AST Dew Tour Announces Pre-Qualified Athletes For 2007 Season - Roster of Pre-Qualified Athletes Expected to Compete Include Two-Time Dew Cup Winners Jamie Bestwick, Bucky Lasek, and Ryan Sheckler - New York - The AST Dew Tour, the world's premier season
AST Dew Tour Announces Pre-Qualified Athletes For 2007 Season
Roster of Pre-Qualified Athletes Expected to Compete Include Two-Time Dew Cup Winners Jamie Bestwick, Bucky Lasek, and Ryan Sheckler
New York - The AST Dew Tour, the world's premier season-long action sports tour, today announced its pre-qualified athletes for the 2007 season.
Athletes are pre-qualified for the 2007 AST Dew Tour's first stop, the Panasonic Open, based on their rankings at the end of the 2006 AST Dew Tour season. Additionally 3-4 wild cards per discipline have been selected. Athletes who are not pre-qualified may compete as Open Qualifiers at the Panasonic Open and the Right Guard Open to earn a spot in the preliminary rounds. The full list of pre-qualified athletes is as follows:
Skateboard Park Skateboard Vert
Ryan Sheckler Bucky Lasek Jereme Rogers Sandro Dias Rodolfo Ramos Bob Burnquist Nyjah Huston Andy Macdonald Chad Bartie Jean Postec Greg Lutzka Anthony Furlong Ricardo Oliveira Tas Pappas Billy Marks Rune Glifberg Rodney Jones Neal Hendrix Marcus Kyle Berard Max Dufour Austen Seaholm Rob Lorifice Mike Peterson Shaun White Thomas Parent Pierre-Luc Gagnon Nilton Neves Wagner Ramos Ronnie Creager Paul Rodriguez Dayne Brummet David Loy
The complete 2007 AST Dew Tour schedule is as follows:
Event Date Location
Panasonic Open June 21-24 Baltimore,Md.-Camden Yards Sports Complex Right Guard Open July 19-22 Cleveland,Ohio-North Coast Harbor VansR Invitational Aug. 16-19 Portland,Ore.-Rose Quarter Toyota Challenge Sept. 20-23 Salt Lake City,Utah-Energy Solutions Arena PlayStationR Pro Oct. 18-21 Orlando,Fla.-Amway Arena
Tickets to the Panasonic Open, Right Guard Open, Toyota Challenge, and PlayStation Pro are available via Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone and venue box offices. Tickets to the VansR Invitational are available via Rosequarter.com.
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 38 million viewers tune in via NBC and USA each year. The top athletes in the world will 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 (Freestyle Motocross), Jamie Bestwick (BMX Vert), Anthony Napolitan (BMX Dirt), Daniel Dhers (BMX Park), Bucky Lasek (Skateboard Vert) and Ryan Sheckler(Skateboard Park).
The AST Dew Tour
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, VansR, Toyota and PlayStationR (event title sponsors). Associate partners include MasterCard, MongooseR, Slim Jim and Verizon Wireless.
About 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.
About Live Nation
Live Nation is the world's leading live music company, annually connecting more than 67 million fans with their favorite performers at over 33,000 events. We are the largest producer of live concerts in the world, the second-largest venue management company and have a rapidly growing online presence. Live Nation creates 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 and/or have booking rights for more than 170 venues, including House of Blues-branded music venues and prestigious locations such as San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, Nikon at Jones Beach in New York and London's Hammersmith Apollo and Wembley Arena. Live Nation's websites collectively are the second most popular entertainment event websites in the United States, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV.
