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COMPANY NEWS
KOM Sports Supports Highly-Successful Inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge; Renewed for 2012
The event was contested over seven days in stages, similar to the Tour de France, as cyclists were challenged by roads cresting over 12,000-foot peaks and harrowing descents hitting speeds of more than 60 miles per hour. World-class venues played host for starts and finishes including Colorado Springs, Crested Butte/Mount Crested Butte, Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs and Denver.
"It was a great team with great leadership and the best first-year event I've been apart of over the years; and I've been fortunate to be a part of a lot of big, elite start-up events," said Steven Brunner, KOM's president. "The USA Pro Cycling Challenge set a new standard on a lot of fronts for professional racing in the U.S. It was an honor to be part of the event, and it was special kicking off the overall race in my hometown of Colorado Springs."
The event was televised in 161 countries as well as 25 hours on domestic carriers NBC and Versus. The event was seen by more than 1 million people on site, making it Colorado's largest sporting event ever. A police-estimated 250,000 saw the final stage from Golden to Denver. The economic impact was gauged at $83.3 million for the state. The race saw the participation of the top three finishers (Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck) of the Tour de France, the first time an American race had seen the participation of the podium of cycling's biggest race. More than 30 sponsors supported the inaugural event. More than 130 of the world's best cyclists competed. Event leaders Medalist Sports of Atlanta were the race's event managers.
The 2011 event was won by American Levi Leipheimer, followed by fellow Americans Christian Vande Velde and up and coming star Teejay Van Garderen. Tour de France winner Evans finished seventh.
KOM is proud to announce that it has been retained by the executive management team in Denver to work on sponsorship, marketing and communications programs for the 2012 event, which is scheduled for August 20-26, 2012.
"The whole executive management team for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is terrific, led by Shawn Hunter, Brian Farris and Stacie Lange," said Brunner. "And the ownership group has a great vision for the event. The host communities were great in so many ways. It's an honor to be retained to work again and build on the enormous success from 2011. Having been involved in every major U.S. cycling event since the 1989 Tour de Trump in various capacities, I can say the USA Pro Challenge is special in many ways. The fact that it's in our backyard in Colorado is a bonus."
For more photos or information: www.usaprocyclingchallenge.com.
S.K.Y. Streetball Syndicate Has Successful 2011 Tour of China
The Tour was sponsored by Chinese-based apparel company VOIT for the second year, while Gatorade was added to the roster of large sponsors for the national tour within China. Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade appeared at one game and one practice to play against the S.K.Y. team.
"The Tour was more successful this year than the first year on many levels," said S.K.Y.'s president Lee Greene. "Our presence in Asia and especially China continues to grow. VOIT and Gatorade have been key partners in providing us a platform to showcase our players to the Chinese public.
Added KOM's president and co-founder Steve Brunner, who serves on marketing and sponsor programs: "We were able to design programs with our managing director in Asia Sean Chu to create point of sale displays in more than 260 VOIT retailers throughout China which are now carrying the S.K.Y. name on apparel and point-of-sale material. A huge boost for the brand. With Gatorade, we featured players on bottle labels, a first for a streetball brand."
For more information: www.skynolimit.net
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"Medalist Sports has partnered with Steve Brunner, principal of KOM, for over 20 years on several, successful events - both domestically and internally. Steve brings a fully-integrated approach to the development and implementation of marketing platforms, providing unprecedented added value to the client. KOM's level of creativity, flexibility and understanding of the mechanics of the sports industry is bar none.” – Chris Aronholt Medalist Sports |
