New Independent Digital Network Set to Broadcast World’s Largest Rugby Championship to Over 3 Billion Viewers Worldwide
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grand Prix Entertainment, a diversified multimedia production and distribution company that owns and manages sports, entertainment and gaming properties, announced today that Limelight Networks (NASDAQ:LLNW, news, filings), a global leader in digital presence management will implement the Grand Prix Studios Network (GPSN), which will broadcast the Grand Prix Rugby Sevens Championship online and in real time.
Committed to world-class entertainment on and off the field, GPSN, in partnership with Olympic member USA Rugby, will present the 2013 Grand Prix Rugby Sevens Championship. The world’s richest Sevens Championship in history will host 24 World Cup caliber international teams, including New Zealand, England, Australia, South Africa, China, India, Russia and the United States. The teams will play 60 games over three days for a world record purse of U.S. $1,000,000. The event is scheduled to take place on July 14-16, 2013, in Los Angeles at the AEG Home Depot Center, broadcast live on the NFL Network.
“This is a fabulous day for Grand Prix,” said William Tatham, Chairman and CEO of Grand Prix Entertainment. “Working with Limelight Networks is the final piece in building a wholly-owned global digital network that provides world class sports and Hollywood entertainment to an existing worldwide audience. We’re excited that the Grand Prix Studios Network will come to fruition with Limelight.”
“Grand Prix Entertainment sought to be independent of existing sports leagues and broadcast networks, by acquiring rights to world class sport events. Working with Limelight, Grand Prix Entertainment can broadcast these events across an equally world class digital network, capable of delivering sports and entertainment products everywhere,” said Tatham.
Leveraging the benefits of Limelight’s world-class infrastructure, GPSN can scale as demand for content increases while continuing to deliver a high-quality experience for all viewers.
“Limelight is excited to power GPSN’s online digital presence, including live video streaming, website design and web content management, for what will be the largest rugby event worldwide,” said Jeff Freund, Vice President and General Manager, web content management, Limelight Networks. “With our Orchestrate Digital Presence Platform, we look forward to giving rugby fans all over the world immediate access to these games anytime, anywhere, and on any device.”
“We are proud to leverage Limelight Networks to launch our first Grand Prix Studios Network channel online,” said Jeffrey Zimmerman, Grand Prix’s Chief Technology Officer. “Limelight’s expertise and cutting-edge platform give us an advantage in delivering HD-quality streams and creating a unique and innovative viewing experience to any desktop, tablet or mobile device.”
Steve Tew, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Rugby Union, states, “We’re thrilled to be involved in the world’s richest Sevens championship in history. It’s exciting to be on the ground floor of a tournament that we think will be hugely beneficial for the development of the game worldwide, particularly in the United States. Gordon Tietjens will ensure we send a competitive team that will include members of the All Blacks Sevens as well as some very exciting new talent. We see this as a huge opportunity to deepen the pool of talent we have available so it certainly fits with our strategy of ensuring our men’s team will be in the Grand Prix Rugby Sevens Championship.”
“With Grand Prix now owning the multimedia rights to both world class rugby Sevens and indoor volleyball championships, we will offer global markets live, pay-per-view access to our multi menu of sports and entertainment products,” said Gary Marenzi, Grand Prix Studio’s CEO and former President of both Paramount and MGM Worldwide Television.
GRAND PRIX RUGBY SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIP. In partnership with USA Rugby, Grand Prix Sports presents the Grand Prix Rugby Sevens Championship which will feature 24 World Cup caliber teams playing 60 games over 3 days for a prize of $1,000,000 – The richest Sevens tournament in history. Bringing professional rugby Sevens to the US market and back to The Home Depot Center as Grand Prix Rugby’s partner and Flagship venue is a thrill for the AEG Home Depot Center Group.
Visit GrandPrixRugby.com
ABOUT GRAND PRIX ENTERTAINMENT. Grand Prix Entertainment is a diversified multimedia production and distribution company that owns and manages sports, entertainment and gaming properties.
Visit GrandPrixEntertainment.com
ABOUT LIMELIGHT NETWORKS. Limelight Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:LLNW) is a global leader in Digital Presence Management. Limelight’s Orchestrate Digital Presence Platform is an integrated suite of cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, which allows organizations to optimize all aspects of their online digital presence across web, mobile, social, and large screen channels. Orchestrate leverages Limelight’s scalable, high-performance global network to offer advanced features for: web content management; website personalization; content targeting; online video publishing; mobile enablement and monetization; content delivery; transcoding; and cloud storage — combined with social media integration and powerful analytics. Limelight’s team of digital presence experts helps organizations streamline processes and optimize business results across all customer interaction channels to deliver exceptional multi-screen experiences, improve brand awareness, drive revenue, and enhance their customer relationships — all while reducing costs. For more information, please visit www.limelight.com, Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/llnw
CONTACT: For more information or interviews regarding the
Grand Prix Studios Network,
Grand Prix Rugby Sevens Championship Contact:
Robin Endsley-Fenn
Director of Public Relations and Communications
415-383-1009
RobinEndsleyFenn@grandprixrugby.com
For more information regarding Limelight Networks Contact:
Amber Winans
510-984-1526
limelight@bhavacom.com
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