Winter Dew Tour reduced to single event

By Published On: April 20th, 2012Comments Off on Winter Dew Tour reduced to single event

The Winter Dew Tour’s three-stop format became a thing of the past earlier this week when Alli Sports, a division of the NBC Sports Group, announced a four-year renewal of their partnership with Mountain Dew, along with the 2012 schedule for the new Dew Tour.

The revamped tour will be made up of just two (previously three) summer events featuring skateboarding, BMX and surfing competitions in Ocean City, Md.(Aug, 16-19) and San Fransisco, Calif. (Oct. 18-21) and a single winter event in Breckenridge, Colo. (Dec 13-16). Mountain Dew and Alli Sports, which was acquired by NBC Sports Group last year, are touting the new Beach, City, Mountain tour model as a ‘grand-slam’ style events.

“The three premium events will boast expanded television programming and digital strategy across NBC, NBC Sports Network, nbcsports.com and allisports.com, as well as hyper-local promotional and programming opportunities through the NBC Sports Group’s owned stations and regional sports networks,” read a release from Alli sports. “At the event level, each stop will include expanded and new sports and disciplines, and an enhanced on-site experience featuring more live music and a new “Dew Tour Experience,” bringing  all aspects of action sports culture to life throughout the five-day festivals.”

“The action sports landscape has grown and changed dramatically since we launched the Dew Tour in 2005. The multi-stop series format was what the industry wanted and needed then,” said Wade Martin, President&CEO, Alli Sports. “The Dew Tour changed the industry forever, taking the sports to a whole new level. The new Dew Tour, which will include three major events across Beach, City and Mountain venues, represents what the athletes and industry want and need today,” 
 
Though the event’s organizers held athlete panels before cutting back the number of events, some athletes have expressed disappointment in missing out on two competitions during the season but remain open minded to the new format.
  
“Obviously it’s a bummer there won’t be three spots, but at the same time it makes the Dew Tour have more of an X Games vibe. I think it will be awesome,” 2011 Dew Tour slopestyle overall champions Bobby Brown told Freeskiing Magazine.

“Dew Tour continues to work hand-in-hand with the athletes,” said Brett O’Brien, Vice President of Marketing, Mountain Dew. “They asked for a platform that would elevate their sports and we worked with Alli to deliver that. With the new Dew Tour, we are working to ensure that we evolve along with the action sports community.  With input from the athletes, we’re developing a platform that answers their call for fewer, bigger, better events.”
 
The 2012 Dew Tour will include over 30 hours of live television coverage on NBC and NBC Sports Network.  In addition, the Dew Tour will present an expanded digital offering including live competitions and behind-the-scenes exclusive content across multiple platforms.  In addition, all broadcast hours will be distributed live internationally across Alli’s extensive network of distribution partners.

Image by Alli sports.

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About the Author: Eric Williams