“The AND 1 and FOOTACTION names are synonymous with street basketball,” said Will Kassoy, vice president, global brand management, Activision. “Our alliance on Street Hoops furthers our goal of delivering the most authentic street basketball experience ever in a video game.”
Under the terms of the agreements, Activision will serve as the exclusive interactive software sponsor of the AND 1 Mix Tape Tour™, a 25-city exhibition that celebrates all things street basketball related, which runs from June 15 through August 10, 2002. Event sponsorship includes banner placements and Street Hoops demo stations at each venue, tour bus signage, and promotional give-aways at the events. In addition to event sponsorship, Activision will feature AND 1 as an apparel brand in the game.
At retail, AND 1 will in-pack Street Hoops postcards in 250,000 units of AND 1 basketball shoes, available at more than 550 FOOTACTION retail stores in 43 states nationwide. In addition, the company will feature a Street Hoops video trailer on the popular AND 1 Mix Tapes, volumes 5 and 6. AND 1 will also promote Street Hoops on the www.and1.com web site.
In addition to the AND 1 retail initiatives, Activision and FOOTACTION USA will partner on a number of in-game and retail activities. Street Hoops will feature a virtual FOOTACTION retail store where players can customize their athletes in the latest gear.
At retail, FOOTACTION will host a number of promotional activities in support of the game’s launch this summer, including the posting of Street Hoops signage in-store, the dissemination of postcards at check-out counters and the inclusion of a Street Hoops video trailer on FATV, the retailer’s internal video network. FOOTACTION will also offer direct mail and merchandise giveaway promotions.
Street Hoops is set to tip-off later this August on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft. Street Hoops for Xbox is the first game ever to support HDTV resolution with 720p running at 60fps.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted revenues of $786 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's World Wide Web site, which is located at www.activision.com.
The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements.” The Company cautions readers of this press release that a number of important factors could cause Activision’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. These important factors, and other factors that could affect Activision, are described in Activision’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002, which was filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers of this press release are referred to such filings.
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