Böblingen/Zurich, 04 May 2005: The cyclists have the yellow jersey, golf professionals have the green jacket and in the future the best European Beach Volleyball players will be recognisable by a black players’ shirt during competition: The best players in the tournaments of the NESTEA European Championship Tour, the so-called “smart European Ranking Leaders”, will be visible by the new black attire. After the NESTEA European Championship Final at the end of the season in Moscow the leaders of the CEV European Ranking will drive home with a special prize: the new smart with four passenger seats, the smart forfour.
The Tour Main Partner smart will reward the best men’s and women’s team over the course of the 2005 Beach Volleyball season. One smart forfour per person will be offered as a reward at the end of the season for the smart European Ranking Leaders. Reinhard Münster, Marketing Director at smart gmbh, stresses that smart is looking to achieve “important impulse for the image and the sales of our cars in our target group” by supporting the sport of Beach Volleyball. “In addition to our transportation service for players, officials and media at the tournaments of the NESTEA European Championship Tour, the best European Players will also be able to drive smart in their private life.”
The basis to determine this season end prize is the CEV European Ranking, which the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) manages during the entire season. The number of awarded points depends on the prize money, which is 100,000 Euros at the tournaments of the Tour. 200,000 Euros and consequently double the amount in ranking points will be at stake at the NESTEA European Championship Final in Moscow at the end of August 2005.
“We are establishing an additional attraction for the NESTEA European Championship Tour with this smart season-end prize and an additional incentive for the players to participate in every tournament of the NESTEA European Championship Tour”, Christian Scholbrock, Managing Director at Zurich based Global Sports Marketing (GSM), says: “In addition we have the excitement and the drama at every tournament to see who is current smart European Ranking Leader and who has the best chances of taking home the smart forfour at the end of the season.”
Each member of the leading men’s and women’s team will receive a smart forfour following the Final in Moscow. The prize should be an additional incentive for the players to keep consistent high level performance at the tournaments of the NESTEA European Championship Tour.
The CEV European Ranking receives a whole new dimension with this upgrade as the smart European Ranking Leader is visible there and also at the Official Tour Website at www.eurobeachtour.com.
The black shirts for the smart European Ranking Leader will be handed out for the first time at the beginning of the Turkish Open (11-15 May 2005 in Alanya). Dieckmann/Reckermann from Germany and Gattelli/Perrotta from Italy will compete in black as they lead the CEV European Ranking with their points from last year’s competitions.
One of the four smart forfour at stake will be displayed onsite during each tournament of the NESTEA European Championship Tour 2005. At the end of the season, the smart cars will be awarded to the winners during a special festive ceremony. “With this Tour innovation, smart and Global Sports Marketing will be able to deliver added value and additional drama to the players, fans and media throughout the entire season”, Christian Scholbrock says.
For further information please contact Global Sports Marketing, Christian Scholbrock at christian.scholbrock@gsmglobalsports.com or +41 43 244 8970.