LeBron James, MTV2, Comcast, Charter, and Nike Join Forces for 'Nike Battlegrounds: King of the Court'
02 September 2005 - 5:36AM
PR Newswire (US)
NBA Superstar LeBron James, NBA Rookie Sensations Andre Iguodala
and Ben Gordon to Host Popular MTV2 Basketball Series Premiering
Sunday, September 18th at 8pm ET/5pm PT NEW YORK, Sept. 1
/PRNewswire/ -- MTV2 and Nike are teaming up for the biggest season
of Nike Battlegrounds ever -- "Nike Battlegrounds: King of the
Court." Airing on MTV2 beginning in September, the weekly, popular
basketball series will be hosted by NBA star LeBron James as the
show takes on a new twist by focusing on the team aspects of the
sport, as opposed to an individual 1-on-1 elimination process.
National bragging rights are at stake as Nike Battlegrounds
documents the search for the best hometown basketball players in
Chicago and New York, creating two teams that will have an eventual
face-off in the series finale in the ultimate showdown. Nike
Battlegrounds will feature a performance by Grand Hustle recording
star T.I., hip-hop's self-proclaimed "King of the South," and his
song, "Battlegrounds: King of the Court," which will serve as the
Nike Battlegrounds theme song. Comcast ON DEMAND and Charter
OnDemand will premiere the Nike Battlegrounds preview special
exclusively on September 7th and then on MTV2 on September 11th at
8pm ET/5pm PT. The series premiere of Nike Battlegrounds will debut
on MTV2 Sunday, September 18th at 8pm ET/5pm PT and then on Comcast
ON DEMAND and Charter OnDemand the following week. In addition,
MTV2.com and MTV Overdrive will have all the Nike Battlegrounds
episodes on demand from your desktop immediately following their
premiere on MTV2. "With each new season of Nike Battlegrounds, MTV2
and Nike aim to raise the level of competition as well as the
musical talent involved with the show," said Paul DeBenedittis,
SVP, Programming, MTV & MTV2. "This year undoubtedly promises
to be the best yet. With hosting duties provided by the NBA's
brightest superstar, LeBron James, alongside Andre Iguodala and Ben
Gordon, the NBA's newest rookie standouts, music provided by
hip-hop's latest heavyweight, T.I., and by partnering with Comcast
and Charter, Nike Battlegrounds will continue to be the premier
destination for fans to check out the lifestyle and stories behind
some of the country's most competitive and passionate basketball
players and their raw, competitive desire to be the king of the
court." LeBron James will send two of the hottest NBA rookies back
to their hometowns to coach the young talent and develop the teams.
New York native and the first rookie ever to win the NBA 2004-2005
Sixth Man Award, Ben Gordon will return home from his first
successful season playing for the Chicago Bulls to coach the New
York squad. After thriving in his first season playing for the
Philadelphia 76'ers, Illinois native Andre Iguodala will lead the
Chicago team. The series will follow each team from the earliest
selection process until the final match-up. Episodes of Nike
Battlegrounds will highlight the team as it takes shape through
practices, the cities they represent, and the courts they grew up
on, before the players meet in a bragging rights battle to see
which city is really king of the court. "Today's game goes beyond
flashy playground tricks," said Adam Roth, Nike's Director of
Global Content & Partnerships. "Basketball is a team sport
epitomized by the way a guy like LeBron James plays. For this
season's Nike Battlegrounds series, we wanted to focus on that 'all
for one' theme by following the ups and downs of some of Chicago
and New York's best young ballers as they work hard to come
together to represent their respective cities. Given Chicago and
New York's historic hoops rivalry, it's a challenge that both Ben
(Gordon) and Andre (Iguodala) take very personally as well." The
partnership between MTV and Nike began in 2003 when MTV chronicled
Nike's Battlegrounds tournament, showcasing the best street ball
players in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia
and Toronto. The special aired in September of 2003 and is
currently available on DVD nationwide. Last year's season of Nike
Battlegrounds took the series international as it focused on
one-on-one street battles between players from Paris, Chicago,
Germany, Los Angeles, Italy, Philadelphia, Barcelona, and New York
in order to find the true street ball "King of the World." Nike
Battlegrounds is a Nike, Wieden + Kennedy Entertainment and
@radical.media production in partnership with MTV2. With the
evolution of MTV2 in 2005, the channel continues to deliver the
hottest mix of music videos, music long form programs, and cross
platform programming. The ongoing strength of MTV2's signature
music blocks is further exemplified by the hip-hop powerhouse,
"Sucker Free Sundays," which has grown 17% among P12-34 and 52%
among Teens vs. last year. MTV2's success with music continues with
shows such as the $2 Bill concert series, Video Mods, Playlistism,
and Discover and Download. The first full season of the Sic 'Em
Friday programming block which consisted of "WildBoyz," "Wonder
Showzen," "Team Sanchez" and "Damage Control", was seen by over 26
million viewers. For more info check out: http://www.mtv2.com/, and
for more info on Overdrive check out: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive.
About Comcast Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSANASDAQ:CMCSK)
(http://www.comcast.com/) is the nation's leading provider of
cable, entertainment and communications products and services. With
21.5 million cable customers, 7.7 million high-speed Internet
customers, and 1.2 million voice customers, Comcast is principally
involved in the development, management and operation of broadband
cable networks and in the delivery of programming content. The
Company's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment
Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network,
G4, AZN Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional
Comcast SportsNets. The Company also has a majority ownership in
Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia
Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76'ers NBA basketball team
and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia. Comcast Class A
common stock and Class A Special common stock trade on The Nasdaq
Stock Market under the symbols CMCSA and CMCSK, respectively. About
Charter Communications Charter Communications, Inc., a broadband
communications company, provides a full range of advanced broadband
services to the home, including cable television on an advanced
digital video programming platform via Charter Digital(TM), Charter
High-Speed(TM) Internet service and Charter Telephone(TM). Charter
Business(TM) provides scalable, tailored and cost-effective
broadband communications solutions to organizations of all sizes
through business-to-business Internet, data networking, video and
music services. Advertising sales and production services are sold
under the Charter Media(R) brand. More information about Charter
can be found at http://www.charter.com/. About NIKE NIKE, Inc.
based in Beaverton, Oregon is the world's leading designer,
marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel,
equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness
activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc.,
which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel
and accessories; Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc., a leading designer and
distributor of hockey equipment; Cole Haan(R), which designs,
markets, and distributes fine dress and casual shoes and
accessories; and Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets
and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel
and accessories. About MTV Networks MTV Networks owns and operates
the cable television programming services MTV: Music Television,
MTV2, mtvU, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT: Country
Music Television, Comedy Central, and Spike TV, as well as The
Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of thirteen digital
services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks
also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and
syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.
DATASOURCE: MTV2 CONTACT: David French of MTV2, +1-212-846-6698, ,
or Nate Tobecksen of Nike, +1-212-367-4445, Web site:
http://www.mtv.com/ http://www.mtv2.com/
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive http://www.comcast.com/
http://www.charter.com/
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