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*** AST Name Is Out, Alli In At Dew Tour ***

NBC Sports News -- 12/01/2008



( http://www.allisports.com ) = NEW!

Like the action sports athletes it broadcasts, the AST Dew Tour is trying
to pull off a progressive trick of its own by rolling out a new name, an
expanded portfolio of properties and a new Web site for action sports.

The NBC- and MTV-owned company behind the Dew Tour now will be
known as Alli (pronounced Al-I, or ally), an abbreviation of its formal
name, Alliance of Action Sports. The change is the fourth for the
company in four years.

The new company will continue to manage its core properties — the Dew
Tour, the Free Flow Tour, AST China — but it also will work on three new
properties as the result of partnerships with the Maloof Money Cup, a
skateboard event; the AMA Motocross Championships, a 12-stop race
series; and King of Wake, a nine-stop wakeboard series.

Each competition in the Alli portfolio will be known by its own name
such as Dew Tour or Maloof Money Cup, but each will be considered
a member of Alli and Alli signage will be visible at events.

The company’s new Web site, allisports.com, will include social-
networking pages, athlete pages, pages for each sport in the Alliance
(skateboard, BMX, FMX, snowboard, ski, wakeboard, surf, motocross)
and competition pages for the Dew Tour, Free Flow Tour, the AMA
Motocross Championships, King of Wake and Maloof Money Cup.

The name change, new properties and enhanced Web site are all part
of Alli’s efforts to grow beyond the Dew Tour to become the “the common
touch point for fans looking to follow and consume action sports,” said Alli
President Wade Martin.

To support the new properties and Web site, Alli will hire two to three
sponsorship sales and partnership employees and two to three digital
employees. It has hired Doug Kirk, who has worked at the NBA, Sports
Illustrated and ESPN.com, as its digital vice president.

Martin acknowledged that changing names is risky but said it was
necessary as the company looked to expand beyond the Dew Tour.
He said that AST never became a recognized brand and added that
because the name AST was affiliated with the Dew Tour, it made it
difficult to add other action sports series or competitions through
new partnerships.

“Everyone liked the strategy (behind making a change) but the idea of
making a change was tough to swallow because of the multiple changes
over the past few years,” Martin said. “But, Alli lifts us up into another
space.”

Virtue Worldwide, an agency based in Brooklyn,
N.Y., developed the new name and accompanying logo.

Martin isn’t concerned that people might mispronounce Alli, reading it as
they would the boxer Muhammad Ali’s last name, or like “alley,” instead
of “ally.”

“We have enough media behind this that we’ll make (the pronunciation)
clear quickly,” Martin said. “The awareness and influence of this brand
can grow at whatever pace it wants because it’s not out front. It’s not
the Alli Dew Tour but just the Dew Tour.”

Sponsors and action sports executives familiar
with the new name and logo support the change.

“AST Dew Tour has been clumsy for us, so I was glad to see him think
of a new way to talk about his organization,” said John Stamatis, Pepsi
sports group manager. “Now he’s trying to be clean, progressive and
sleek around Dew Tour and around his trademark. Separating them
will drive more attention for Mountain Dew and everyone will benefit
from a less clumsy logo treatment.”

Wasserman Media Group’s Steve Astephen said, “It’s a positive move
in the right direction. We’re never going to be branded with three initials
like the PGA, NFL or ATP. The whole industry has been built on brands
and finally someone listened.”

The Alli logo won’t be the only new one visible this year. The Dew Tour
logo also got a makeover. Its green, starlike explosion behind the word
Dew Tour has been discarded in favor of a green loop in the shape of a
“D.”

Merchandise featuring the new Dew Tour and Alli logos will be available
when the tour kicks off its winter series Dec. 18 in Breckenridge, Colo.
Martin said the company is working out licensing agreements for a
variety of soft and hard goods.

In addition to new merchandise sales, the organization also expects to
increase its revenue through its new partnerships with the Maloof Money
Cup, AMA Motocross Championships and King of Wake Series.

Each partnership was structured differently. The Maloof Money Cup and
AMA Motocross Championships each signed revenue-sharing agreements
that will see them become commercial rights partners with Alli. Each
property and Alli will share sales responsibilities and all sponsorship
and ticket revenue.

In exchange, the Maloof Money Cup will receive one hour of coverage
on NBC, two hours of coverage on MTV2 and one half-hour lifestyle
program to be aired 10 times on MTV2. The AMA Motocross
Championships will receive three hours of live programming
on NBC in June, July and August. NBC will cover all production
costs for both properties.

The third property, King of Wake, has signed over its new media and
online rights to Alli. Its competitions will be streamed on allisports.com,
a new Web site being rolled out in conjunction with the name change.

