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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Kia X Games Asia 2009 Gets Off To Winning Start

11th Edition of Asia’s Biggest Action Sport Competition Attracts More Sponsors and Partners

23 March 2009, Shanghai – This year’s edition of the KIA X Games Asia is set to be bigger and better, even before the event gets underway on April 30 – May 5, 2009.

Organized by Asia’s No. 1 sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports in collaboration with title sponsor Kia Motors, the eleventh edition of Asia’s biggest action sports competition, and the third to be held in Shanghai, will be bolstered by the addition of a new Silver Sponsor in Mountain Dew and the elevation of Apparel Sponsor Pony to Silver Sponsor.
New brands like Doritos as the Official Snack Partner and Cold Stone ice-cream have also picked up sponsorship packages. With the addition of more media partners like International Channel Shanghai and Shanghai Daily joining this year’s event, the total number of sponsors and partners has grown to 32 this year – nearly three times more than last year. Like Pony, all the brands stand to benefit from various promotional and marketing opportunities as part of their association with Kia and the KIA X Games Asia.

This year, competitors can look forward to the increase in prize money for the event, which has been raised from US$120,000 last year to US$130,000. Aggressive In-Line, Skateboard and BMX Freestyle participants for the street discipline can also expect a new and revamped course that will resemble real street conditions.

Visitors to this year’s KIA X Games Asia can also expect a bigger carnival atmosphere in the “X Fest”, which will have many exciting entertainment acts such as break-dance performances, DJs spinning the hottest tracks, as well as an interactive arena with many fun activities such as professional skateboarding coaching, games and prize giveaways.
The KIA X Games Asia has earned a strong global reputation with a significant increase in awareness about action sports in the region. Last year’s event was enthusiastically received by the Shanghai community and broke attendance records with more than 52,800 people passing through the gates of Yangpu District’s KIC Jiangwan Sports Center – an increase of more than 55% from 2007.

“We are very happy to be back in China, and look forward to delivering another exhilarating event to KIA X Games Asia fans in Shanghai,” said Harvey Davis, ESPN STAR Sports Vice President, Event Management. “We’re excited to work closely with Kia Motors to bring this world-class action sports competition to new heights, and are heartened by the enthusiasm of our new sponsors in developing so many new spectator and interactive elements this year.”

Themed as “X’press Without Limits”, this year’s event will showcase nearly 200 of the best action sports athletes from more than 30 countries from five continents in the categories Aggressive Inline (Vert and Street), Skateboard (Vert and Street), BMX Freestyle (Vert and Street) and Sport Climbing (Men Speed and Women Speed), accompanied by Moto X Freestyle demonstration (Big Air).

In addition to the high-level competition, many young and trendy artists, musicians and dancers will give spectacular performances to local audiences. The event ambassador, Go Go Club returns to the event as well, and will sing the Chinese theme song “Rise Up”. The highly entertaining concerts will also feature performances by Javis Jian-Fei Wu, Ren-Jie Shen, Juliet Li-Ye Zhu, and Andrew Zhi-Lin Cheung. Kindly refer to the factsheet for more information.

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