Panini America Announces Partnership with the Miami Heat
March 03, 2010

Miami Heat To Host Panini Adrenalyn Night at American Airlines Arena and Distribute More Than 12,000 Adrenalyn Packs Prior To Heat vs. Lakers Game

MIAMI, Fla. (March 2, 2010) - Panini America (www.paniniamerica.net), a subsidiary of The Panini Group, the leading global publisher of sports and entertainment collectables announced a multi-year partnership with the Miami Heat (www.heat.com) of the National Basketball Association.

As part of the relationship the Miami Heat will host a Panini Adrenalyn Night on Thursday, March 4, when the Heat host the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant, a Panini Global Ambassador to support the launch of Panini's new NBA-themed interactive trading game, Adrenalyn (www.paniniadrenalyn.com). As part of the game night festivities, the Heat will distribute more than 12,000 packs of Adrenalyn cards and Game Boards to fans upon entry to American Airlines Arena. In advance of the Panini Adrenalyn Night, The Miami Herald will insert more than 140,000 packs of Adrenalyn Trading Cards into the Wednesday paper.

In addition, the Panini Adrenalyn Tour, a 13-city tour that includes a Tour Bus featuring Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings and Dirk Nowitzki will visit American Airlines Arena on game night and invite fans to participate in basketball skills contests prior to the Heat game, fans will also get a chance to play the Adrenalyn game online.

"We are excited to announce our relationship with the Miami Heat and introduce our Adrenalyn Trading Card Game to Heat fans. The Heat embraced our status as the Exclusive Trading Card of the NBA early on and we look forward to our first activation with a Panini Adrenalyn Night," said Scott Prusha, Marketing Manager for Panini America.

Adrenalyn is an interactive trading card game, geared to children ages 6 to 11, that brings together the excitement of the NBA with the thrill of collecting a 450-card set featuring NBA stars Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, among many others.

The front of each Adrenalyn card features an offensive, defensive, and overall rating so kids can play the game using the Adrenalyn game board. The unique authorization code on the back of each card allows kids to upload their cards online to a virtual collector's album and play the game at www.paniniadrenalyn.com, a safe and secure site. Adrenalyn cards, collector's kits and starter sets are available at all major retail stores including Wal-Mart, Target, Toys "R" Us, Kmart, The Dollar Store and Miami Hoops Gear, and online at NBAStore.com and at the NBA Store in New York City.

Panini will distribute four million Adrenalyn trading card packs and 2.5 million game boards to introduce the interactive game to kids across the country throughout the remainder of the NBA season. Distribution will take place through a multifaceted program that includes newspaper insert activations, Adrenalyn Nights at NBA games and a multi-city Adrenalyn Tour that will visit retail locations, high-traffic areas, NBA arenas and youth sports organizations. An integrated advertising campaign geared toward kids, which will include TV, print, radio, online and viral campaigns featuring NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant, will support the Adrenalyn product.

To learn more about the Adrenalyn Tour and event stops, watch videos, and view photos from each tour stop, visit www.paniniadrenalyn.com or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NBAAdrenalyn.

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