Despite Ratings Decline, Dew Tour Gaining Corporate Support

Dew Action Sports Tour Sees Increases In Attendance, Corporate Sponsorships

Dew Action Sports Tour GM Wade Martin said that attendance for the tour, which concludes this weekend, is “up over last year and, though TV ratings are down, corporate support has grown to where sponsorships are sold out,” according to Pete Thomas of the L.A. TIMES. New sponsors signing two- to five-year deals include Verizon and MasterCard, “an indication that companies with no prior involvement with action sports view the NBC-Clear Channel creation as an effective vehicle to reach teens and young adults.” The tour plans to “remain a five-stop series in midsized markets — currently Louisville, Denver, Portland, San Jose and Orlando — at least through next year.” But new sites are “being explored and a winter Dew Tour, with snowboarding as the marquee event, may eventually be launched.” Through four events this year, attendance is 190,000, a 15% increase over the 170,000 for the same period last year. The five-city total in ’05 was 230,000, “a number likely to be outdone come Sunday afternoon.” Nielsen ratings on NBC last year to this point averaged a 0.9, with about 1.25 million viewers for each event. Ratings this year are down to a 0.76 with about 1.1 million viewers. But Martin said that TV ratings “are no longer ‘the sole barometer of consumption by our fans’ and cites increased web traffic and more exposure this year on specialty networks such as MTV and Fuel TV” (L.A. TIMES, 10/13).