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ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s biggest sports content provider, announced that Kia Motors will renew its title sponsorship of the KIA X Games Asia for three more years till 2012.

Next year’s event will be the 12th edition of Asia’s biggest action sports competition, and the fourth to be held in Shanghai. The latest edition held in May this year was enthusiastically received by the Shanghai community and broke attendance records with 54,500 fans at Shanghai’s KIC Jiangwan Sports Center.

The KIA X Games Asia has earned a strong global reputation with a significant increase in awareness about action sports in the region. The event saw the total number of sponsors and partners has grown to 32 this year –an increase of nearly three times more than last year. All the brands stand to benefit from various promotional and marketing opportunities as part of their association with the KIA X Games Asia.

Said Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports: “We are very pleased to renew our partnership with Kia Motors, a passionate supporter of action sports. We are also heartened by the enthusiasm of Shanghai’s Yangpu District and the Shanghai Media Group, in addition to our category sponsors and co-organisers in making KIA X Games Asia a truly spectacular experience for fans and we look forward to working closely with our partners to deliver another exhilarating edition of KIA X Games Asia event to fans in Shanghai.”

Kia Motors has been a proud sponsor of the X Games Asia since 2005 and became its title sponsor since 2007 when it was first held in Shanghai, China. Said Byung-Tae Yea, Executive Vice President of Kia Motors: “The KIA X Games Asia continues to evolve every year in line with the growing popularity of extreme sports in China and the entire Asia region. And we at Kia Motors are delighted to be a big part of such a dynamic competition featuring some of Asia’s best athletes. As a brand, Kia Motors strives to appeal to adventurous and young-at-heart consumers, and the X Games Asia is a perfect fit for our global brand ambitions.

“With the event scheduled to be held in China every year through 2012, we at Kia Motors view this as an exciting opportunity to continue our support of extreme sports in the region while continuing to broaden the appeal of the Kia brand to Chinese consumers. The new three-year deal will build on existing popular programs already in place. “

The X Games Asia was the first international X Games outside of the US and was launched in Phuket, Thailand in 1998. Since then, the event has been held across Asia, which also saw editions held at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Seoul (Korea).

Every year since 2007, the event has showcased nearly 200 of the best action sports athletes from more than 30 countries from five continents, featuring the categories Aggressive Inline (Vert and Street), Skateboard (Vert and Street), BMX Freestyle (Vert and Street) and Sport Climbing (Men Speed and Women Speed), and Moto X Freestyle demonstration (Big Air). In addition to the high-level competition, many young and trendy artists, musicians and dancers will give spectacular performances to local audiences.

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