2008 CGS World Championship

LOS ANGELES—July 29, 2008, Championship Gaming SeriesTM (CGS), the only worldwide professional gaming league, announced that Birmingham Salvo defeated San Francisco Optx 22-15 in the 2008 World Final championship match last night to win US$500,000 and the coveted Mountain Dew World Champion trophy, following a thrilling live competition broadcast to more than 450 million viewers worldwide. The competition aired live in the U.S. exclusively on DIRECTV’s The 101 Network and will air on G4TV this Saturday, August 2 at 10 p.m. EDT/PDT, and in August and September on BSkyB in the UK, Eurosport in Europe, ESPN STAR Sports and STAR throughout Asia, and STAR in Australia.

“I’m extremely proud of my team right now,” said Michael O’Dell, General Manager for Birmingham Salvo. “They truly deserve the title of World Champions. We faced a lot of tough competition throughout the season, but when our backs were against the wall, every player demonstrated the skills and the poise to step up when it mattered the most. My players spent hundreds of hours practicing this season, and their hard work paid off tonight.”

Months of mental and physical training paved the road for Birmingham’s successful championship run. The CGS 2008 season began in March, as gamers from across the world competed in NFL-style Combine events with the hope of winning CGS professional gamer contracts. 18 teams emerged, comprised of the best gamers in the world who all had their sights set on winning the CGS 2008 World Final, the $500,000 top prize for this year’s CGS World Champion team, and the Mountain Dew Trophy – the ultimate symbol of excellence in competitive gaming. Eight top teams advanced to the World Final, which kicked off in mid-July and culminated with tonight’s championship match.

“CGS fans everywhere join me in congratulating Birmingham for such a momentous victory,” said Andy Reif, CEO and Commissioner of CGS. “Birmingham had some of the most exciting and close matches that pro gaming has ever seen coming into the Championship Match. However, they proved themselves dominant. We couldn’t have asked for a more worthy champion in our second season.

The 2008 World Final prize purse breaks down as follows:

1st Place $500,000 Birmingham Salvo

2nd Place $150,000 San Francisco Optx

3rd - 4th Place $70,000 per team Carolina Core, Berlin Allianz

5th - 8th Place $30,000 per team Dallas Venom, Mexico City Furia, Sydney Underground, Wuhan Dragon

Finals MVP $25,000 Dean "Picaso" Sutton and David "Daveyskills" Kelly

Valve’s Counter-Strike®: Source® and EA’s FIFA 2008 are the official PC games for CGS. On the Xbox 360, CGS features Tecmo’s Dead or Alive® 4 (DOA4) and Forza Motorsport® 2 from Microsoft Game Studios.

Each CGS team features a total of ten athletes, each specializing in an official League game. Five of the ten players comprise a Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) squad which competes in five-on-five matches. FIFA 08 is played one-on-one. Each CGS team also has a mixed-doubles team of two DOA4 players, who play against other teams in one-on-one matches. The racing game Forza2 is played by two players on each team in a two-versus-two format.

For more information, please go to www.thecgs.com.

Images and video available by request.

About Championship Gaming Series

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, the Championship Gaming Series ® (CGS) is the only worldwide professional video gaming league. Launched in 2007, and a joint venture among BSkyB, DIRECTV and STAR, CGS features teams of the world's best gamers from North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The league distributes entertainment content to more than 450 million viewers worldwide via DIRECTV in North America and Latin America, G4 in the United States, BSkyB in the UK, Eurosport in Europe, ESPN STAR Sports and STAR in Asia and STAR in Australia. CGS sponsors include Mountain Dew, Creative, Xbox 360 and Dell.

Contacts

Championship Gaming Series

Michael Hope, 310-574-5142

mhope@thecgs.com

Or

Fleishman-Hillard

Laura Werkheiser, 212-453-2394

laura.werkheiser@fleishman.com

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