SIRIUS Satellite Radio, the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, will kick off its fourth annual SIRIUS NFL Radio Training Camp Tour on July 26, offering the most extensive radio coverage of all 32 NFL team camps plus the 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, leading up to the start of the NFL season.

Over a three week period — July 26 to August 14 — SIRIUS NFL Radio hosts will broadcast exclusive shows live on location from all 32 NFL training camp sites around the country, giving listeners access to their favorite teams and players as they engage in two-a-day practices and full contact drills to prepare for the coming season. SIRIUS’ NFL insiders will provide an expert look at every team, interview players, coaches and franchise executives, and evaluate everything from the performances of fresh-out-of college rookies to the intense head-to-head competitions for starting roles. All shows air exclusively on SIRIUS NFL Radio channel 124.

On Saturday, July 26, the tour launches with back-to-back shows from the training camps of the New York Jets and the World Champion New York Giants. Former NFL defensive lineman Tim Ryan and longtime NFL front office executive Pat Kirwan will provide SIRIUS listeners with a first look at the defending Super Bowl champs when they host The End Zone live (2:00-6:00pm ET) from the Giants’ camp at the University at Albany in upstate New York. Immediately before The End Zone, veteran SIRIUS personality Adam Schein and former NFL lineman Ross Tucker will host The SIRIUS Blitz live (11:00am-2:00pm ET) from the Jets’ camp at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY.

In addition to Ryan, Kirwan, Schein and Tucker, other SIRIUS hosts featured on the tour will include Gil Brandt, the longtime Pro Personnel exec for the Dallas Cowboys, former players Randy Cross, Shannon Sharpe, Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller, former NFL coach Dean Dalton, plus NFL experts Vic Carucci, Zig Fracassi, Howard Balzer, Paul Allen and Steve Cohen.

A full schedule detailing show times, hosts and locations appears below.

On Saturday, August 2, SIRIUS will present a full day of live coverage from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH for the 2008 induction ceremonies. SIRIUS’ coverage will include live primetime coverage of the enshrinement of the class of 2008 — which includes former 49ers DE Fred Dean, former Redskins DB Darrell Green, former Redskins WR Art Monk, former Chiefs DB Emmitt Thomas, former Patriots LB Andre Tippett and former Broncos T Gary Zimmerman.

The following day, August 3 at 8:00pm ET, SIRIUS will broadcast the first game of the 2008 NFL campaign — the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, featuring the Indianapolis Colts vs. the Washington Redskins. SIRIUS will offer the local radio broadcasts of the Colts (channel 126) and Redskins (channel 127), plus the national radio broadcast (channel 124).

As the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, SIRIUS broadcasts every NFL game live nationwide, from the pre-season through the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl. Listeners can hear home and visiting team broadcasts, national radio broadcasts and Spanish-language broadcasts for select games. SIRIUS listeners can also tune into SIRIUS NFL Radio, channel 124, the only radio channel dedicated to the NFL 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

2008 SIRIUS NFL Radio Training Camp Tour Schedule: (All times ET)
Sat, July 26:

New York Jets, Hempstead, NY 11am-2pm The SIRIUS Blitz with Adam Schein and Ross Tucker
New York Giants, Albany, NY 2-6pm The End Zone with Tim Ryan, Pat Kirwan

Sun, July 27:

New England Patriots, Foxborough, MA 12-4pm The End Zone with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Mon, July 28:

Chicago Bears, Bourbonnais, IL 10am-1pm The SIRIUS Blitz with Howard Balzer and Jim Miller
Buffalo Bills, Pittsford, NY 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan
San Diego Chargers, San Diego, CA 7-10pm Late Hits with Vic Carucci and Gil Brandt

Tue, July 29:

Indianapolis Colts, Terre Haute, IN 12-3pm The Red Zone with Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller
Detroit Lions, Allen Park, MI 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan
Dallas Cowboys, Oxnard, CA 7-10pm Late Hits with Vic Carucci and Gil Brandt

Wed, July 30:

Cincinnati Bengals, Georgetown, KY 12-3pm The Red Zone with Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller
Cleveland Browns, Berea, OH 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Thu, July 31

Tennessee Titans, Nashville, TN 12-3pm The Red Zone with Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller
Pittsburgh Steelers, Latrobe, PA 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Fri, Aug. 1:

New Orleans Saints, Jackson, MS 12-3pm The Red Zone with Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller

Sat, Aug. 2:

Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, OH Live coverage of the 2008 enshrinement ceremonies begins at 11am

Sun, Aug. 3:

AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game: Indianapolis vs. Washington 8pm on SIRIUS channels 124, 126 and 127

Mon, Aug. 4:

Atlanta Falcons, Flowery Branch, GA 7-10am The Opening Drive with Randy Cross and Shannon Sharpe
Seattle Seahawks, Kirkland, WA 12-3pm The SIRIUS Blitz with Adam Schein and Solomon Wilcots
Carolina Panthers, Spartanburg, SC 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Tue, Aug. 5:

