LG Electronics Celebrates 75 Years Of NCAA Tournament With Fan Events At The Final Four

ATLANTA, April 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Electronics USA, an official Corporate Partner of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), is bringing its "A" game to Atlanta during the 2013 NCAA^® Men's Final Four^® weekend, April 5-8.

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As part of the festivities, LG, along with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), will be hosting its signature event – the LG Coaches Cook-Off^™– with celebrity chef Richard Blais, as well as a Harlem Globetrotters game presented by LG and CBS Sports analyst Greg Anthony, and a series of engaging and fun-filled high-tech activities at the LG Fan House at Bracket Town. Attendees there will also be able to experience NCAA college basketball highlights in "4K" on LG's award-winning 84-inch class Ultra HD TVs.

Fan-favorite NCAA coaches Bob Huggins of West Virginia University and Frank Martin of the University of South Carolina will take their friendly court rivalry into the kitchen in the LG Coaches' Cook-Off, a battle between two former Kansas State colleagues to chop, season and present the tastiest upscale game-day finger foods.

Hosted and judged by Blais, Bravo's "Top Chef All-Stars" winner, author and Atlanta restaurateur, the LG Coaches' Cook-Off will benefit the Coaches vs. Cancer^® program, a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) that allows coaches to help finish the fight against cancer. After the cooking competition, LG will donate $20,000 to the American Cancer Society in the winning coach's name.

Huggins and Martin will each quickly craft Blais' own delectable, game-day English Muffin Pizza recipe, from his new, top-selling cookbook, Try This At Home: Recipes From My Head to Your Plate, in the LG Kitchen, using LG's best-in-class products to prepare their competing dishes.

Among the products used will be LG's French-Door Refrigerator with its innovative Door-in-Door feature. A convenient solution for cooks crunched for time, it will help the coaches shave time off their preparation thanks to the magnetically sealed section of the right refrigerator door, allowing easy access to commonly used items without opening the main refrigerator door. The coaches will also need to clean up their space, using the Easy Clean™ feature on LG's newest range, requiring nothing more than a spray of water and a few minutes. The LG Dishwasher with EasyRack™ and TrueStream^™ Technology will also help the coaches cut their cleanup time by virtually eliminating the need to prewash dishes.

Fans will also be able to watch the coaches' progress during the culinary showdown on a 55-inch class LED smart TV in high-definition picture quality as the contestants scramble to combine ingredients and cross them off the list using the QuickMemo feature on the award-winning LG Optimus G smartphone. LG Optimus G allows fans to stay tuned into the biggest college basketball sporting event of the year, whether they are sharing commentary with QuickMemo, watching replays on the impressive 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display, or beaming highlights wirelessly to their LG Smart TV using LG's SmartShare feature.

"In the spirit of the NCAA Final Four, where some of college basketball's most talented players bring their best to the court, LG is showing off its winning innovations in Atlanta this weekend," said James Fishler, senior vice president, marketing, LG Electronics USA.

As part of its partnership with the NCAA through a new multi-year agreement, negotiated with CBS Sports and Turner Sports, LG will also take over Atlanta through a series of exciting and immersive activities and initiatives for hoops fans at Bracket Town.  

High-Tech LG Fan House at Bracket Town

While in Atlanta for the NCAA celebration, fans can experience first-hand at the LG Fan House in Bracket Town how the broad line of LG home appliances, home entertainment technologies and mobile phones makes fans' game-viewing experience better – from increased fridge capacity for extra game-day food, to instant game-play sharing with LG smartphones, to the vivid Smart TV picture quality.

Fans will also be able to attend special Q&A sessions with NCAA coaches through video chat using LG Optimus G smartphone and an LG 55-inch class Google TV. For each question asked, LG will donate $50 to Coaches vs. Cancer, up to $10,000.

Harlem Globetrotters at NCAA Final Four

In conjunction with the NCAA Final Four, fans will also be able to attend an exclusive basketball game as LG Presents the Harlem Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals on the Center Court in Bracket Town, with special guest commentator, CBS Sports analyst Greg Anthony, reprising his role as the face of LG's Do March Right™ national advertising and marketing campaign. The game will start Friday, April 5 at 6 p.m. EDT.

Sustainability Slam-Dunk in Atlanta

As fans interact with ENERGY STAR^® certified LG home appliances and TVs in Bracket Town, the company is encouraging them to join LG in signing the "Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR" pledge to address climate change.  LG is a 2013 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year.

In addition, in a warm-up to the Final Four, LG teamed with the Atlanta Local Organizing Committee (ALOC) to promote environmental sustainability at a local e-waste recycling drive last month at the Georgia Dome. LG joined forces with the ALOC, Keep Atlanta Beautiful and Creative Recycling Systems to provide local residents a convenient and responsible way to dispose of used, unwanted, obsolete or damaged electronics. After recycling their old electronics, consumers can save energy by replacing them with ENERGY STAR products.

To download the official NCAA® March Madness® LIVE app for Android, please visit the Google Play store.

For more information on LG's events at the NCAA Final Four, please visit http://www.lg.com/ncaa/

*No "ultra high definition" or "4K" video content is currently available. No broadcast or other standard currently exists for "4K" or "ultra high definition" TV, and the 84LM9800 may not be compatible with such standards if and when developed.

About LG Electronics USA
A proud NCAA Corporate Partner, LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $45 billion global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States, LG Electronics sells a range of stylish and innovative home entertainment products, home appliances, mobile phones, commercial displays, air conditioning systems and solar energy solutions, all under LG's "Life's Good" marketing theme. LG Electronics is a 2013 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. For more information, please visit www.lg.com.

SOURCE LG Electronics USA