Tennis Star Serena Williams Selects Her Match at Gatorade G2 Everyday Athlete Search
Five Semi-Finalists — All Named Serena — Share Their Inspired ‘Everyday Athlete’ Stories For Chance To Appear Next to Serena Williams in G2 Low- Calorie Sports Drink Campaign
Top world ranked tennis player Serena Williams — who just came off winning her 10th Grand Slam Singles Title at the 2009 Australian Open — teamed up with Gatorade G2 today at Hollywood’s famed Roosevelt Hotel to select who will appear alongside her in a new national “Everyday Athletes” ad campaign for the Gatorade G2 low-calorie sports drink. Emceed by Access Hollywood host and upcoming Dancing with the Stars competitor, Nancy O’Dell, The G2 Everyday Athlete Search featured five semi-finalists — all named Serena — who traveled to the event from around the country to discuss their personal stories of how sports and exercise have helped them overcome a challenge or allowed them to reach and accomplish a significant, personal goal.
A casting panel consisting of Serena Williams, and representatives from Shape Magazine and Gatorade G2 selected winner Serena Cuevas, 23, from San Diego, Calif. based on Cuevas’ story of growing up with a passion to dance that was sidetracked by a horrific car accident at the age of 17. She was told by the doctors she may never dance again. With determination and passion, Cuevas recovered and went on to compete in national and international salsa competitions, as well as establish her own dance company — Deseo Dance Company — in San Diego.
Cuevas will appear with Serena Williams in the national ad campaign beginning this spring that will help draw attention to the Gatorade brand’s broadened definition of what it means to be an athlete. If your body is moving, Gatorade considers you an athlete. In addition to Serena Williams, G2 is also unveiling three more “everyday athlete” ads, featuring the NBA’s Kevin Garnett, WNBA’s Candace Parker, and Gold Medal Beach Volleyball star Kerri Walsh with their “everyday athlete” counterparts. Others are invited to share their own “everyday athlete” stories at missionG.com, the new sports and entertainment portal for Gatorade.
“Whether you are Serena Williams or Serena Cuevas, we all have it within us to achieve our dreams and goals, thanks to sports, exercise and being active,” said Sarah Robb O’Hagan, chief marketing officer for Gatorade. “This G2 campaign invites more consumers to see themselves as athletes while motivating them to be the best they can be.”
In recent weeks, Gatorade has launched a comprehensive marketing campaign designed to appeal to a broader range of athletes and beyond the traditional sidelines. The G2 Everyday Athlete Search, part of the new G campaign, is a call to action for all active people, not only to think about Gatorade in new and exciting ways, but also to search for compelling ways they can challenge themselves to achieve while promoting the low-calorie benefit of the beverage with a tagline of “Less Calories for More Athletes.”
Along with winner Cuevas, the other semi-finalists who traveled to Hollywood to meet with Serena include Serena Marrero, 47, Tillson, New York; Serena Lehman, 27, Seattle, Wash.; Serena Orgel, 34, Brooklyn, New York; and Serena Martinez, 38, Ventura, Calif.
For more information on the low-calorie G2 beverages, visit Gatorade.com. To view the G2 Everyday Athlete Campaign, visit missionG.com.
It’s Tee Time for FiOS TV Customers – Golf Channel Now Available in High Definition in Rhode Island
Verizon Customers Can Experience Golf With the Ultimate HD Picture
Verizon FiOS TV customers continue to enjoy the ultimate in high-definition (HD) home entertainment, with the addition of the Golf Channel in HD to the FiOS programming lineup in Rhode Island.
With this addition, Verizon has 106 HD channels available to its FiOS TV customers in the state, more than any other TV carrier.
As spring approaches and the tournament season swings into action, FiOS TV subscribers can immerse themselves in the world of golf, only as it can be experienced on pure FiOS HD.