Denver Broncos, Englewood, CO 1-3pm The SIRIUS Blitz with Adam Schein and Solomon Wilcots
Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacksonville, FL 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Wed, Aug. 6:

Washington Redskins, Ashburn, VA 10am-1pm The SIRIUS Blitz with Adam Schein and Solomon Wilcots
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lake Buena Vista, FL 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Thu, Aug. 7:

Houston Texans, Houston, TX 1-3pm The Red Zone with Vic Carucci and Gil Brandt
Miami Dolphins, Davie, FL 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Mon, Aug. 11:

Baltimore Ravens, Westminster, MD 10am-1pm The SIRIUS Blitz with Adam Schein and Ross Tucker
Minnesota Vikings, Mankato, MN 1-3pm The Red Zone with Paul Allen and Dean Dalton
Arizona Cardinals, Flagstaff, AZ 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Steve Cohen and Pat Kirwan

Tue, Aug. 12:

Kansas City Chiefs, River Falls, WI 10am-12pm The Red Zone with Vic Carucci and Gil Brandt
Philadelphia Eagles, Bethlehem, PA 12-3pm The SIRIUS Blitz with Adam Schein and Ross Tucker
Oakland Raiders, Napa Valley, CA 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Steve Cohen and Pat Kirwan

Wed, Aug. 13:

St. Louis Rams, Mequon, WI 1-3pm The Red Zone with Vic Carucci and Gil Brandt
San Francisco 49ers, Santa Clara, CA 3-7pm Movin’ The Chains with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

Thu, Aug. 14:

Green Bay Packers, Green Bay, WI 1-3pm The Red Zone with Vic Carucci and Gil Brandt

** Schedule subject to change. **

Visit www.sirius.com/nfl to get a detailed tour map featuring camp locations, dates, times and featured hosts.

Source: SIRIUS Satellite Radio

Ellison explained that more than 300 inner-city at-risk youth boys from ages 9-12 from local urban communities surrounding the universities have been selected to participate in the daily, four week program.

The Youth Impact Program has brought local elementary teachers from these communities to participate as mentors and teachers, coupled with active students from the universities during this time frame to extend it to a year round program. The boys are brought to the campuses, placed in academic time blocks focusing on language skills, mathematics, as well as life skills. The life skills curriculum focuses on conflict resolution, anger management, health and leadership.

The boys are served full nutritionally balanced meals daily and placed in groups of under 20, where the teacher/mentor ratio is 1 to 5. These same mentors and teachers are with the same group throughout the program. This allows a positive relationship to develop with a mentor figure that will follow the young boys throughout their development.

The Youth Impact Program continues to bring the boys, mentors/teachers together throughout the year to nurture and strengthen their relationship. One of the top attractions of this program is the allure of football. The NFL Youth Football Fund is providing all of the necessary equipment needed for the football aspect of the program. The young men play every day on the university campus coached by their same teachers and mentors. Some of the mentors are student athletes on NCAA athletic scholarships and others are from the same communities that the program participants are from.

The Youth Impact Program does not cost the families of the participants; The Youth Impact Program funds the program in its entirety. Support for the Youth Impact Program is provided by the NFL Youth Football Fund. The NFL Youth Football Fund was established in 1998 by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. It seeks to use football as a catalyst to promote positive youth development, support youth and high school football needs nationwide, and also ensure the health of grassroots football in future generations.

Congresswoman Diane Watson who represents the City of Los Angeles stated “I am proud of USC, the NFL, the NFL Players Association and Riki Ellison for their outreach into our community. I plan to share this model with other inner city communities that have a university and local school systems to partner with the Youth Impact Program by telling my colleagues in Congress about the program.”

Rita Benson LeBlanc the owner of the New Orleans Saints said “This is a fantastic program that will give our youth additional opportunities to develop skills to help them to be successful not only in athletics, but in life, the Saints are excited and proud to do our part.”

To read more about the program please visit www.youthimpactprogram.org

Source: Youth Impact Program

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) today announced that the New York Giants have signed a contract for Portable People Meter(TM) (PPM) custom radio ratings services in New York.

“The ability to look at each game and see how many people are really listening is groundbreaking for us,” said Mike Stevens, Chief Marketing Officer, New York Giants. “PPM data will provide us with game-by-game insights that we were never able to see before. We know that Giants fans are passionate about their team and will tune in so they never miss a game. We can now deliver valuable insight about our audience base and demonstrate to advertisers that sports radio is a unique format for reaching one of their most valued demographics.”

Average Game Day Exceeds Top Morning Drive Show for Men 25-54

The average Giants game in the 2007 season on WFAN-AM reached 194,600 Men 25-54 (Average Daily Cume), according to New York PPM Pre-currency data. On average, these broadcasts reached more men than the number 1 show in morning drive, the premier advertising daypart in the December PPM data for New York.

