Greater Louisville Sports Commission
401 West Main Street, Suite 2200
Louisville , KY 40202
502-587-7767

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DEW ACTION SPORTS TOUR ARRIVES IN LOUISVILLE

TO KICK OFF SECOND SEASON, JUNE 22-25,

AT KENTUCKY EXPO CENTER

Skateboarder Shaun White, BMX athlete Dave Mirra, and FMX competitor

Travis Pastrana All Expected to Compete

June 19, 2005 - New York, N.Y - The Dew Action Sports Tour , the only multi-sport, season-long tour in action sports, begins its second season June 22-25 with the Panasonic Open at Louisville's Kentucky Expo Center. The five-city tour also includes stops in Denver, Portland, San Jose and Orlando.

More than 260 professional action sports athletes from around the world-including skateboarder Shaun White, BMX athlete Dave Mirra, and FMX competitor Travis Pastrana-will return to Louisville to compete for the Dew Cup, awarded at season's end to the athlete with the highest number of points in the six combined disciplines of skateboarding, BMX, and freestyle motocross.  The Tour's inaugural season champions include Kenny Bartram (Freestyle Motocross), Jamie Bestwick (BMX Vert), Ryan Guettler (BMX Park and BMX Dirt), Bucky Lasek (Skateboard Vert) and Ryan Sheckler (Skateboard Park).  Each Dew Cup winner received a $75,000 year-end bonus and returns for the 2006 season. 

The Panasonic Open will host 260 professional action sports athletes, the largest field of athletes in Tour history, which includes 110 top-name pros who have pre-qualified, plus 150 athletes who have signed up for the open qualifier competitions.  Due to depth of this year's athlete talent, the Tour increased the finals field in all disciplines, allowing 12 athletes instead of 10 to advance to the finals.  The Tour also increased the size of the FMX, BMX Park, BMX Dirt and Skateboard Park courses so that athletes can perform bigger and better tricks. 

There are a number of athletes to watch on the second season of the Dew Action Sports Tour -both veterans and a few new faces.  A list of a few of those athletes to watch is as follows:

Skateboarding

• In February 2006, 19-year-old Shaun White of Carlsbad, Calif. won Olympic Gold for Snowboarding.  His first pro skateboarding win was at last season's Panasonic Open when he took first place in Skateboard Vert.
• Bucky Lasek, 33, of Carlsbad, Calif. won the 2005 Dew Cup in Skateboard Vert and is considered one of the world's most consistent Vert skaters.  
• Ryan Sheckler , 16, of San Clemente, Calif. was named one of Sports Illustrated's "Top 10 Crowd Pleasers" in 2005 for his accomplishments on the Dew Tour.   He took top honors in Skateboard Park and also garnered Athlete of the Year for having the highest point total on the Tour.  
• 22-year-old Paul Rodriguez, Jr. of Chatsworth, Calif. ranked fourth overall on last year's Dew Action Sports Tour and was named '02 Rookie of the Year by TransWorld. 

BMX

• 22-year-old Australian Ryan Guettler concluded a historic season in BMX Dirt and BMX Park, winning Dew Cups in both disciplines and was the Tour's top money winner collecting more than $250,000.
• Jamie Bestwick , 34, of Nottingham, GBR took top honors in BMX Vert in the 2005 season and was the only four-time winner on the Tour. 
• Jackson, N.J. native Scotty Cranmer , 19, took second overall in BMX Park, only 21 points shy of winning the Dew Cup.  
• BMX Park and Vert competitor Dave Mirra , 32, of Greenville, N.C. is the most accomplished athlete in the history of action sports.  Last season, Mirra finished in the top five in both BMX Park and Vert standings.  

FMX

• Stillwater, Okla. native Kenny Bartram , 27, and Jeremy Stenberg , 24, of Winchester, Calif. were separated by only 13 points going into the final stop of the 2005 Dew Action Sports Tour.   While Bartram took the Dew Cup, Stenberg finished second in the season ending standings only 38 points behind.
• Mike Metzger , 30, of Huntington Beach, Calif. successfully jumped and landed the longest back flip ever, over the fountain at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. 
• Nate Adams , 22, of Phoenix, Ariz. was injured during the beginning of the 2005 season and missed the first two Tour stops, but came back to finish the season in 9 th place overall.

Fans can explore the Dew Action Sports Tour's Festival Village every day of the event, which includes athlete autograph session, video gaming and interactive courses.  Hoobastank will also perform live on the Festival Village's music stage on Friday, June 23 starting at 9 p.m.

Tickets for competitions on Thursday, June 22 are $7.50 in advance or $8.50 the day of.  Friday through Sunday, a daily adult ticket is $15 in advance and a child's daily ticket is $7.50 in advance.  At the door, tickets are $17 for adults and $8.50 for children.  A four-day pass to the Panasonic Open is $20 for children and $40 for adults.  Tickets are available at Ticketmaster locations, ticketmaster.com and the Kentucky Expo Center box office.  Included in the price of admission are all competitions, the Festival Village, and music concert.  Please note that all tickets are subject to convenience and handling charges.

NBC will air the Panasonic Open on June 24 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. and June 25 from 3:00-6:00 p.m.  USA Network will air it from Midnight-1:00 a.m. on June 23 and Midnight-1:00 a.m. on June 24.  FUEL TV will bring you pre- and post-event coverage of the Dew Action Sports Tour through upcoming stop previews and 30-minute wrap-ups.  Check www.fuel.tv for complete listings.

For Panasonic Open schedule information and complete results, and standings from the 2005 season, fans can log on to www.dewactionsportstour.com.

The Dew Action Sports Tour schedule, events and locations are as follows:

Owned by NBC Universal and Live Nation, the Dew 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 Dew Action Sports Tour coverage with the largest combined network and cable commitment in action sports. 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's festival village includes live cutting-edge music, video gaming, and interactive events.

Live Nation, formerly Clear Channel Entertainment, is an integral partner on the Dew Action Sports Tour , lending its considerable expertise in live event touring and promotion, including a wide range of off-channel assets including Clear Channel's Radio, Outdoor and Music divisions.

The Dew Action Sports Tour returns all of its founding partners from year one, including Mountain Dew (tour title sponsor); and Panasonic, Right Guard Xtreme, Vans® , Toyota and PlayStation® (event title sponsors).  Associate partners include MasterCard, Mongoose® , OXY® Acne Solutions, Peanut Chews® and Slim Jim.

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 a leading live content and distribution company focused on creating superior experiences for artists, performers, corporations and fans. Live Nation owns, operates or has booking rights for 150 venues worldwide and promoted or produced over 20,000 events in 2005. Live Nation is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." More information about Live Nation and its businesses is available at http://www.LiveNation.com.

FUEL TV
For the second year in a row, action sports lifestyle channel FUEL TV will be the only network to bring you pre- and post-event coverage of Dew Action Sports Tour through upcoming stop previews and 30-minute wrap-ups.  On site, the FUEL TV booth will offer an interactive experience that allows event attendees to host role play and interview athletes for their very own FUEL TV segment.  There will also be lots of product giveaways and a chance to check out FUEL TV, your connection to what's happening in skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX, freestyle motocross and wakeboarding.  Launched on July 1, 2003, FUEL TV is seen in 15 million U.S. homes. FUEL TV programming has global appeal and reach into the UK via FX UK; Latin America, including Brazil, via FX Latin America; and Australia via FUEL TV Aus. To see if you get FUEL TV or for dates and showtimes, visit www.fuel.tv

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