Hotel company Hilton Worldwide, which sponsors both the Chinese and U.S. Olympic teams, has arranged to host an exhibition match between the beach volleyball teams from both countries at Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach in the fall. The games will be played on Oct. 20 and broadcast on both NBC and Chinese TV. Hilton Worldwide Senior VP/Global Customer Marketing Jeff Diskin said, "Sponsors are always challenged with making the Olympics live beyond the few weeks. Events like this are a great example of how we’re bringing that flavor and that equity beyond the games." The competition will feature a U.S. women’s team of April Ross and Kerri Walsh against China’s Chen Xue and Xi Zhang, and a U.S. men’s team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser against China’s Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu. The tentative format also calls for mixed doubles play. The broadcast on NBC is a time buy, and it will air in November. The event will be shown on China TV at a later date. Diskin said that Hilton still is working on those final details, but the company wanted to announce the exhibition Wednesday because Walsh and Misty May-Treanor played against Xue and Zhang on Tuesday. Hilton is one of only two sponsors of the Chinese Olympic team. It has sponsored the U.S. Olympic team since '05. Diskin said, "We’re sponsoring team USA and Team China and this is a great way to provide a platform for us and support the athletes. We hope to bring a lot of attention to our athletes, our sponsorship and creating a great event for the two top medal winning countries from these games."
