PAOLI, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2006--AND 1 is taking their Mix Tape(R) property to the next level with today's announcement of their new partnership with event company AEG LIVE, the second largest live entertainment company in the world. Today Lisa Fusco, GM of the Mix Tape Tour property within basketball footwear and apparel company AND 1, announced the company will work with AEG LIVE on producing the popular AND 1 Mix Tape Tour presented by Mountain Dew, now in its seventh year as the nation's premiere playground basketball event.
"We are so proud to have AEG LIVE as our tour partner," said Fusco. "This new partnership will allow AND 1 to bring streetball to an even bigger audience by leveraging AEG's touring and marketing expertise. In conjunction with AEG our Mix Tape games this summer will be hotter and more exciting than ever before."
The AND 1 Mix Tape Tour, a summer-long tour featuring the nation's best playground basketball players, will be in 25 cities from June 4th through August 25th. The Tour features the newly signed The Air Up There, Silk, Assassin and Bad Santa, as well as living legends Hot Sauce, Main Event, Half Man-Half Amazing, AO, Professor, Spyda and others taking on the best basketball talent each city can bring, with local ballers vying for a spot on the roster and an endorsement deal with AND 1.
"We are very excited to embark on this new partnership," said Shawn Hunter, President, AEG Sports. "We believe that a property like The AND 1 Mix Tape Tour, that so effectively and successfully blends together the worlds of sports and entertainment, will continue to have great growth potential. With AEG's variety of affiliated divisions and assets, this is clearly an event that our organization will continue to invest more and more resources in the coming years."
AND 1's series of basketball videos and DVDs known as the 'AND 1 Mix Tapes' have attained cult status among hard-core ball players. After more than a year of giving away the mix tapes featuring footage of little known local players paired with new hip-hop music, AND 1 took the show on the road for a three-city test. Now, seven years later, the AND 1 Mix Tape Tour has reached close to 1 million basketball fans and elevated the Mix Tape Tour players to international icons. This summer the tour will hit 25 major cities, each hosting an Open Run, expo area and major game. In every city, Open Run participants will be vying for an endorsement contract and may be featured on the fifth season of "Streetball: The AND 1 Mix Tape Tour presented by Mountain Dew" on ESPN2 this summer.
Tickets will go on sale nationally this Saturday, April 29th; for more information check out www.and1.com. AND 1 thanks its presenting partner Mountain Dew, and additional Tour partners Boost Mobile, KFC, the U.S. Army, Finish Line, Old Spice Red Zone, Ubisoft, Greyhound, Rockford Fosgate and The Truth, as well as others to be announced.
The 2006 AND 1 MIX TAPE TOUR SCHEDULE:
1- Sunday, June 4th Los Angeles, CA Home Depot Center
2- Wed., June 7th Oakland, CA Oakland Arena
3- Sunday, June 11th Portland, OR Rose Garden
4- Thursday, June 15th Salt Lake City, UT The E Center
5- Monday, June 19th Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
6- Thursday, June 22nd Denver, CO Denver Coliseum
7- Sunday, June 25th San Antonio, TX Freeman Coliseum
8- Wed., June 28th Houston, TX Reliant Arena
9- Sunday, July 2nd Kansas City, MO Kemper Arena
10- Thursday, July 6th Minneapolis, MN Target Center
11- Sunday, July 9th Milwaukee, WI US Cellular Arena
12- Thursday, July 13th Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse
13- Sat., July 15th Chicago, IL United Center
14- Thursday, July 20th Detroit, MI Cobo Arena
15- Monday, July 24th Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center
16- Thursday, July 27th Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
17- Sunday, July 30th Atlanta, GA Gwinnett Center
18- Thursday, Aug. 3rd Miami, FL Bank United Center
19- Sunday, Aug. 6th Orlando, FL UCF Arena
20- Wed., Aug. 9th Raleigh, NC RBC Center
21- Sat., Aug. 12th Washington, D.C. Verizon Center
22- Wed., Aug. 16th Norfolk, VA Constant Center
23- Sat., Aug. 19th Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
24- Tuesday, Aug. 22nd Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
25- Friday, Aug. 25th New York, NY Madison Square Garden
ABOUT AND 1:
Founded in 1993, AND 1 makes basketball footwear and apparel for players with serious game. The company that first made its mark in the apparel industry with a line of "in your face" trash talk tee shirts now offers a complete product line for basketball players, including performance shoes, shorts, tees, sleeveless tees, pants, team uniforms, licensed collegiate gear, accessories and other products. Brand revenues have grown from $1 million in 1993 to more than $150 million in 2005. AND 1 footwear and apparel is sold in more than 130 countries around the world and worn by the New Zealand, Slovenian, Puerto Rican and Turkish national basketball teams. AND 1 endorsers include Marcus Camby (Denver Nuggets), Rafer Alston (Houston Rockets) and Bobby Jackson (Memphis Grizzlies) as well as the world-renown streetballers the AND 1 Mix Tape(R) Tour players including Main Event, AO, the Professor and others. For more information, visit www.and1.com. AND 1 is owned by American Sporting Goods (ASG).
ABOUT AEG:
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Forum (as exclusive booking agent for sports and entertainment programming), Toyota Sports Center, Anaheim Arena (as preferred booking agent), NOKIA Theatre Times Square, NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie and London's Manchester Evening News Arena; sports franchises throughout the world including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Riptide (MLL) and four MLS franchises. In addition, AEG has recently developed and opened The Home Depot Center, a $150 million national training "campus" in Carson, California designated as an "Official U.S. Olympic Training Site" by the United States Olympic Committee that includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling, action sports, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The company's live entertainment division, AEG LIVE is one of the world's leading concert promotion and touring organization. For more information on AEG, visit www.aegworldwide.com.
Contacts
AND 1 PR
Mandy Murphy, 610-249-2420
mandy.murphy@and1.com