The Golf Channel, a 24-hour-a-day network, offers a range of programming including news and scores, tournament coverage, post-tournament programs, highlights, and current events happening around the golf industry. This popular channel will also provide subscribers with coverage of the Majors in HD — The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and the PGA Championship. For golfers looking to improve their game, Golf Channel offers instructional videos, equipment review, and information on courses and golf resorts around the country.
“There’s HD on FiOS, then there’s everything else,” said Terry Denson, vice president – FiOS TV content and programming. “With our advanced network providing the most HD channels, the best picture-and-sound quality and interactive features that go beyond old-fashioned cable — there’s no better place than FiOS to experience sports in HD. With FiOS TV’s pure HD, viewers will feel as if they’re standing at the tee box.”
FiOS TV scored highest in J.D. Power’s “2008 Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study for the East Region.” A leading consumer magazine gave FiOS TV the top rating in its most recent survey of television service, with top marks in all six categories it measured: channel choice, image quality, sound quality, reliability, value and support.
FiOS TV offers a broad collection of programming, with more than 500 all-digital channels and 14,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month – 70 percent of which are free. Verizon’s VOD library also includes more than 1,200 HD titles. FiOS TV is currently available to more than 9.2 million homes in 14 states, including 12 communities in Rhode Island.
For more information on FiOS TV, consumers can visit www.verizon.com/fiostv or call their local Verizon sales office or 888-438-3467.
Golf Pro Phil Mickelson to Share Secrets Of The Short Game
Top Player To Release An Instructional Program, Just In Time For The Masters
Available On DVD April 7 As A Two-Disc Set With Instructional Booklet From CBS Home Entertainment And Paramount Home Entertainment
Phil Mickelson, winner of 34 PGA Tour events — including three major championships — and long renowned for his masterful short game, shares his competitive insights for the first time ever on DVD in PHIL MICKELSON: SECRETS OF THE SHORT GAME. Teaming with Emmy Award-winning producer/director Terry Jastrow, the two-disc instructional set focusing on shots played from 50 yards will be available on DVD April 7 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment.
“My ideas about the short game are very different from a lot of the instruction I see out there,” said Mickelson, “so it was a lot of fun to put this together with Terry and I’m very pleased with the way it turned out. The goal here is to help golfers build a foundation so that their practice time directly correlates to improved scoring on the golf course.”
Jastrow has produced hugely popular instructional programs with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and others but said, “No great golfer has done an instructional program in more than two decades. For years people have acknowledged Phil has a superior short game, but the question they still ask is, ‘How does he do it?’ Here Phil finally gives his answers.”
Mickelson has been outspoken on various topics throughout his career and continues to be so in sharing his “Secrets.”
On two popular chipping instructions: “the club should go back and through the same distance” or that there should be “no wrist” in the swing: “If anybody teaches you one of those two methods, go somewhere else. There is one great way to chip and it is a method that I call ‘hinge and hold.’ There has never been a good chipper who does not conform to this technique.”
On putting: “For years I have heard how you want your hands to oppose each other. I don’t buy into that either. We want our top hand turned stronger; this promotes a release.”
PHIL MICKELSON: SECRETS OF THE SHORT GAME features sections on putting, chipping, sand shots and the flop shot Mickelson popularized soon after he joined the PGA Tour in 1992.
The two-disc set with approximately two hours of content is presented in 16×9 widescreen. It is not rated in the U.S. and has an exempt rating in Canada and will be available for the suggested retail price of $49.95.
Source: CBS Home Entertainment
Last-Minute Entry Lands Kentucky Auto Parts Production Worker $100,000 Prize in Fantasy Fishing Game
FLW Fantasy Fishing Kicks Off Race for $1 Million Grand Prize with First Tournament of 2009 Season
To win FLW Fantasy Fishing, or any contest for that matter, you have to enter. And entering at the last minute counts just as much as if you entered days, weeks or even months before.
