Stanley Hand Tools has joined the Dew Tour’s roster of sponsors for the upcoming summer stop in Long Beach along with a corporate-owned Courtyard Marriott Downtown Long Beach. Adam Cozens, VP & GM of the Dew Tour at The Enthusiast Network, called the deal one of Stanley's "big steps into action sports from a U.S. perspective.” He said he could not recall a major tool sponsor in any action property in “recent history.” The event is from June 15-18. Returning sponsors from the ’16 summer event include Motorola, Verizon and year-round Dew Tour partners U.S. Army, Frontier Communications and Circle K. Only GoPro, now undergoing a major corporate restructuring, did not return. The Marriott will serve as the home to the tour’s VIPs. This marks the first full year of sales for the Dew Tour since The Enthusiast Network acquired the property and reformatted it as a more digitally focused 24/7 content play with two tentpole events annually. TEN officials would not disclose financial results of this year’s sponsorship sales to date, but Cozens said the summer stop inventory is sold out. "Everything compared to 2015 was up significantly, so when you have that, it’s an easier story to tell when you’re talking about renewal or new partners,” he said. PepsiCo pays about $8M annually for naming rights. The sponsorship deals include standard on-site event promotion and IP rights, and also digital content opportunities at DewTour.com. Two activations of note include the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of a program for school students to use the skateboarding courses in math, science, engineering and technology lessons, and a “skateable sculpture garden” commissioned by Mountain Dew. Part of the TEN-authored overhauls include giving space to small action sports endemic brands. Those involved at Long Beach include Zumiez, Pro-Tec, Aluminati, Skatedogs, Tech Deck, Ethika, California Productions, Podium, Razer, Zeal, TW Skateboarding and Grind TV.
