NEW YORK – The Dew Action Sports Tour, the first-ever season-long professional multi-sport tour in action sports, announced that it has selected Portland as one of its host sites for its inaugural season, which begins in June 2005.

Portland will host the third tour stop, scheduled for the Rose Quarter, Aug. 17-21.

San Jose, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; Louisville, Ky., and Denver are the four other sites for the tour, which begins June 8 in Louisville and concludes Oct. 16 in Orlando.

Each event and host site will receive significant international exposure through dedicated event broadcasts on NBC and a cable partner, and through the Tour’s various marketing platforms. The Tour projects attendance of 100,000 in each city.

”Action sports are a flourishing part of our nation’s sports landscape and the Dew Action Sports Tour represents the future of the action sports phenomenon,” says Drew Mahalic, CEO of Oregon Sports Authority.

The Dew Action Sports Tour boasts the biggest competitive purse in action sports, a $1-million bonus pool based upon year-end standings.

In addition to the primary sports of skateboarding, BMX, and freestyle motocross, each tour stop will feature a unique ”specialty comp”, such as snowboarding or wakeboarding. At season’s end, based on a cumulative points system, the Tour will award champions in skateboarding (street and vert), BMX (street, dirt and vert) and freestyle motocross with the Dew Cup. Key lifestyle elements at each Tour event will include live cutting-edge music, video gaming, and interactive events.

NBC plans 19 hours of primarily live coverage for the 2005 Dew Action Sports Tour. A cable broadcast partner and programming plans will be announced at a later date.

Portland has been one of the most successful hosts for Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huckjam and the Vans Triple Crown of Wakeboarding, formerly known as the Pro Wakeboard Tour. The city of Portland has a well-earned reputation as one of the most skateboarding-friendly cities in the nation, even passing an ordinance that embraces skateboarding on city streets as an approved means of transportation.