That’s what Terry Moberly, 45, a resident of Berea, Ky., a small town near Lexington, Ky. learned. Last Wednesday, Feb. 11, with less than four hours until the closing bell on FLW Fantasy Fishing picks for the first tournament, Moberly registered at fantasyfishing.com. Using Player’s Advantage, an online tool that provides “inside” information about FLW Tour bass pros, Moberly picked 10 bass pros from among a field of 157 that would be competing the very next morning in the first of six tournaments that make up the Walmart FLW Tour, professional bass fishing’s largest and most prestigious tournament circuit.
Moberly, an avid bass angler, was urged to enter FLW Fantasy Fishing by his two sons, Tyler, a student at Eastern Kentucky University, located in nearby Richmond, Ky., and his 19-year-old son, Brandon. Both sons are avid bass anglers, too, having competed in regional bass tournaments sponsored by FLW Outdoors.
The rest they say is history. Because today, Moberly is $100,000 richer, proving once again that old adage, “you need to enter to win.”
“This is fantastic,” said the even-keel Moberly, a production worker at the Tokico USA, a manufacturing plant in Berea that makes automobile shocks and suspensions. “I had never played any sort of fantasy sport before, but my sons said to me, ‘Dad, you just gotta try this,’ and with the additional resources Player’s Advantage offers, I was able to enhance my picks.”
Married for 24 years to his sweetheart, Debbie, Moberly says that fishing, along with other outdoors activities such as camping and hunting run deep in his family. Born and raised in Richmond, Ky., Moberly frequently fishes nearby lakes and reservoirs, including Cumberland Lake, from his Ranger bass boat. And while he’s fished a few tournaments himself, Moberly and his wife especially enjoy watching their sons compete in fishing tournaments. Son Tyler competes on a bass fishing team representing Eastern Kentucky University in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Tournament Circuit, and son Brandon has competed in the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division Tournament Circuit.
“With the economy as it is, the extra money will allow us to shore up our finances and help us pay college tuition,” added Moberly. “And maybe I’ll treat myself to a new Ranger bass boat.”
Now Moberly is setting his sights on the $1 million grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing player who accumulates the most points over six tournaments. Moberly, like many FLW Fantasy Fishing players, will continue to tap the powerful online tools of Player’s Advantage, available for only $10 for the entire season, to help give them the edge they need to enhance their fantasy team picks.
“I’m going to continue to rely on Player’s Advantage, a great resource for only $10, to give me an even greater edge in the race for that $1 million grand prize,” Moberly said. “I’m off to a great start and I want to be in the winner’s circle in Pittsburgh on Aug. 1 when FLW Fantasy Fishing announces the $1 million grand prize.”
The Winning Combination
To win the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament, Moberly earned 12,744 points based on the performance of the pro bass anglers who fished the Walmart FLW Tour’s first four-day tournament, the Chevy Open, on Lake Guntersville, near Huntsville, Ala. The first FLW Tour tournament was won by TUM’s bass pro David Fritts, a resident of Lexington, N.C. Starting in sixth place on the last day of the tournament, Fritts’ crankbait assault catapulted him into first place and the tournament’s $200,000 prize.
Moberly scored three exactas, earning him additional points on top of the points he accumulated based on the fishing performance of each of his individual fantasy team members. He picked Fritts to finish in first place, David Dudley, who finished in third, and Craig Dowling, who finished in 10th place. He also selected another angler, Scott Canterbury, who finished within the top 10 (8th place). Moberly’s bass pro picks, in the order he thought they would finish, included:
1. David Fritts
2. Randall Tharp
3. David Dudley
4. Andy Morgan
5. Greg Pugh
6. Dan Morehead
7. Jerry Green
8. J.T. Kenney
9. Scott Canterbury
10. Craig Dowling
“‘I’m not as familiar with all of the FLW bass pros as my sons are, but because of the insight Player’s Advantage offers, I deliberately picked Dave Fritts to win because I thought his style of fishing would work really well on Lake Guntersville,” said Moberly.
Race On for $1 Million Grand Prize
Established by Irwin Jacobs, the creator of FLW Outdoors and the Forrest Wood Cup, FLW Fantasy Fishing is rapidly growing in popularity. There is no entry fee to enter, but for an added edge, participants can purchase Player’s Advantage for only $10 to assist them in trying to win a $1 million payday, plus six $100,000 payouts, one for each qualifying tournament.
