Game-changing regional tournament begins 9-10 March, Bangkok
Tiger Beer in partnership with ESPN STAR Sports’ Event Management group today announced the exciting return of Tiger Street Football 2012. Building on the success of its inaugural Asia tour last year, this year’s tournament will be packed with even more action and excitement for football fans with bigger prize money, a revamped cage, a smoking new Ducati Monster Bike give-away and street football great Edgar Davids as Tiger Street Football ambassador.
Tiger Street Football 2012 will tear up the streets of Asia with action as the series kicks off in Bangkok from 9-10 March, followed by Singapore, Guangzhou, Kuala Lumpur and the Grand Finals in Ho Chi Minh City on 29 September.
Playing in teams of five in a unique oval cage with no sidelines, each game comprises two non-stop 6-minute halves with a 2-minute half time in between. The winning team of each game qualifies for subsequent rounds until a champion team emerges.
The estimated 900 teams competing in Tiger Street Football 2012 will include some of the world’s best street soccer players from top football nations who will pit their skills against local teams as they vie for the TSF Prize Purse and title of Grand Champion. The prestigious line-up of international squads includes new teams from France, Holland, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, as well as defending champion, Brazil. Asian teams hail from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia and Thailand.
Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd has also appointed Edgar Davids as this year’s Event Ambassador, who is no stranger to fans of the beautiful game. With this initiative, players and fans can expect to get up close and personal with this football legend at Tiger Street Football events held across Asia, getting autographs signed or even picking up a tip or two from the ‘Mayor of the Streets’ himself. Edgar Davids was chosen by Pel? to be featured in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living footballers and was rated as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world during the late 1990s.
Said Edmond Neo, Director of Group Commercial, Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd, “Tiger Beer has always prided itself on delivering the best ‘live’ football action for football lovers in Asia. By spearheading the return of Tiger Street Football for a second action-packed year, we are thrilled to bring the globe’s best street footballers to Asia’s doorstep. With incredible give-aways, the latest in cage design and by bringing one of the world’s greatest living football legends, Edgar Davids as TSF Ambassador, 2012 will no doubt deliver fans the best experience yet.”
Added Mr Harvey Davis, ESPN STAR Sports Vice President, Event Management, “We are delighted to collaborate once again with Asia Pacific Breweries to stage the return of this dynamic tournament. Building on last year’s tremendous success with more than 6,000 players, from 900 teams across 4 continents, we’re pleased to share our expertise delivering a world-class event that brings Tiger Beer’s fresh brand image alive on-ground and on our networks LIVE on STAR Sports. We look forward to delivering another stellar event.”
The competition will kick-off in Bangkok on 9-10 March with the regional final to air on STAR Sports from 6-8pm on 10 March. The tournament will then move to Singapore (1 & 2 June); Guangzhou, China (7 & 8 July); Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (25 & 26 August); with the culmination of an adrenaline-filled international grand finale in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (28 & 29 September). At the Grand Finals, the top team from each local leg will not only win attractive cash prizes but a chance to battle it out for the title of Tiger Street Football Grand Champion and win the coveted top prize of $30,000 USD.
Throughout the entire competition season through to the Grand Finals, winners will take home attractive cash prizes totalling $101,500 USD (an increase of $23,000 from last year) plus award-winning Tiger Beer for a job well done. The bigger prize purse this year is made possible through the strong support of Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd which is without a doubt appreciated by participating teams.
ESPN STAR Sports has also secured Line 7 as this year’s Official Apparel, Fisherman’s Friend as Official Mint, Ducati as Official Partner, and for the Thailand leg, Neptune as Official Water and Novotel Bangkok Platinum as Official Hotel. For more details, visit the official event website at www.tigerstreetfootball.com.
About ESPN STAR Sports
ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay-TV services.
ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier sports from around the globe featuring some of the most iconic sports events to viewers across 24 countries in Asia through its 25 television networks and 3 broadband networks, each localized to deliver differentiated programming to meet the diverse needs of Asian sports fans.
ESPN STAR Sports’ networks cover 24 countries, showcasing world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Indonesia, ESPN SEA, ESPN SEA 2, ESPN Taiwan, SBS ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports SEA, STAR Sports SEA 2, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Sports Indonesia, STAR Cricket, ESPNEWS, ESPN HD (Malaysia), ESPN HD (SEA), ESPN HD (Taiwan), ESPN HD (India), STAR Cricket HD, ESPN Player (Singapore), ESPN Player (Hong Kong) and ESPN Player (Malaysia).
ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. ESPN Player, a revolutionary broadband network offers users with anytime, anywhere access to live world-class sports content, delivers real time in-game stats and scoreboards, and a fully interactive experience for users to enjoy their viewing experience with other sport fans online. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. mobileESPN offers a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis for sport fans constantly on the move. On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events across Asia.
About Tiger?
Launched in 1932, Tiger Beer (Tiger) is Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd's flagship brand. A European-style lager with a golden colour and medium body, Tiger is brewed using only the finest natural ingredients like malted barley from Australia and Europe, hops from Germany and a unique strain of yeast specially cultured in Holland. Containing 5% alcohol, this smooth, medium bitter beer, coupled with a well balanced sweetness of malt, has seen beer drinkers globally acclaim Tiger as one of the finest in the world.
Today, Tiger is brewed in 11 countries and available in about 60 countries worldwide including Europe, USA, Latin America, Australia and the Middle East. While it stands firmly as one of the leading beer brands in Southeast Asia including Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, Tiger is embraced as a leading premium brew that hails from the Far East in western markets such as the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, United States of America (USA), the Russian Federation and Australia amongst others.
An Award-Winning Beer
Over the years, Tiger has received more acclaim from the world's leading newspapers and journals than most other beers. For example, the Washington Magazine, in a blind taste-test involving several hundred brands, unreservedly voted Tiger "positively the best beer in the world".
Tiger has also accumulated over 40 accolades, awards and distinctions. Some of the more notable awards include a Gold medal at the Brewing Industry International Awards in 1998, the equivalent of "the Oscar Awards for the brewing industry"; and the more recent being a Gold medal in the highly contested European-Style Pilsner category at the World Beer Cup 2004, which has been dubbed "the Olympics of Beer Competitions" by the beer industry. It also clinched a Gold Medal for the Australasian, Latin American or Tropical-Style Light Lager category at the New Zealand International Beer Awards 2008.
Each year from 2004 to 2006, Tiger was named a UK Cool Brand Leader. The recognition reaffirmed Tiger's popularity and was given only to the coolest brands in the UK.?
For more information, please contact:
Ekarat Jenkijjaroenchai
Total Quality PR (Thailand) Co., Ltd.,
Tel: +66 (0) 2260 5820 ext 121
Email:
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