Press Release

(January 14, 2011) The First Annual Eastham Energy College All Star Game Presented by Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, college football’s newest all-star game, will be debuting in the Valley of the Sun at Sun Devil Stadium, on January 23, 2011.

The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Arizona and its affiliates, including Prime Ticket and Fox Sports Southwest, at 8:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 23, 2011. STAA client Kevin Ray will call play-by-play. Former NFL players Glenn Parker and Adam Archuleta will serve as anaylsts.

It will be the first time a college all star football game has been held in Tempe, which will serve as host city for this annual event.

The game was founded by AZ Sports Group, LLC and will feature the finest athletes eligible for the upcoming NFL draft, whose collegiate eligibility has run out. The game's slogan will be “See Tomorrow's NFL Stars Today."

“The inaugural Eastham Energy College All Star Game Presented by Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino will field players among college football’s best,” said AZ Sports Group, LLC founding member John Gray. “With all 32 NFL teams represented by GMs, coaches and scouts during game week, the players will have a terrific opportunity to showcase their talents and get a firsthand glimpse of life in the NFL…‘Just Like on Sunday.’”

While the teams are divided geographically by East and West, one of the teams will be titled "Stars" with the other being "Stripes" as the game will take on a Military "feel good” flavor, and feature a "Troop Salute Half-time Fireworks Extravaganza", that will entertain viewers during the break.

"The reason I am getting involved with this game as its title sponsor is to give something back to the people that have decided to fight for our freedom and allow 90 college athletes the opportunity to showcase their athletic abilities to go to the next level,” said Lynn Eastham.

The players come together for the beneficiary of local Phoenix area charities such as NFL Star, Jared Allen's Homes for Wounded Warriors, which was created to build homes for our wounded heroes coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Native American Connections, an Arizona-based non-profit organization founded in 1991 to address the growing needs of at-risk and homeless youth age 21 and younger, will also be involved as a local charity benefitted by the game.

"We are very excited to engage in this partnership with these fine charities along with Arizona State University and bring our game to this great city,” said Jerry Ippoliti, another one of the founding members of AZ Sports Group, LLC. “We hope the residents of Arizona will come out and enjoy this spectacular event that we hope to grow into the Premier All Star game in the country with the hard work and support of certain groups of people in and around the Phoenix area."

In addition to being a favorite tourist destination, the Tempe area will host a trifecta of the country’s most prestigious bowl games, such as The Insight Bowl, which is bigger and better with the third pick from the Big 12 and the third or fourth pick from the Big 10 on December 28, 2010, the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day and culminate with this year's BCS Championship game on January 10, 2011.

Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field is home to the Arizona State Sun Devils and has hosted both national and collegiate games. It has been the home of the Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl for 35 years and the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals for 18 seasons, and as of 2006, it has officially become the new home to the Insight Bowl. Other games hosted at the stadium include four national championships and the Super Bowl XXX in 1996 as the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburg Steelers 27-17 in front of 76,347 spectators.

“Arizona is a hotbed for college football, so it’s a natural fit for this type of All Star Game and the City of Tempe,” said AZ Sports third founding member Mike Leach, who knows something about playing at Sun Devil Stadium, as in 2008 he directed his Texas Tech squad to the largest comeback in bowl history and led the Red Raiders from a 31 point deficit to defeat Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. “Additionally, this game isn’t just an opportunity for these athletes to showcase their skills, it is an opportunity to showcase Tempe as one of the country’s leading tourist destinations.”

The Tempe contingent that helped bring the game to Tempe includes the enthusiasm of residents of the valley along with Steve Levine Entertainment and the Tempe Diablos.

“We are excited to welcome the Eastham Energy College All Star to Tempe,” said Scott Agnew, president of the Tempe Diablos. “We believe that Tempe is the perfect venue for the players, fans and their families. Tempe and our weather in January put a smile on the faces of visitors.”

“Economic impact and national television exposure are extremely important to our community, especially now, and we believe this game can grow to be even more impactful in the future,” said Bryan Vial of The UPS Stores of Central Arizona, who have committed to having all 122 of their Phoenix area stores serve as ticket outlets for the game. “We are excited to be a part of this event from its birth."

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