Fantasy Fishing is sponsored by FLW Outdoors, which brings the world’s richest bass fishing tournament, the Forrest Wood Cup, to Pittsburgh this summer from July 30-Aug. 2. The Forrest Wood Cup is the final event in the Walmart FLW Tour, and just like fantasy football and fantasy baseball, you can follow the leading money winners on the FLW Tour all season long and win America’s richest fantasy event when the Fantasy Fishing winners for 2009 are announced here in Pittsburgh on Aug. 1, 2009. Highlights from each Walmart FLW Tour are broadcast to more than 79 million households weekly on the FLW Outdoors television program, which will premiere on April 5, 2009 on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is also broadcast internationally through agreements with World Fishing Network (WFN) and Matchroom Sport to more than 500 million households in such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary, and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor sports television show in the world.
In addition to the $1 million grand prize, and the six $100,000 tournament prizes, FLW Fantasy Fishing players are eligible to win prizes such as a $54,000 Ranger boat, a brand new Chevy vehicle, a $25,000 gift card, or one of more than 1,800 additional prizes. Fantasy Fishing also offers $3 million and $5 million exacta bonus games by correctly ranking the top five finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup or the top seven finishers in a tournament.
FLW Fantasy Fishing players can increase their chances of winning the $1 million grand prize by entering all FLW Fantasy Fishing tournaments throughout the season and accumulating a greater amount of points leading up to the Forrest Wood Cup. The next tournaments in the Walmart FLW Tour professional bass circuit include:
Tournament 2: Table Rock Lake, Branson, Mo., March 12-15, 2009
Tournament 3: Lake Norman, Charlotte, N.C., April 23-26, 2009
Tournament 4: Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark., May 14-17, 2009
Tournament 5: Kentucky/Barkley Lake, Benton, Ky., June 11-14, 2009
Tournament 6: Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y., July 9-12, 2009
$1 Million Grand Prize Announcement: Forrest Wood Cup, Pittsburgh, Pa.,
Aug. 1, 2009
The Richest Fantasy Sports Game
In its first season, FLW Fantasy Fishing took the fantasy sports world by surprise by offering the first $1 million guaranteed grand prize for a fantasy sports game. And with that announcement, FLW Fantasy Fishing soared to the top of the fantasy sports world, gaining fans from 123 countries attracted to the game’s $7.3 million in overall cash and prizes, the highest payout of any fantasy sports game in the world. Last year’s million dollar winner was Michael Thompson, 34, of Minneapolis, a stay-at-home Dad.
This year, FLW Fantasy Fishing once again sets a new standard, offering a $1 million grand prize again along with 1,800 other prizes for a total of $10 million in overall cash and prizes, the highest payout of any fantasy sports game in the world.
First Tournament: Second and Third Places
Finishing behind Terry Moberly in second place, with 12,389 points, was Nate Rose, a resident of Addison, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, who won a $5,000 Walmart gift card. Rose is an avid angler and fantasy sports gamer, who learned about FLW Fantasy Fishing from a fishing buddy.
“Our basement was flooded last fall during a nine-inch rainstorm,” said Rose, “so this gift card will come in really handy in helping us re-decorate our basement.”
Clarence “Junior” Hillyard, a resident of Winchester, Va., a suburb of Washington D.C., came in third place, with 12,259 points, winning a $1,000 Walmart gift card. Hillyard, a technician with Rubbermaid, and his wife are the parents of a 15-day-old baby girl.
“This is great! I can’t tell you how useful that Walmart gift card will be for our new baby,” said Hillyard, a self-proclaimed fishing geek. “It’s going to make buying all of those diapers and formula a lot easier.”
International Winners
FLW Fantasy Fishing players representing four countries outside the United States earned prizes in the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament in 2009. Winners represented Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico.
The highest placing player was William Martin, a player from Wingham, New South Wales, Australia, who came in 123rd place to win a $50 Walmart gift card.
