National Youth Baseball Championship Returns To Memphis This August
Event Features HotelPlanner.com as New Title Sponsor and
CBS Sports
Network as New Television Partner
Memphis, TN (July 5,
2012) – The Fifth Annual National Youth Baseball Championship returns to
Memphis August 23 - 27 with a new title sponsor, HotelPlanner.com and new
television partner, CBS Sports Network.
Now known as the HotelPlanner.com National Youth Baseball
Championship (HotelPlanner.com NYBC), the tournament brings together 12 of the
nation’s top 12-and-under (12u) teams representing eight youth sports
organizations to determine the “Best of the Best.” New Era® will continue their involvement as
presenting sponsor.
New this year, the cable channel CBS Sports Network will carry
the games live. The Network is available
across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via
satellite on DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 158. For the fifth
year, MLB.com, the official web site of Major League Baseball, will provide
online coverage of the tournament.
“This event gets better every year,” said Eddie Einhorn,
Vice-Chairman and Co-Owner of the Chicago White Sox and the driving force
behind the HotelPlanner.com NYBC. “In
addition to the new title sponsor, we have a great new television partner in
CBS Sports Network and the 12-team format will make it even tougher to take
home the championship trophy.”
Youth sports organizations represented in the championship
are American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC), Amateur Athletic Union of the
United States (AAU), Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, National Amateur
Baseball Federation (NABF), PONY Baseball, Super Series Baseball of America,
and United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA). These elite organizations have a combined
total of over 8 million participants.
“In the past these groups each had their individual
champions, but now compete to determine the true national champion,” Einhorn
said. “To make it more exciting, the
tournament’s executive committee will invite an additional four teams and the
number of games will increase,” Einhorn explained. To accommodate these improvements,
10-and-under competitors will now have to wait until they are older to
compete.
CBS Sports Network is available to 99 million homes
nationwide. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how
to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.
MLB.com, which has produced
coverage of the event since its inaugural tournament in 2008, will continue in
that role as well as provide global access via the Internet.
“As the largest online group travel company Hotelplanner.com remains committed to
helping make youth sports team travel more affordable,” said HotelPlanner.com CEO Tim Hentschel. “We are
excited to partner with Eddie Einhorn, who shares in our vision of making youth
sports available to everyone.” Joining
HotelPlanner.com, New Era®, the official cap of Major League Baseball and the
National Football League, AutoZone and the Memphis Convention and Visitors
Bureau as tournament sponsors is Diamond Sports, the official baseball supplier
to the HotelPlanner.com NYBC.
“The quality of play during these championships is
incredible,” reports Leigh Fox, President of Gameday Baseball. “Baseball fans will see some unbelievable
baseball at our award-winning facility when they join us at Gameday’s First
Tennessee Fields.”
About Gameday Baseball and Gameday’s First
Tennessee Fields
Gameday Baseball is an operating entity of the Gameday
Healthy Kids Foundation. Its mission
includes encouraging youth to participate in sports and healthy lifestyle
habits. Gameday’s First Tennessee Fields
feature manicured playing surfaces for ages 6 through college level. The
complex features 10 lighted fields, a playground area, unequalled amenities for
spectators, a main clubhouse, the Sports Cafe, and several concessions
locations. Church, recreational, Minor (AA), American (AAA), National (Major)
level teams, as well as middle schools, high schools, and NCAA Division I and
II and NAIA baseball and softball teams play on the fields. For more
information, go to www.gamedaybaseball.com.
For Gameday Baseball
and Gameday’s First Tennessee Fields, Contact:
Becky West or Bob Pipkin at 901-682-3839