The strategy behind partnering with the three properties is similar to
the strategy that drove NBC’s partnership with Fox on the creation of
Hulu.com, a Web site that houses archival television shows.

“We want to grow the brand with as many touch points as possible,”
Martin said. “We believe it will enhance our existing properties by
adding (these) other ones.”

An overview of the Alli properties is as follows

Maloof Money Cup

Held for the first time in 2008, the Maloof Money Cup, owned
and operated by the Maloof family, has quickly become the premier
skateboarding event within the community and attracts every top
athlete. Including three professional competitions Men's and Women's
Pro Street, and Men's Pro Vert and the Amateur Championships,
it boasts the largest single event purse in skateboarding with over
$450,000 in prize money.

AMA Motocross Championship

AMA Motocross Championship is the top outdoor series in motocross
and draws elite rider talent from all around the world. The MX Sports-
organized series, which began in 1972, spans 12 races across the U.S.,
and at the end of each year, the AMA National Motocross Championship
titles are awarded based on the riders' performances over the entire
series.

King of Wake

As the elite pro wakeboarding circuit, the King of Wake series has
attracted the sport's top riders from throughout the globe. With more
than $300,000 in prize money over the eight-event season, riders
compete over the course of the year to be named the "King of Wake"
an award based on points accumulated at each stop of the series.
Events include Wake Games, Pro Wakeboard Tour (5 events), WWA
National Championships, and WWA World Championships. The King
of Wake is organized by World Sports & Marketing the leading wake
event producers since 1988.

Dew Tour

The Dew Tour, the premier season-long series in action sports,
consists of five major, multi-sport events, featuring skateboarding
(park and vert), BMX (park, vert, and dirt), and FMX. Dew Tour is
the most watched and attended action sports property in the world
with over 250k spectators, 41 million total viewers and reaches over
100 countries worldwide. The events extend across the country, have
a cumulative points system, and a $3.5 million competitive purse. The
Dew Tour has been the cornerstone property of AST over the last four
years, and its success has now enabled the formation of Alli, the Alliance
of Action Sports. It crowns year-end champions including past Dew Cup
winners Ryan Sheckler, Shaun White, Bucky Lasek, Jamie Bestwick,
and Nate Adams.

Winter Dew Tour

The Winter Dew Tour is launching in December of '08, and will expand
Alli's footprint into the winter action sports. It consists of three major,
multi-sport events spanning across the country, with a cumulative points
system, and a $1.5 million competitive purse. The tour will feature 29
hours of original television programming. Each event features men and
women's snowboard (superpipe and slopestyle), and men's freeskiing
(superpipe and slopestyle). Top athletes, Shaun White, Hannah Teter,
Travis Rice, Simon Dumont, and Danny Kass, are already planning to
compete.

Free Flow Tour

The Free Flow Tour, the Dew Tour's official amateur series, provides
amateur athletes the opportunity to earn a chance to compete against
the pros in the Dew Tour. The Free Flow Tour consists of 50 events
across 26 cities in the U.S., featuring skateboarding and BMX.

The winners of the Free Flow Tour Finals compete against the pros at
the Dew Tour's PlayStation Pro in Orlando, Fla. Past Free Flow Tour
winners include Chaz Ortiz (2007 Dew Cup Winner, Skate Park) and
Mike Spinner (2008 Dew Tour Second Place, BMX Park).

China Invitational

The China Invitational is Alli's first international expansion initiative.
The inaugural China Invitational was held in April 2008 in Beijing,
China and featured the top skateboarders competing in vert and
park disciplines before a capacity crowd.

Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports

Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports is global business that encompasses
national and international action sports tours and events, multimedia
production, and a consumer facing lifestyle brand. The Alliance includes:

The Dew Tour (debuted in 2005), Winter Dew Tour (debuting in 2008),
Alli China Invitational (debuted in 2008), Maloof Money Cup, AMA
Motocross, The King of Wake, and the Free Flow Tour (debuted in 2005);
Alli Productions, which creates original content, produces and presents
content with partners, and distributes Alli content through a variety of
channels. Alli is owned by NBC Sports and MTV Networks and represents
a network of athletes, fans, brands and properties.

Its mission is to facilitate the momentous growth of action sports,
through competition and lifestyle, for a new generation of fans and
athletes. The Alli properties are home to more than 700,000 spectators
each year, over 150 hours of original programming, and are broadcast
in 100 countries and 280 million homes worldwide.

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.

MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the
world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that
engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile,
games, virtual worlds and consumer products.

The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and
350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT,
Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, ddicting
Games, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom,
Gametrailers and Xfire. Wanna know more? Come on in mtvpress.com

CC - http://www.allisports.com
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