Big Changes For 2009 Dew Tour

The Dew Tour has announced its 2009 schedule and there are some major changes hitting the tour.  Here’s a quick summary:

• Bye-Bye, Cleveland and Baltimore… Hello, Chicago and Boston
• Goodbye Right Guard Open and Panasonic Open…
• Event One (Chicago) will feature ONLY BMX Vert, Park and Dirt
• Event Two (Boston) will feature ONLY Skate Vert and Park
• Boston’s Skate Events will be sanctioned as ISF’s (International Skateboarding Federation) World Championship of Skateboarding
• Final three events: same location, same name, same events as prior years

This is a lot of information to digest, and while the Dew Tour provided some nice quotes from Cam White and Chaz Ortiz about how fun the Tour is, there are no doubt many others who see the loss of one more event for their sport as an unfortunate occurence.  No word on changes to the prize purses, either — one would think that the Dew Cup overall payout may come down?

But the changes aren’t only about money — it’s also about getting a bigger venue for action sports.

“Yes, we’ll save some money,” Wade Martin told the Sports Business Journal, “but this is largely about getting into top 10 markets, showcasing the sports individually, and bringing them to a new fan base, which we see growing interest in the tour when we tap into new markets.”

Last year the tour became part of Alli: The Alliance of Action Sports, which includes the Maloof Money Cup, which holds its second edition this summer, the Winter Dew Tour, the AMA Motocross Championship and King of Wake series.

Here’s the full release from the Dew Tour…

DEW TOUR ANNOUNCES 2009 SCHEDULE: NEW HOST CITIES TO INCLUDE CHICAGO AND BOSTON 
ISF’s World Championship of Skateboarding to be held at Dew Tour’s Boston Event

Burr Ridge, Ill. – March 2, 2009 – The Dew Tour, the world’s premier season-long actions sports tour, today announced its complete schedule for the 2009 season. In addition to returning to Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City, and Orlando, the Tour will stop in Chicago with a BMX event and Boston with a skateboard event.  

The 2009 Dew Tour will feature a BMX (park, dirt and vert) event in Chicago this June followed by the first ever ISF’s (International Skateboarding Federation) World Championship of Skateboarding on U.S. soil (park and vert) in Boston. The five-stop tour will then continue on to Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City and Orlando featuring BMX, skateboarding, and freestyle motocross.

“We are very excited about returning to Portland and Orlando after four successful seasons, as well as two in Salt Lake City, and we’re eager to bring the Dew Tour to the two new host cities: Chicago and Boston,” said Chris Prybylo, Alli Vice President and Dew Tour General Manager. “All five host cities have showed tremendous support for action sports throughout the years and we look forward to another successful season.” 

“2008 was an amazing year for me and I’m ready for the ’09 Dew Tour season to get under way,” said 2008 BMX Dirt Dew Cup champion Cameron White. “BMX dirt is always heaps competitive and I’ll be coming into the season full force, ready to defend the Dew Cup title.”    

“I’m stoked for the start of the ’09 Dew Tour season,” said 2008 Skate Park Dew Cup champion Chaz Ortiz. “It’s going to be a lot of fun skating with Ryan Sheckler, Paul Rodriguez, and Greg Lutzka again. They are all great skaters, and I look up to them so I am really excited for the first contest.”   

The complete 2009 Dew Tour schedule is as follows: 

Event Date Location

• Event 1 June 26-27 Chicago, Ill.—Grant Park 
• Event 2 July 24-25 Boston, Mass.—TD Banknorth Garden
• Wendy’s Invitational Aug. 13-16 Portland, Ore.—Rose Quarter
• Toyota Challenge Sept. 17-20 Salt Lake City, UT—EnergySolutions Arena  
• PlayStation® Pro Oct. 15-18 Orlando, Fla.—Amway Arena

Entering its fifth year, the Dew Tour is the most watched and attended action sports property in the world. Attendance for the 2008 Dew Tour totaled nearly 275,000 and an average of 41 million viewers tuned in via NBC and USA. The top athletes in the world will take part in this year’s Tour, all competing for the highly coveted Dew Cup that will be awarded in Orlando at season’s end to champions in each of the six disciplines.  The 2008 Dew Cup winners include Chaz Ortiz (Skateboard Park), Pierre-Luc Gagnon (Skateboard Vert), Jamie Bestwick (BMX Vert), Cameron White (BMX Dirt), Daniel Dhers (BMX Park), and Adam Jones (Freestyle Motocross).