In the first year of FLW Fantasy Fishing, participants from 123 countries played Fantasy Fishing with prizes awarded to players in the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Estonia and a number of other countries.
FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world and is offering anglers the chance to win more than $33 million through 231 tournaments in 2009. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing http://www.fantasyfishing.com/, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com http://www.flwoutdoors.com/ or call (270) 252-1000.
NBA All-Star 2009 and Daytona 500 Pushes AutoTrader.Com to Record Traffic, Sessions and Page Views
On Monday, February 16, AutoTrader.com, the ultimate automotive marketplace, experienced an all-time record number of car shoppers: 974,851 unique visitors, 1,199,515 sessions and 19,796,740 page views.
AutoTrader.com attributes these record numbers on Monday to exposure during the NBA All-Star 2009 in Phoenix and the Daytona 500, two of the most watched sports events of the year which both took place this past weekend, and to momentum generated from the January launch of the company’s 2009 media campaign. Dealers and individuals listing cars for sale on the site benefit from this exposure as more in-market buyers saw their vehicles listed for sale than ever before.
AutoTrader.com, through its partnership with TNT, received exposure during the NBA All-Star Weekend, February 13-15, on NBA.com, during the AutoTrader.com All-Star Drive giveaway with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the AutoTrader.com Tip-Off Show, advertising spots airing throughout the weekend on TNT and courtside signage during the All-Star game broadcast. Ratings for this year’s All-Star game were up six percent compared to last year’s NBA All-Star broadcast.
AutoTrader.com also had exposure leading up to and during the Daytona 500, broadcast Sunday on Fox. In the pre-race broadcast and during the race, Fox aired the “AutoTrader.com Trading Paint” segment, a 30-second feature that highlighted which drivers had switched teams recently. AutoTrader.com also had 30-second advertising spots during the race.
“AutoTrader.com has a year-long strategy to put our brand in front of people during high-engagement events like the Daytona 500 and NBA All-Star,” said AutoTrader.com’s Chief Marketing Officer Clark Wood. “Our goal is to make our brand top of mind among current and potential car buyers, drive those people to our site and connect buyers with the dealers and individuals listing vehicles for sale on our site.”
In January, the company secured advertising time during the BCS National Championship Game and the National Football League NFC playoffs on Fox, which helped push site traffic to 15.25 million unique monthly visitors, compared to 14.3 million unique monthly visitors in January 2008. That 15.25 million unique visitors represented the company’s highest January site traffic ever.
For 2009, the company’s media plan puts AutoTrader.com in front of over 167 million people. During the year, AutoTrader.com will continue to receive exposure through the company’s relationship with the NBA. This includes the NBA on TNT broadcasts featuring pre-game entitlement during the AutoTrader.com Tip-Off Show, on-court signage for games broadcast on TNT and branding assets on NBA.com. AutoTrader.com will also appear during major NBA events like the NBA playoffs, the just-concluded All-Star 2009 and the AutoTrader.com Open outdoor game.
For 2009, AutoTrader.com has expanded its presence in sports with exposure on some of 2009′s biggest sporting events, including this past weekend’s Daytona 500; Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, post season playoffs and World Series; and NFL football in the fall.
AutoTrader.com further leverages its connection to sports through sponsoring a variety of professional sports teams, including the New England Patriots, the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim, the New York Yankees and more. Through these sponsorships, AutoTrader.com receives exposure in a variety of ways, including signage in or around stadiums and ball parks and exposure during radio and television broadcasts of games. During the winter, AutoTrader.com has exhibited at a variety of large auto shows around the country, including shows in Cleveland, Chicago, San Diego and Philadelphia, which has also helped drive attention to the brand and traffic to the site.
The company will also be seen on the most watched entertainment events and shows on cable television, including the MTV Movie Awards; VH1′s Storytellers; Spike TV’s Guy’s Choice Awards, Scream Awards and Video Game Awards; and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report.
Source: AutoTrader.com