Spike TV to Present the Gillette(R)-EA Sports(TM) Champions of Gaming, Featuring Derek Jeter, Wayne Gretzky, Matt Ryan and Landon Donovan on Thursday, May 6 at 11:35 PM ET/PT

NEW YORK, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, Spike TV is teaming up with EA SPORTS™, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., (Nasdaq: ERTS) and Gillette to show the world what happens when sports superstars meet their contemporaries in the video game world, as it presents the Gillette®-EA SPORTS™ Champions of Gaming on Thursday, May 6 at 11:35 PM, ET/PT.  

Hosted by Geoff Keighley of GameTrailers TV, the Gillette®-EA SPORTS™ Champions of Gaming is the culmination of an online tournament between over 350,000 gamers all over the world playing for the right to match up with their sports heroes.  The remaining twelve gamers go head-to-head in New York City for the finals to ultimately determine which four will advance to test their skills against a professional athlete.  

The athletes on hand include:

• New York Yankees shortstop and five-time World Series champion Derek Jeter, who will compete in Fight Night Round 4 with a custom character EA SPORTS created in his likeness.
• Number 99, the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, who will be playing as Team Canada in NHL® 10.
• Atlanta Falcons quarterback and 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Matt Ryan, who will be showing off his acumen on the other side of the ball, showing off his defensive skills in Madden NFL 10.
• U.S. Men's National Team and Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder, Landon Donovan, who will prepare for the pitch in the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup with a round of FIFA Soccer 10 .

"Electronic gaming, sports, and superstar athletes like Derek Jeter and Wayne Gretzky are going to make an exciting combination during the Gillette®-EA SPORTS™ Champions of Gaming," said Keighley, who will serve as executive producer.  "We're thrilled to be a broadcast partner with Gillette and EA SPORTS, as this special reaffirms Spike's commitment to bringing gamers the best video game programming in the world."

Spike TV is available in 98.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks.  A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

NFL PLAYERS, the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association, helps create this unique user experience by providing EA SPORTS with the rights to use player names and likenesses in Madden NFL 11.

About P&G (NYSE: PG)

Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Pringles®, Folgers®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Actonel®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, and Braun®.  The P&G community consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About Electronic Arts 

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA Mobile™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile, and POGO are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. John Madden, NFL, FIFA and NHL, are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

About NFL PLAYERS

Formed in 1994, NFL PLAYERS is the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association.  Representing more than 1,800 active and many memorable retired NFL players, NFL PLAYERS "takes the helmets off" the players and markets them as personalities as well as professional athletes.  Through an exclusive sponsorship agreement between the organization and the NFL, players are integrated into NFL sponsor activation programs.  In addition, under an exclusive agreement between NFL PLAYERS and the NFL, NFLPLAYERS.COM, the company's official website, is part of the NFL Internet Network.  Each year NFL PLAYERS negotiates and facilitates more than 4,000 player marketing opportunities for players.  NFL PLAYERS activities include retail licensing, corporate sponsorships and promotions, special events, radio and television projects, publishing and internet.  For more information, please visit NFLPLAYERS.COM.

© The Official Emblem and Official Mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and the FIFA World Cup Trophy are copyrights and trademarks of FIFA. All rights reserved. Manufactured under license by Electronic Arts Inc. Player names and likenesses used under license from FIFA, International Federation of Professional Footballers "(FIFPro)" and national teams.  

SOURCE Spike TV