IN THE NEWS: AST Dew Tour Announces 2007 Free Flow Tour Expansion and Schedule Amateurs to Compete Against the Pros

2007-05-04

AST Dew Tour Announces 2007 Free Flow Tour Expansion and Schedule

Amateurs to Compete Against the Pros

NEW YORK, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The AST Dew Tour today announced the complete 2007 Free Flow Tour schedule. The Free Flow Tour is the official amateur series of the AST Dew Tour and provides amateur athletes the prospect for professional sponsorship and recognition by the pros. The Free Flow Tour kicks off June 2 in Dallas, Texas and will cross the country hitting all of the hot-spots within the action sports scene.

In 2007, the Free Flow Tour will expand to include a total of 21 skate competitions (five skate vert and 16 skate park) and 18 BMX competitions (five BMX vert and 13 BMX park) at local parks across the US. The top skate and BMX finishers in each of the 39 competitions will be flown to the AST Dew Tour's PlayStation(R) Pro in Orlando, Fla. for the Free Flow Tour Finals on October 18 - 21, where one champion will be crowned in each discipline. Encompassing the 'Flow to Pro' theme, the overall skate and BMX park champions and the overall skate and BMX vert champions win a wild card spot to compete against the pros at that AST Dew Tour stop.

"Young amateurs need a competition platform like the Free Flow Tour to be propelled to the next level," said Wade Martin, President and General Manager of the AST Dew Tour. "A great deal of talented riders are flying just under the radar; town by town, the Free Flow Tour will discover this next set of pro athletes for the action sports world."

The 2007 Free Flow Tour schedule* includes the following dates and locations:

Date       Location            Park                     Event
  2-Jun      Dallas, TX          Woodward                 Skate Park & Vert
  3-Jun      Dallas, TX          Woodward                 BMX Park & Vert
  3-Jun      Atlantic Beach, FL  Skatelab                 Skate Park
  10-Jun     Philadelphia, PA    Woodward                 Skate Park & Vert
  16-Jun     Atlanta, GA         Woodward                 Skate Park
  17-Jun     Atlanta, GA         Woodward                 BMX Park
  24-Jun     Lake Elsinore, CA   Alliance Skatepark       Skate Park
  30-Jun     Chicago, IL         Krush Skatepark          Skate Park
  1-Jul      Petaluma, CA        Ramp Ratz                BMX Park
  7-Jul      Albuquerque, NM     Alamosa                  Skate Park
  8-Jul      St. Louis, MO       Woodward                 BMX Park & Vert
  14-Jul     St. Louis, MO       Woodward                 Skate Park & Vert
  15-Jul     Joplin, MO          Autumn Ramp Park         BMX Park
  15-Jul     Encinitas, CA       Ecke YMCA                Skate Park
  17-Jul     Orange, CA          VANS                     BMX Park & Vert
  18-Jul     Orange, CA          VANS                     Skate Park & Vert
  21-Jul     Seattle, WA         Skatebarn                Skate Park
  22-Jul     Seattle, WA         Skatebarn                BMX Park
  28-Jul     Nashville, TN       6th Ave                  Skate Park
  29-Jul     Philadelphia, PA    Woodward                 BMX Park & Vert
  8/4- 8/5   Golden Valley, MN   3rd Lair                 Skate Park
  5-Aug      Denver, CO          Wooward                  BMX Park & Vert
  11-Aug     Hopkins, MN         3rd Lair Overpass        BMX Park
  12-Aug     Denver, CO          Woodward                 Skate Park & Vert
  18-Aug     Rye, NH             Rye Airfield             BMX Park
  19-Aug     Rye, NH             Rye Airfield             Skate Park
  25-Aug     Salt Lake City, UT  Ogio Training Facility   Skate Park
  26-Aug     Salt Lake City, UT  Ogio Training Facility   BMX Park
  1-Sep      Nashville, TN       6th Ave                  BMX Park
  Oct 17-21  Orlando, FL**       Amway Arena              BMX/Skate FINALS

  * Schedule subject to change.

  ** AST Dew Tour Finals at PlayStation(R) Pro, Free Flow Tour Finals and overall champions compete with pros

2006 competition HighlightS

Arguably the most spirited Free Flow Tour season in history, the 2006 competition series came to a close at Free Flow Tour Finals hosted at the 2006 Vans(R) Invitational in Portland, OR, crowning the much deserved first place titles to Mike Spinner of Miami, FL (BMX Park) and David Loy of Orange, CA (Skate Park). History was made during the 2006 Free Flow Tour BMX Finals when Spinner pulled a tailwhip 720, a trick never before landed in competition, by an amateur or a pro.

Both Spinner and Loy went on to face the world's best in competition last October at the final stop on the Dew Tour - the PlayStation(R) Pro in Orlando, FL. Spinner qualified in an amazing first place in Prelims against such riders as Ryan Nyquist and Dave Mirra; while David Loy went up against pros such as Ryan Sheckler and Greg Lutzka finishing fourth in Prelims and a respectable ninth in Finals.

Both have developed numerous sponsorship deals as a result of the Free Flow Tour, truly encompassing the 'Flow to Pro' theme for the Free Flow Tour. Loy went on to skate in a JEEP advertisement featuring Tony Hawk and in February 2007, Spinner lived up to his name, making history at a contest in New Zealand by pulling the first ever 1080 to be landed in competition.

2007 'Jam' Format

The Free Flow Tour park competitions are operated in a 'jam' format, which is an open forum for all skaters and riders to compete together within their respective sport-specific session. Targeting spectator engagement, the jam- style arrangement encourages the biggest airs and most technical footwork from the competitors.

Local accomplished skaters and riders and select celebrity riders and skaters will lead each event's judging panel. Based upon the crowd reaction and judging specifics, skaters and riders are ranked according to their individual presence during the jam.

2007 Registration

Each competition is open to both male and female amateur competitors age 18-and-under for skate and 21-and-under for BMX. Contest registration forms are available at Free Flow Tour host parks and at http://www.freeflowtour.com/. There is an entry fee that varies park to park, and all participants under the age of 18 must bring a parent or guardian to the event to sign a liability waiver. All competitors take home Free Flow Tour giveaways and following some contests there are post-event parties with autograph sessions, free gear and much more.

WWW.FREEFLOWTOUR.COM

The AST Dew Tour's official website is the source for all Free Flow Tour event updates and results; including: event recaps, photos and video from across the season, detailed park profiles and rider-diary entries from the 2006 Free Flow Tour Champions Mike Spinner (BMX) and David Loy (Skate). Check the site for additional updates including 2007 tour dates and information.

THE AST DEW TOUR

Owned by NBC Universal and Live Nation, the AST Dew Tour, the 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, Vans(R), Toyota and PlayStation(R) (event title sponsors). Associate partners include MasterCard, Mongoose(R), Slim Jim and Verizon Wireless. More information can be found at http://www.astdewtour.com/.

  Fuse   Amy Doyle: 802-383-1414   adoyle@fusemarketing.com    

AST Dew Tour   Nicole Mancuso: 630-566-6351   nicolemancuso@ASTdewtour.com