November 11, 2004

TONY HAWK SIGNS HELMET DEAL WITH BELL SPORTS

Bell to Launch Hawk Signature Line in 2005

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - (October 20, 2004) - Bell Sports has signed skateboard champion Tony Hawk to the company's roster of premier athletes wearing Bell helmets. Hawk will wear the Bell Faction helmet in 2004 and is working with Bell to design a signature line for 2005. Hawk is a six-time X Games vert champion and was ranked the No. 1 vert skateboarder in the world for 12 years by the National Skateboard Association.

With more competition victories than any skateboarder in history, Hawk is a worldwide icon and is widely credited with the resurgence in skateboarding over the past decade. While Hawk has moved from the vert ramp to the broadcast booth for competitions, he continues to skate in demonstrations and his own Boom Boom HuckJam Tour, an annual nationwide action sports tour of his creation which features the world's best skateboarders, BMXers and freestyle motocross riders.

Outside the competitive arena, Hawk is widely recognized and respected, with a range of consumer products bearing his name and numerous appearances in films and on television. He is ranked among Tiger Woods and Shaquille O'Neal in Q Score ratings, the industry standard established by Marketing Evaluations for measuring familiarity and appeal of celebrities.

"Bell is a company with deep roots in some of the original action sports like auto racing and motocross," said Hawk. "Legends in motorsports like Mario Andretti and Bob Hannah started it off, and now some of the best freestyle motocross and BMX riders (Jeremy McGrath, Mike Metzger and Dave Mirra) are continuing the Bell tradition. It's an honor to be representing skateboarding while on the same team as those guys."

Hawk joins Bell's line-up of stand-out action sports athletes, which includes Dave Mirra, Jeremy McGrath, Mike Metzger, Jamie Bestwick, Allan Cooke and Steve McCann.

"Tony gives back to the sport like no one else," said Chuck Platt, sports marketing manager at Bell. "We're stoked to have him on our team and look forward to tapping into his creative mind on new product development."