Sixth Annual National High School Invitational Moves to Madison Square Garden; Adds DICK'S Sporting Goods as Title Sponsor

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The season ending tournament for top nationally ranked High School basketball teams, will have a new home in New York City's iconic Madison Square Garden for its sixth annual boys and girls championship games and a new name as DICK'S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), the largest U.S. based full-line sporting goods retailer signed on as the title sponsor. Paragon Marketing Group announced today it has reached a multi-year agreement with both Madison Square Garden, and DICK'S Sporting Goods to continue the tradition-rich event as the DICK'S Sporting Goods High School National Tournament.

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"DICK'S Sporting Goods is thrilled to serve as title sponsor for the DICK'S Sporting Goods High School National Tournament and to further our support for high school basketball," said Lauren Hobart, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, DICK'S Sporting Goods.  "We look forward to seeing some of the best high school basketball teams and players in the country take center court at the World's Most Famous Arena this spring."

Comprehensive coverage of the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship action will continue to air across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU April 3-5, 2014. Boys quarterfinal and semifinal games, along with the girls semifinal games, will take place on April 3-4 at a to be determined location in New York City.  Madison Square Garden will host the boys and girls championship games on April 5.

"High school basketball has a long and rich tradition at Madison Square Garden as we have hosted some of the game's legendary players including: Lew Alcindor, Bob Cousy, Nancy Leiberman-Cline, Connie Hawkins as well as NY Knicks Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony," said Joel Fisher, executive vice president, MSG Sports. "We are excited to host the boys and girls finals of the DICK'S Sporting Goods High School National Tournament, the premier high school basketball tournament in the country."

As in previous years, the boys tournament will feature eight of the top ranked teams in the nation and the girls field will feature four teams. Last year's boys field included seven teams that finished at the top of the final USA Today Super 25 Poll including:No.1 Montverde (Fla.),No.2 St. Benedict's (NJ), No.3 Findlay Prep (Nev.), No.6 Prime Prep (Texas), No.12 Ely (Fla.), No.21 La Lumiere (Ind.) and No.23 Oak Hill (Va.).

The boys and girls fields will be announced in March once the high school basketball season is completed. Additional information is available at www.dicksnationaltournament.com. 

Event History
The National High School Invitational (NHSI) launched in 2009 at Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Md. The event was created by Paragon Marketing Group to provide a season ending platform for top nationally ranked high school basketball teams to compete against one another in a season ending tournament.

The 2009 boys tournament was won by Findlay Prep (Nev.) with the girls tournament won by Seton Keough (Md.).  The second annual tournament was held at Coppin State University's Physical Education Complex in Baltimore with Findlay Prep retaining the boys title and the Peddie School (NJ) claiming the girls title. In 2011, Montrose Christian (Md.) won the boys title in double overtime while Dr. Phillips (Fla.) won the girls championship. Findlay Prep recaptured the NHSI boys title in 2012 with an overtime victory, and Riverdale Baptist (Md.) took the girls championship trophy. Last year Montverde (FL) won its first NHSI boys title, and Dr. Phillips won their second girls title.

About DICK'S Sporting Goods
DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. is an authentic full-line sports and fitness specialty omni-channel retailer offering a broad assortment of high quality, competitively-priced brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel and footwear in a specialty store environment. The Company also owns and operates Golf Galaxy, LLC, a golf specialty retailer. As of November 19, 2013, the Company operated 558 DICK'S Sporting Goods stores in 46 states, 82 Golf Galaxy stores in 30 states and eCommerce websites and catalog operations for DICK'S Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy.

About The Madison Square Garden Company
The Madison Square Garden Company is a fully-integrated sports, media and entertainment business. The Company is comprised of three business segments: MSG Sports, MSG Media and MSG Entertainment, which are strategically aligned to work together to drive the Company's overall business, which is built on a foundation of iconic venues and compelling content that the company creates, produces, presents and/or distributes through its programming networks and other media assets. MSG Sports owns and operates the following sports franchises: the New York Knicks (NBA), the New York Rangers (NHL), the New York Liberty (WNBA), and the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). MSG Sports also features the presentation of a wide variety of live sporting events including professional boxing, college basketball, bull riding and tennis. MSG Media is a leader in production and content development for multiple distribution platforms, including content originating from the Company's venues. MSG Media's television networks consist of regional sports networks, MSG Network and MSG+, collectively referred to as MSG Networks; and Fuse, a national television network dedicated to music. MSG Networks also include high-definition channels, MSG HD and MSG+ HD, and Fuse includes its high-definition channel, Fuse HD. MSG Entertainment is one of the country's leaders in live entertainment. MSG Entertainment creates, produces and/or presents a variety of live productions, including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes. MSG Entertainment also presents or hosts other live entertainment events such as concerts, family shows and special events in the Company's diverse collection of venues. These venues consist of Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre, the Forum in Inglewood, CA, The Chicago Theatre, and the Wang Theatre in Boston, MA. More information is available at www.themadisonsquaregardencompany.com.

About Paragon Marketing Group
Paragon Marketing Group is a corporate consulting agency specializing in sports, entertainment and cause related sponsorships.  Paragon, owns and operates the DICK's Sporting Goods National High School Invitational and has partnered with ESPN over the past 11 years to deliver over 300 live high school football and basketball telecasts featuring many of the top teams and players in the nation.  Paragon's clients include Gatorade, Nature Valley Granola Bars, Lexus, PNC Bank, Johnson & Johnson, EA Sports, Skullcandy and Bayer.

SOURCE DICK'S Sporting Goods