Wednesday, June 09, 2004

CSTV's live telecasts of the McDonald's All American High School soccer games

* CSTV's live telecasts of the McDonald's All American High School soccer games will take place this Sunday, June 13. Please disregard the previous press release, which had an incorrect event/telecast date. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you.


CSTV TO PROVIDE FIRST LIVE TELECASTS OF MCDONALD'S ALL AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS SOCCER GAMES ON SUNDAY, JUNE 13



Nation's Top 72 High School Soccer Players Featured, Including Those Heading To Indiana, North Carolina, Notre Dame, UCLA, Connecticut, Saint Louis



CollegeSports.com To Offer Video Highlights Of Games On-Demand




NEW YORK, June 8, 2004 - The greatest collection of future college soccer stars will be showcased Sunday, June 13, when CSTV: College Sports Television (www.collegesports.com), the first 24-hour college sports network, presents the first live telecasts of the McDonald's All American Boys and Girls High School Soccer Games.



College Sports TV will televise the girls game Sunday at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT and the boys game at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. In addition, CollegeSports.com will offer video highlights from both games on-demand. The games will follow an East vs. West format. Carter Blackburn will call the action and Dan Moriarty will be the sideline reporter. Ticket sales will benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California.



"Soccer is one of the fastest-growing sports in America, on both the high school and college levels, so it is only fitting that fans coast to coast have an opportunity to experience these games live," said Tim Pernetti, senior vice president, programming, CSTV. "These telecasts complement our existing CSTV Soccer Night package in the fall that features the best college soccer teams and student-athletes, and they also will raise awareness of the Ronald McDonald House Charities."

"CSTV's live telecasts on Sunday will bring invaluable national television exposure for the sport of soccer by showcasing the best high school players in the country," said John Lewicki, Director of McDonald's U.S. Sports Marketing. "At the same time, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California will benefit directly from the Games and telecast, which makes the event even more exciting."

The games will feature 72 of the nation's top senior boys and girls high school soccer players, including those who will be joining prominent soccer programs such as Indiana, North Carolina, Notre Dame, UCLA, Connecticut, Saint Louis and Santa Clara. Among the competitors in Sunday's McDonald's All American games will be Boys' National Player of the Year Nicholas Colaluca from LaSalle Academy in Providence, R.I., (who will attend Virginia) and Kia McNeill, the Girls National Player of the Year from Avon High School in Avon, Conn. (who will attend Boston College).

The growth of soccer in the United States:

The number of high school varsity soccer players grew 85 percent from 1990-91 to 2002-03, according to the SGMA International

More than six million Americans consider themselves "die-hard" college soccer fans, according to The Harris Poll

The number of girls playing high school soccer in the 1990s rose 120 percent; soccer is the fastest-growing girls high school sport, according to SGMA International

Soccer was one of the five fastest-growing women's college sports from 1981 to 1999, with participation increasing by 1,058 percent, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office



Past McDonald's All American High School Soccer Games have produced such college stars as David Walters (Penn State), Kyle Teixeria (Rhode Island), Kacey White (North Carolina), Katherine Krambeer (Texas A&M), Kelly Hammond (Virginia) and Zachary Riffet (Boston University).



CSTV Soccer Night, the first national regular season soccer television offering, presented men's and women's soccer games last fall featuring 18 teams that competed in the 2003 NCAA Men's and Women's Division I Championships. Among the women's teams featured were eventual national champion North Carolina, Texas, Stanford, Santa Clara and Notre Dame. Among the men's teams featured were eventual national champion Indiana, UCLA, Stanford and Saint Louis.

College Sports TV, the fastest-growing independent cable network, is available to more than 20 million homes nationally on cable and satellite. The network is available on Time Warner, Adelphia and Insight cable systems, among others, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610). For information on CSTV availability in particular markets, consumers can log on to www.collegesports.com or call their cable or satellite operator.

CSTV is comprised of two primary business units: College Sports TV and CollegeSports.com. College Sports TV televises regular season and championship event coverage from every major collegiate athletic conference, in addition to nine NCAA Championships. The network also has a programming and marketing agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee. CollegeSports.com, the most-trafficked college sports Web site, and its network of 150 official athletic sites for top colleges, universities and athletic associations, are the number one online source for college sports news, information, scores and analysis.

CSTV was co-founded by President/CEO Brian Bedol, Chairman Stephen Greenberg and Executive Vice President Chris Bevilacqua. Bedol and Greenberg co-founded Classic Sports Network, which they sold to ESPN. It is now ESPN Classic. Bevilacqua is a former senior executive with Nike Inc., where he headed the company's successful foray into the college market.

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Eric Handler
CSTV: College Sports Television
212-342-8760
ehandler@cstv.com