EA and NBA Unite the Best in Real and Virtual Basketball on European Courts This Week
GENEVA, Oct 05, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NBA Europe LIVE presented by EA SPORTS™ is bringing some of the
world's best basketball action to fans in Europe this week as EA and
NBA unite for the second time. NBA Europe Live presented by EA SPORTS
began on October 1 and features the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto
Raptors, Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves in training camps
and exhibition games against top Euroleague Basketball clubs in six
cities across Turkey, Italy, Spain, and the UK. The first games of
this year's tour are on October 6 in both Istanbul and Rome.
As the presenting partner, EA SPORTS will also conduct a number of
events around the launch of the popular new videogame NBA LIVE 08,
which is available across Europe today on the Xbox 360™ video game
system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer
entertainment systems and the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable). Wii™
and PC versions of the game hit stores on October 19.
"NBA Europe Live is a fantastic platform for EA SPORTS and our
partners at the NBA to share our passion for real and virtual
basketball with fans and gamers across Europe," said Matt Bilbey,
Senior Director of International Marketing, EA SPORTS. "We're pleased
to continue to be ambassadors for NBA basketball and with the launch
of NBA LIVE 08 in Europe today are excited for gamers to be able to
celebrate the best basketball action on the virtual court."
"Following the success of last year's tour, we are pleased to have
EA SPORTS with us again as the presenting sponsor of NBA Europe Live
presented by EA SPORTS," said Sophie Goldschmidt, Vice President of
Marketing Partnerships & Business Development for NBA Europe. "Once
again, this ambitious international competition continues to be a
celebration of the game of basketball for fans throughout Europe -
both on the court and with NBA LIVE."
Games:
TEAMS DATE CITY ARENA
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors Oct 6 Rome PalaLottomatica
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Efes Pilsen Oct 6 Istanbul Abdi Ipekci
Istanbul Sports Hall
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
Toronto Raptors vs. Lottomatica Virtus Oct 7 Rome PalaLottomatica
Roma
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Unicaja Malaga Oct 9 Malaga Palacio de
Deportes Jose
Manuel Martin
Carpena
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
Boston Celtics vs. Minnesota Oct 10 London The O2
Timberwolves
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
MMTEstudiantes vs Memphis Grizzlies Oct 11 Madrid Palacio de
Deportes de la
Communidad
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
Real Madrid vs. Toronto Raptors Oct 11 Madrid Palacio de
Deportes de la
Communidad
-------------------------------------- ------ -------- ---------------
NBA Europe LIVE presented by EA SPORTS is a comprehensive tour of
Europe that includes training camps and exhibition games against NBA
and Euroleague Basketball teams. During last year's inaugural NBA
Europe, four teams - the San Antonio Spurs, LA Clippers, Philadelphia
76ers and Phoenix Suns - held training camps in France, Russia, Spain
and Italy respectively and competed against top Euroleague Basketball
teams with exhibition games held in Germany. The tour drew more than
36 million viewers and 115,000 spectators in October 2006.
Building upon a solid foundation of 5-on-5 gameplay, NBA LIVE 08
introduces a set of 4 all-new features in this year's game -
Quickstrike Ballhandling, Own The Paint, Hot Spots
and Signature Go-To Moves to increase user control, while providing an
unrivaled level of authenticity to the sport of basketball. Use these
features to create your own Go-To Moves and take on the best in the
world with NBA LIVE 08. For the first time ever, NBA LIVE 08 will also
feature eight international teams as part of a multi-year licensing
agreement with FIBA, the world governing body for basketball. The game
features a number of the NBA's biggest international stars on
packaging across Europe, including the San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker
and Phoenix Suns' Boris Diaw (France), Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki
(Germany), Memphis Grizzlies' Pau Gasol (Spain) and Toronto Raptors'
Andrea Bargnani (Italy). Washington Wizards All-Star Gilbert Arenas is
featured on packaging in North America and all other territories.
For more information on NBA LIVE 08, log onto www.nbalive.com.
Screenshots can be downloaded at http://info.ea.com.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City,
California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software
company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and
distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems,
personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic
Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™,
EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted
revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one
million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More
information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be
found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The NBA and individual NBA member team identifications used on or in
this product are trademarks, copyrighted designs and other forms of
intellectual properties of NBA Properties, Inc. and the respective NBA
member teams and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of NBA Properties, Inc. © 2007 NBA Properties,
Inc. All Rights Reserved. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and the PSP are
registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft,
Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
Wii is a trademark of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property
of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
Bettina Munn, +41 22 316 1327
bmunn@ea.com
or
NBA
Carmine N. Tiso, 212-407-8208
ctiso@nba.com