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For Immediate Release
| Contact: | Kendra Calvert Blue Equity, LLC Tel: 502.588.7159 kcalvert@blueequity.com | Charlie Bernard 5W Public Relations Tel: 212.584.4278 cbernard@5wpr.com |
Blue Equity Breaks Ground Into Grassroots Sector with the Acquisition of Team Championships Marketing
Louisville, KY, June 12, 2007 - Blue Equity, LLC (www.blueequity.com) announced today that it has acquired Team Championship International (TCI) (www.teamchampionships.com); owner of the sports tours "Hoop It Up", "Let It Fly" and "Kick It", which recently signed Dick's Sporting Goods as its 2007 Title Sponsor for the Kick It tour. The acquisition of TCI allows Blue Equity to expand its grassroots participatory event marketing capabilities. Blue Equity plans to re-invigorate the tours utilizing their extensive experience and resources.
Blue Equity now provides unparalleled opportunities amongst sports agencies for sponsor activation and reach on a national level with the unique ability to connect with local communities and their sports enthusiasts. TCI currently produces over 125 events. Its tours are collectively the largest in the world of their kind. Since their inception, they have attracted approximately 2 million participants and 12 million spectators. Dan Cramer will continue as CEO of these properties.
"We are extremely excited with the addition of Team Championship International and their participatory sports tours Hoop it Up, Let it Fly and Kick It to our sports platform," said Jonathan S. Blue, Chairman and Managing Director of Blue Equity. "The tours offer strategic opportunities to sponsors and establish Blue Equity as a full-service sports marketing and events agency that can both touch spectators and participants. In a continuing effort to expand our sports division, we are actively pursuing additional properties and opportunities that add greater value to our clients and to the communities in which we operate."
"We are very excited to join the Blue Equity family of companies and feel it will enhance our reach in terms of making us the premier participatory sports organization in the world," said Dan Cramer, CEO of Team Championship International. "Our experience on the grassroots level combined with Blue Equity's unsurpassed business expertise, resources, and talent in the sports industry made this an easy decision for our company."
The TCI acquisition is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions for Blue Equity including NFL Player agent Joel Segal and Humarks, a sports management and events company in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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About Blue Equity
Blue Equity's holdings in sports are comprised of SFX Worldwide, Worldwide Football, Blackwave Sports, Team Championships International (TCI), Humarks and Game Seven Sports Marketing. Current clients include Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, NFL Pro Bowlers DeAngelo Hall, Will Smith and Michael Vick, NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace, 2007 NBA Lottery picks Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer, Australian, French and US Open Champion Justine Henin, US Open Champion Andy Roddick, No. 1 doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan, Minnesota basketball coach Tubby Smith, Arizona State basketball coach Herb Sendek, Louisville football coach Steve Kragthorpe, Ole Miss basketball coach Andy Kennedy, Arkansas basketball coach John Pelphrey and Massachusetts basketball coach Travis Ford. Media & Event properties include the US Open Tennis Championship, the French Open Tennis Championship, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, numerous US-based ATP tournaments, Rock 'n Racquets, Hoop It Up, Let It Fly, Kick It, the Boston Marathon, EliteXC Mixed Martial Arts, the Superstars Competition, the AVP Beach Volleyball tour, Ice Wars, the World Cup of Softball, Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge, the Men's and Womens' Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships and the Men's Ford Tennis Championship.
www.sfxworldwide.com | www.blackwavesports.com | www.teamchampionships.com | www.game-seven.com | www.humarks.com
Blue Equity, LLC is an independent, private equity firm based in Louisville, Kentucky. It is committed to actively investing growth capital and business expertise in enterprises with solid development potential. Blue Equity forms strategic partnerships with existing management teams and leverages its expertise and relationships to stabilize, strengthen and grow lasting value. Investment efforts and managerial expertise are focused on the operation of a global and diversified portfolio of business enterprises, including opportunities in media, publishing, sports and entertainment, financial services, real estate and international trade. Blue Equity is dedicated to helping businesses grow by accelerating opportunity and driving innovation to the marketplace. www.blueequity.com