ONCHAN, Isle of Man,
July 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
#RaiseIt Calls on the Public to
Outdo Sporting Heroes in a Series of Challenges
Team PokerStars SportStars Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario are wowing the internet with a
playful battle of one-upmanship as part of a PokerStars social
media campaign named #raiseit, created by leading poker operator,
PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand.
The #raiseit campaign, which was kicked-off by the Brazilian
football legends, encourages their social media fans to challenge
friends using the #raiseit hashtag. So far four video duels have
been released by Neymar Jr and Ronaldo, already achieving more than
19 million organic views, over 100,000 shares and over 1.1 million
likes on their Facebook channels.
The first video launched by Neymar Jr shows the Brazilian
captain's incredible football technique, hitting a difficult shot
into the boot of a parked car. Ronaldo Nazario followed up by
shooting a football into the back of an accelerating car.
The campaign embraces the global popularity and social media
reach of PokerStars ambassadors Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario (approx. 65 million Facebook
fans combined) and encourages fans, friends, peers and the public
to #raiseit in a number of social duelling videos comprising sport,
skilful stunts and tricks.
Neymar Jr said: "I love the adrenaline rush and excitement you
get from challenging others, but it's just as rewarding setting
challenges for yourself. The #raiseit videos feature many things
that we all do in everyday life and it really pushes the boundaries
with encouraging people to try crazy new tricks and hone their
skills. Creating the #raiseit videos has been a lot of fun and I'm
looking forward to see what the internet does in response."
Simon Tilbury, Associate Director
of Advertising for PokerStars, said "The #raiseit campaign
encourages individuals to up the stakes by outsmarting a friend, a
hero, or even a stranger. With #raiseit Neymar Jr and Ronaldo are
essentially playing poker, but without the chips and cards. Poker
skills transcend to many areas of life as reaching any personal
goal takes patience, focus, determination and courage. We're used
to seeing poker players #raiseit on the felt, but the essence can
be applied to any scenario or talent. We are extremely pleased with
the huge number of views, high engagement scores and internet
responses to the videos so far and look forward to seeing this
continue."
#RAISEIT VIDEOS
The likes of top Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia and #1 ranked
American poker professional Jason Mercier have also recorded videos
looking to #raiseit to the next level. All #raiseit videos,
including content from freestyle footballers Andrew Henderson, Raquel
Benetti, Séan Garnier and Team PokerStars Pro members
Andre Akkari, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Felipe 'Mojave' Ramos,
Liv Boeree and Vanessa Selbst, can be viewed at
http://www.nowraiseit.com.
TEAM POKERSTARS SPORTSTARS
Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario are
part of a team of poker-playing athletes called PokerStars
SportStars. Other members of the team include Portuguese football
superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and
Olympic Gold-winning field hockey captain Fatima Moreira de Melo.
For further information, please contact:
press@pokerstars.com
About PokerStars
PokerStars operates the world's most popular online poker sites,
serving the global poker community. Since it launched in 2001,
PokerStars has become the first choice of players all over the
world, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the
best online security. More than 155 billion hands have been dealt
on PokerStars, which is more than any other site.
PokerStars.com and PokerStars.eu operate globally under licenses
from the Isle of Man and
Malta governments, respectively.
PokerStars also holds local licenses or approvals to offer services
to players in many jurisdictions, including Italy, France, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, United
Kingdom, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Ireland, Romania, New
Jersey in the United States of
America and Portugal.
PokerStars is the flagship brand of Rational Group, which
operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including
PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour. In 2012, 2013
and 2014, Rational Group companies in the UK and Isle of Man was recognised as one of the top
25 best places to work by the Great Place to Work Institute's Best
Workplaces - Large category ranking. Rational Group entities in
Costa Rica and Dublin also achieved the same accolade in
their respective local rankings in 2014. PokerStars is ultimately
owned by Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA).
Contact:
Scott Collins
+44 (0) 20 7319 4600
SOURCE PokerStars