6 August 2010

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR APPOINTS CAPITALIZE TO HANDLE GLOBAL PR CAMPAIGN

London, UK – 4 August 2010 - The world’s leading professional sailing series, the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), has appointed sports marketing and communications specialist, Capitalize - the BrandFan® agency - to manage its global PR series for the remaining 5 races of this year’s Tour.

With the World Match Racing Tour embarking on an exciting development period which hopes to see the 10 race series double its size in the next five years, Capitalize will work alongside WMRT Communications Director, Audrey Lakai, to focus on increasing the Tour’s profile across key global markets by targeting international news, business, lifestyle, specialist and broadcast media.

The PR, sponsorship and experiential agency will also provide specialist on-event press office support and bring new media to the Tour events as the series draws towards its climax at the Monsoon Cup in December.

Capitalize will also manage the Tour’s social media channels and develop digital platforms to engage with fans and bring the thrill of match racing to a growing global audience with live video streaming and behind-the-scenes interviews and news features.

Sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with “Special Event” status, the Tour sits amongst the prestige of the America’s Cup and The Volvo Ocean Race by attracting the world’s best sailors. The epic Tour features 10 World Championship events across the globe, including races in France, Germany, Sweden, Korea and China, culminating in November/December 2010 with the high-profile Monsoon Cup in Malaysia.

Competing teams go head-to-head on identical racing yachts, ensuring the overall ‘ISAF Match Racing World Champion’ is crowned on the merit of teamwork and individual skill. A US$250,000 overall prize pool for the top nine teams with a $50,000 bonus for the outright winner of this year’s World Match Racing Tour provides added incentive.

Jim O’Toole, Chief Executive Officer of WMRT, commented, “The World Match Racing Tour is well established as the World Championship of head-to-head sailing and features the very best sailors year after year. What we are now focusing on is taking the series on to the next phase, by increasing the number of events, enhancing our commercial partnership proposition and increasing our multi media footprint around the world.

“We have set some ambitious goals to develop the series and Capitalize’s expertise in engaging both global media and new fans will be a key component in helping us achieve our objectives. We are looking forward to starting work with Capitalize immediately as we start the build up to the next round in St Moritz, Switzerland which runs from 31 August to 5 September.”

Jonathon Bates, Associate Director at Capitalize, said, “Sailing is one of the few sports to have a truly global footprint and also the genuine scope to increase its profile in both traditional and emerging sailing territories. We’re delighted to be working with the World Match Racing Tour and look forward to helping the series develop its footprint by generating engaging and inspiring media coverage and social media activations around the Tour.”

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