New York Giants' Victor Cruz Tops September List of Rising Sports Stars

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- New York Giants rookie wide receiver, Victor Cruz, tops the list of Rising Sports Stars to watch in the month of September.  The list ranks the top ten U.S. sports professionals from all major sports who experienced the greatest relative growth in popularity during the prior thirty days.  Cruz has had a breakout pre-season and currently leads the league with 251 receiving yards and four touchdowns. As an undrafted free-agent wide receiver from UMass Amherst, Cruz is competing for a spot on the Giants' roster and has quickly emerged as an athlete-to-watch, with 12 catches in just three exhibition games to date.

"Sports fans love a Cinderella story and found one in Victor Cruz after his amazing one-handed scoring catch against the Jets," said Ryan Steelberg, President & CEO of BAT. "Cruz may be the next Miles Austin – an undrafted, young wide receiver who proves himself invaluable on the field."

Rising Sports Stars is distributed by Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), a company that calculates daily consumer affinity based on a proprietary combination of media exposure, performance, awards, popularity, engagement, and fan base, among other indicators, for more than 38,000 athletes and celebrities.  Sports professionals can see their popularity jump based on a notable achievement, consistency of play, or something that happens off the field that lands them on the Rising Sports Stars list.

September Rising Sports Stars

(Details at: http://www.brandaffinity.net/risingstars/september2010)

1. Victor Cruz (New York Giants)
2. Arjun Atwal (PGA)
3. Caroline Wozniacki (WTA)
4. Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers)
5. Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers)
6. Patrick Willis (San Francisco 49ers)
7. Mike Wallace (Pittsburgh Steelers)
8. Gaby Sanchez (Florida Marlins)
9. Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)
10. Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams)

Rising Sports Stars lists go live at the start of each month; subscribe to BAT's Twitter feed at @BATimpact to learn when new lists are posted.

About Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc.  (BAT)

Founded in 2007, BAT (http://brandaffinity.net) unlocks the marketing power of celebrity through research, endorsements, and interactive experiences. BAT's research engine provides daily analysis of more than 38,000 celebrities and athletes. Advertisers use this analysis on BAT's Endorsement Platform to identify, license, and activate the most effective talent for their campaigns. Currently available endorsement talent includes more than 3,600 celebrities and sports superstars such as Drew Brees (NFL), Andy Pettitte (MLB), Rajon Rondo (NBA), Brooks Robinson (MLB – Hall of Fame), Walt Frazier (NBA – Hall of Fame), and Lennox Lewis (Boxing). BAT also engages consumers directly through netBAT (www.netbat.com), which transforms celebrity content into interactive experiences on leading websites. Learn more about BAT in Fortune Magazine at www.fortune.com/bat. Connect with BAT on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrandAffinityTech and Twitter:@BATimpact.

SOURCE Brand Affinity Technologies