Country Music Association and Sports Challenge Network Announce Partnership

NASHVILLE, TN, April 19, 2014 (Press-News.org) The Country Music Association (CMA) and Sports Challenge Network, LLC (SCN) announced today that they have executed a partnership agreement through which SCN has become CMA's official bowling industry partner for the 2014 CMA Music Festival. Through its XBowling mobile app, SCN will allow tens of millions of Country Music fans and bowling enthusiasts to vote for their favorite Country Music stars to bowl live inside AT&T U-verse Fan Fair X at the CMA Music Festival.

SCN will have bowling lanes set up for tournaments and exhibitions inside AT&T U-verse Fan Fair X where celebrities and fans will be encouraged to try their hand in mini-tournaments and challenges.

In advance of CMA Music Festival, fans will be able to participate in the CMA XBowling Celebrity Challenge, a unique bowling and promotional experience featured in the XBowling app, through which fans can win passes to the CMA Music Festival and other prizes through entries into sweepstakes and skill-based bowling competitions. A portion of all proceeds from this event will benefit The CMA Foundation. Watch for announcements with further details on participating Country Music artists and the official launch date for the CMA XBowling Celebrity Challenge.

"CMA is thrilled to partner with SCN and XBowling for our 2014 CMA Music Festival. We believe it's a great opportunity to use cutting edge technology to allow our Country Music fans to interact with their favorite artists in new and unique ways and to strategically tap into the massive fan base of bowling, the No. 1 participation sport in the world," said Damon Whiteside, CMA Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships.

"We are honored to be the official bowling industry partner of CMA and their iconic annual CMA Music Festival in Nashville," said Timothy J. Minard, founder and CEO of SCN. "We are uniquely positioned to allow celebrities and charities to engage with the bowling community in new, innovative and more personalized ways by leveraging the XBowling platform. We expect our partnership to provide a high level of excitement and entertainment to the combined fan base of the top music genre and recreational sport in the US by allowing players and fans to compete for valuable and unique prizes and celebrity experiences while "Bowling for Good" in support of CMA," continued Minard.

About CMA
Founded in 1958, the Country Music Association was the first trade organization formed to promote a type of music. In 1961, CMA created the Country Music Hall of Fame to recognize artists and industry professionals with Country Music's highest honor. More than 7,000 music industry professionals and companies from around the globe are members of CMA. The organization's objectives are to serve as an educational and professional resource for the industry and advance the growth of Country Music around the world. This is accomplished through CMA's core initiatives: the CMA Awards, which annually recognize outstanding achievement in the industry; the CMA Music Festival, which benefits music education and is taped for a three-hour TV special; and "CMA Country Christmas," featuring Country artists performing original music and Christmas classics. All of CMA's television properties will air on the ABC Television network through 2021.

About The CMA Music Festival
The Ultimate Country Music Fan Experience began in 1972 as Fan Fair , bringing 5,000 fans to Nashville's Municipal Auditorium. More than 40 years later, the now legendary festival has become the city's signature music event. In 2013, CMA Music Festival attracted more than 80,000 daily visitors from every state and two dozen foreign countries. CMA Music Festival is organized and produced by the Country Music Association. Fan Fair is a registered trademark of CMA.
About XBowling

XBowling is a social mobile application that offers bowlers an opportunity to engage in new types of gaming experiences at bowling centers around the world. Players can compete against each other in live Head to Head Challenges while bowling in the same center or different centers around the country and the world. They can also compete against games previously bowled and "posted" on the XBowling network. Players can also enter "solo" Challenges, such as XBowl Mania, Lotto Bowl, or Beat Your Average, competing to achieve a certain game or frame result. Players can win points every time they play through gameplay, skill, and social interactions that allow them to build their XBowling leaderboard status and redeem their accumulated points for great merchandise and sports gear through the app or the web. Players can also use the XBowling platform to engage with celebrities through the VIB ("Very Important Bowler") section of the app, bowling in special Challenges for the right to participate in live celebrity events, such as celebrity bowling tournaments, or for the right to attend unique athletic and sporting events.

Over the last two years, the XBowling platform has recorded close to 1 billion balls thrown at XBowling-enabled centers. XBowling is currently available on Apple IoS and Google Android devices, via free downloads from the App Store and Google Play.

Bowling is the largest recreational sport in the world with over 130 million annual participants globally. In the US alone, 70 million people bowl at least once a year, 10 million people bowl at least once a month, and millions of people bowl 7 million games each day.

About Sports Challenge Network
Sports Challenge Network, LLC ("SCN") was established in 2010 with the goal of increasing participation and creating new types of experiences and competition within recreational sports by harnessing the power of mobile and social technology. SCN apps offer players and fans new game experiences through personalization, challenges and contests, rewards, and social connections. SCN will be the primary destination in the app universe, and on the Web, for fans, players, and other participants who want to compete and have fun with their favorite sports in new ways. More information can be found at XBowling.com, Twitter and Facebook.

For further information, please contact:

Country Music Association
Maria Eckhardt
Manager of Media Relations
(615) 244-2840
meckhardt@cmaworld.com

Sports Challenge Network, LLC
Gene Chayevsky
(678) 541-2522
gene@XBowling.com