage for 2007 has been broadcast on Eurosport 2, the new generation sports channel, from Portland (Vans Invitational), Salt Lake City (Toyota Challenge) and will conclude with exclusive LIVE coverage of the Orlando (PlayStation Pro) stop of the AST Dew Tour, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 October, across all 43 European countries where Eurosport 2 is broadcast.
“Once again Eurosport 2 presents the newest sensation. Eurosport 2 broadcasts LIVE for the first time in Europe, one of the biggest alternative action sports, the AST Dew Tour,” said Arnaud Simon, Program Director, and Head of Broadcasting for Eurosport 2. “The event corresponds with Eurosport 2’s mission to continuously present to its younger viewers the latest trends within the world of sports.”
Entering its third year, the AST Dew Tour is the most watched and attended action sports property in the world. Attendance for the 2006 AST Dew Tour totaled nearly 250,000 and an average of 39 million viewers tuned in via NBC and USA each year. The top athletes in the world take part in this year’s Tour, all competing for the highly coveted Dew Cup which will be awarded in Orlando at season’s end to champions in each of the six disciplines. The 2006 Dew Cup winners include Nate Adams, USA (Freestyle Motocross), Jamie Bestwick, United Kingdom (BMX Vert), Anthony Napolitan, USA (BMX Dirt), Daniel Dhers, Venezuela (BMX Park), Bucky Lasek, USA (Skateboard Vert) and Ryan Sheckler, USA (Skateboard Park).
The AST Dew Tour is distributed internationally by Apparent Gravity Media.
The AST Dew Tour
The AST (Action Sports Tour) was created in 2007 to function as the umbrella brand of the organization; the Dew Tour is the AST’s premier professional property. Owned by NBC Universal and Live Nation, the AST Dew Tour, the world’s premier season-long action sports tour, debuted in June 2005 and consists of five major, multi-sport events with a cumulative points system, a $2.5 million competitive purse – the largest in action sports – and an additional $1 million bonus pool based upon year-end standings. NBC and USA Network combine for exclusive AST Dew Tour coverage with the largest combined network and cable commitment in action sports. The AST Dew Tour is distributed in over 230 million homes worldwide and in over 100 countries. The Tour features skateboarding (park and vert), BMX (park, vert, and dirt) and freestyle motocross, and at season’s end, the Tour awards champions in the six disciplines with the Dew Cup. Key lifestyle elements at each Tour event include the festival village with video gaming and interactive events, as well as live cutting edge music. The AST Dew Tour returns all of its founding partners including Mountain Dew (tour title sponsor); and Panasonic, Right Guard Xtreme, Vans®, Toyota and PlayStation® (event title sponsors). Associate partners include Ball Park, MasterCard, Mongoose®, Slim Jim and Verizon Wireless. More information can be found at http://www.astdewtour.com/.
Eurosport
The Eurosport Group is the leading sports multimedia platform in Europe with Eurosport, Eurosport 2, eurosport.com, Eurosportnews and Eurosport Mobile. Eurosport, the n° 1pan-European channel, is available in 20 different languages reaching 112 million homes and 250 million viewers across 59 countries. Eurosport 2, the new sports generation channel launched in 2005, is transmitted to 24.8 million households in 11 languages across 43 different countries. Eurosport’s 8 websites include four co-branded sites with Yahoo! in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Italy, as well eurosport.com local language sites in China, Russia, France and Sweden, establishing Eurosport as a leading player for sports information and networking online with an average of 1 million unique daily visitors across all sites. Eurosportnews provides up-to-date worldwide sports news and is transmitted worldwide. Eurosport Mobile offers Live streaming, WAP & I-Mod services with the latest sports news and Live results. Eurosport Events is a dedicated specialist in the organisation, management and promotion of international sporting events.
NBC Universal
NBC Universal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates the No. 1 television network, the fastest-growing Spanish-language network, a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.
Live Nation
Live Nation is the world’s largest live music company. Our mission is to inspire passion for live music around the world. We are the largest promoter of live concerts in the world, the second-largest entertainment venue management company and have a rapidly growing online presence. We create superior experiences for artists and fans, regularly producing tours for the biggest superstars in the business, including The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, U2 and Coldplay. Globally, we own, operate, have booking rights for and/or have an equity interest in more than 160 venues, including House of Blues® music venues and prestigious locations such as The Fillmore in San Francisco, Nikon at Jones Beach in New York and London’s Wembley Arena. Our websites collectively are the second most popular entertainment/event websites in the United States, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. In addition, we also produce, promote or host theatrical, specialized motor sports and other live entertainment events. In 2006, we connected nearly 60 million fans with their favorite performers at approximately 26,000 events in 18 countries around the world. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.” For more information regarding Live Nation and its businesses or concerts near you, please visit our website at http://www.livenation.com/.