Action Sports Media Launches New Venture, Varsity Sports Media, To Showcase High School Athletics Through Publishing, Marketing and Media Programs.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- New firm will initially focus on Florida's high-powered high school football programs; Varsity Sports Media will grow by leveraging parent company's collegiate sports marketing experience

Action Sports Media, Inc., a leading collegiate sports and athletic venue marketing provider, today announced that it has formed Varsity Sports Media, a company designed to create awareness of high school sports through high-profile, professionally produced publishing and marketing ventures. Combined with Action Sports Media's proven success working with NCAA Division I programs, Varsity Sports Media will create and deliver products that objectively focus on showcasing all aspects of high school athletics while creating new and unique opportunities for high school student-athletes. Over the next two years, VSM will develop publishing, radio, television and event programming that will further its goals to brand Florida sports.

Varsity Sports Media is led by Gordon D. Whitener, president and CEO of Action Sports Media; Jerry L. Felix, CFO of Action Sports Media; and, Craig Baroncelli, president and founder of A.E. Engine, LLC, a leader in strategic publishing and marketing programs.

"We created Varsity Sports Media because we believe it's important to focus on high school talent, regardless of whether those students move on to collegiate sports. We are committed to promoting the positive aspects of high school athletics, including competition, camaraderie, and sportsmanship," said Whitener. "Our team is passionate about high school athletics, and I believe that Varsity Sport Media will be successful for our investors and the student athletes, their supporters and fans throughout the state who make high school sports an exciting staple of our society."

The new firm's first official project will be the release later this year of "Varsity Sports Media's Florida Football," a 250-plus-page comprehensive guide to Florida Football, which will cover Florida's professional, collegiate and high school programs with a major emphasis on varsity football. Some of Florida's top sports reporters and photographers will contribute to the magazine, which takes an in-depth look at each of Florida's 515 varsity football teams. The magazine will include player features, statistics and past accomplishments, and thousands of player photos and names. The magazine will be distributed throughout the state. In addition, Varsity Sports Media will launch a Web site in conjunction with the magazine's early August release.

About Action Sports Media, Inc.

Action Sports Media, Inc., (www.actionsportsmedia.com) provides niche collegiate sports marketing services, specializing in athletic venue media rights. Action Sports Media services its contracts by selling advertising and signage sponsorship rights at various sports venues, and the company has exclusive contracts with premier athletic programs in powerhouse NCAA conferences including the Big East, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac 10. The company also markets a software package, Game Ops Commander, that enables scoreboard operators to manage the audio portion of their game-day production; more than 900 groups have licensed Game Ops Commander. Action Sports Media is a privately held company whose principal investor is Parallel Investment Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm that invests in growing, entrepreneurially led U.S. companies. Parallel (www.parallelip.com) has offices in Dallas and Los Angeles.

About Varsity Sports Media

Varsity Sports Media (www.varsitysportsmedia.com) is a producer of consumer-targeted, traditional and new media programs aimed at the high school audience. Varsity Sports Media creates and delivers products and messages that celebrate the positive aspects of high school sports. VSM's partners assume the title of "role model" and work to execute positive, forward thinking programs that enhance life skills.

About A.E. Engine

A.E. Engine (www.ae-engine.com) creates and executes publishing and marketing programs for companies and associations across the nation. One of A.E. Engine's core competencies involves turnkey publishing, to include sales and marketing, graphic design, editorial development and distribution. A.E. Engine also provides graphic design, print management and consulting services to companies both nationally and locally. A.E. Engine's client list includes: Action Sports Media, US Youth Soccer, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Zane Publications and Promotions, Pantheon International and the East-West Shrine Game. In addition, A.E. Engine self-published a photo tribute book on Indy Car driver Danica Patrick and currently co-publishes a national motorsports magazine.