PPM New York Metro, Men 25-54, Average Daily Cume

2007 Giants Game Average (WFAN-AM, October 2007 - Holiday 2007) 194,600

Morning Drive (#1 Station, December 2007) 188,000

During the 2007 NFL regular season the PPM began measuring radio audiences in New York City. Between September 23, 2007 and January 8th, 2008 the New York Giants radio broadcast on WFAN-AM scored the highest hourly Men 25-54 AQH rating with a 3.2 during the 4th quarter of the December 9th Philadelphia Eagles game.

“There is a need for special consideration when planning to buy and sell for sports broadcasting,” said Mason Meyer, Manager, Custom Services, Arbitron Inc. “We released audience estimates for the post-game radio audience after the Super Bowl with dramatic increases to highly targeted demographics. Additional audience estimates for season broadcasts show that sports radio delivers high-impact return on investment to advertisers. The granularity of PPM data will help sales managers demonstrate their value to their advertisers as they have never been able to before.”

PPM Custom Ratings Agreement

Using the existing PPM panel installed in New York for syndicated radio ratings, the contract calls for Arbitron to generate custom reports of pre-, post-, in-game and total broadcast listening estimates for the Giants 2008 football seasons. The reports include exclusive game broadcast average- quarter-hour and cumulative (Cume) audience estimates to Giants broadcasts on WFAN-AM. New York Football Giants own and control the inventory for pre-, in- and post-game programming.

The New York Giants will broadcast all regular season games during the 2008 football season on WFAN-AM, Sports Radio 66. In addition, WFAN-AM will air pre-season games and all Giants post-season games for which the Giants might qualify.

Source: Arbitron Inc.

Web site: http://www.arbitron.com/

“We are proud that the NFL recognized Gameloft’s signature titles and granted us the license to develop NFL 2009,” said Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president of Publishing, Gameloft. “NFL 2009 is packed full of team-specific strategies and spectacular offensive moves that are guaranteed to please football enthusiasts and provide them with the excitement of a live game.”

NFL 2009 brings a brand new NFL experience to mobile by offering ultra realistic game plays, enhanced AI and the largest and most realistic 2D models available. Fans are able to maneuvre players with spectacular offensive and defensive playbook tactics to get their team to the end zone. The immersion intensifies with fans and cheerleaders rooting you on as you compete in stadiums across the country.

NFL 2009 is available now across most US carriers. To check the game’s availability with your carrier, text “QB” to 82174 on your mobile phone.

For more information, visit http://www.gameloft.com

Source: Gameloft

WHO:
Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals Quarterback and Cedar Rapids, Iowa native
Brenda Warner, Cedar Falls, Iowa native

WHAT:
Red Cross disaster relief site tour and volunteer work

WHEN:
Tuesday, July 8, 2008; Media check-in at 9:15 a.m.
Interested media please contact Laura Goforth at 512-608-7272.

WHERE:
American Red Cross Disaster Assistance Center
Westdale Mall, next to JC Penney in former Osco’s store
2600 Edgewood Road SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52408-8240
WHY:

A former member of the Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet, Kurt Warner and his wife, Brenda, are lending support to Kurt’s home town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by making a personal visit to areas ravaged by the recent flooding. Kurt has recently recorded public service announcements for the Disaster Relief Fund and preparedness messages for floods and tornadoes, conducted media interviews, and made himself available in other national response efforts. (http://www.redcross.org/press/psa/psa.html).

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the US Central floods and tornadoes, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Source: American Red Cross

Web Site: http://www.redcross.org/

That’s why Albert Haynesworth and Shoe Carnival are teaming up with Soles4Souls, the international charity dedicated to providing free footwear to people in desperate need, to provide a basic, yet indispensable gift that most of us take for granted: the gift of shoes.

Albert will be on-hand at Shoe Carnival on Tuesday, June 24 from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM to sign one autograph for each pair of new or “gently worn” shoes that are donated to Soles4Souls. New shoes will be available in select styles and clearance priced starting at $5.00 at the following participating Shoe Carnival location: Cool Springs Galleria, 7085 Bakers Bridge Avenue, Franklin, TN, 37067.

Albert hosted a signing earlier this year at Shoe Carnival that drew over 500 fans. Albert hopes that even more fans will come out to join him for this worthy cause. “The last signing had a wonderful turnout, so I thought it would be a great idea to give back to a worthy cause like Soles4Souls at the same time,” said Albert Haynesworth, 2008 NFL All Pro Tackle. “I know that fans will clean out their closets and keep me very busy signing autographs all day.”

“We are happy to offer Shoe Carnival customers the opportunity to meet Albert and donate their shoes to Soles4Souls,” said Steve Meyer, Senior Vice President of Store Operations. “Soles4Souls’ mission to provide shoes for those in need is a message that resonates with our customers. We hope this will be a memorable experience for everyone involved.”

“We are thrilled that Albert and Shoe Carnival have chosen to partner with Soles4Souls,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. “The shoes donated by Albert’s fans will make a huge impact on the lives of thousands of people in desperate need.”

Source: Soles4Souls

Web site: http://www.giveshoes.org/
http://www.shoecarnival.com/