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LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 14,
2002) - Officials from Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (NYSE:MPH)
and Octagon confirmed today that they have established a
worldwide strategic partnership to service CART's growing
international needs.
The appointment will see Octagon provide a wide range of
services from television distribution and production,
sponsorship and media sales, marketing and public relations,
event staging and promotion, gaming and the creation of new
events. In addition, Octagon will be utilizing its sister
agencies within the Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG) to assist in
the delivery of other specialist services.
Octagon has started work with CART's management team in
suburban Detroit to develop a unified approach across all the
services to ensure they can be effectively delivered in the
international markets. Some work will also be undertaken by
Octagon and its sister Interpublic companies within North
America. Octagon Television has already secured several
television rights and distribution contracts to support the
CART FedEx Championship Series for the 2002 season which
started on March 10 with the Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand
Prix.
Newly appointed CART President and CEO Christopher R. Pook and
his management board, made the appointment following a review
of the series' progress since its inception in 1979.
"Since taking on this new role, I, and the board, recognized
the need to build the strength of CART internationally," said
Pook. "Together with Octagon's global network and the
expertise of its sister companies within Interpublic we are
well-placed to develop CART as the premier racing series."
"Octagon has already established a diverse portfolio of
motorsports through its marketing-led approach which delivers
a successful product for all those watching and
participating," added Les Delano, group chief executive of
Octagon. "CART is clearly a unique product with huge potential
and one that we know we can develop for the benefit of the
fans, TV audiences, teams and sponsors."
Tim Moufarrige, President of Property Representation and Sales
at Octagon, will be leading the team at Octagon who will be
responsible for the overall delivery of the services.
Octagon is the global marketing-led sports and event marketing
company. It offers worldwide expertise across all eight major
sports and event marketing disciplines: athlete
representation, event management, consultancy, property
representation and sales, TV rights sales and distribution, TV
production and archive, new media and licensing and
merchandising.
Octagon is part of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), the
world's largest advertising and marketing communications
group. The Interpublic Group is the only marketing
communications and services group with a global sports
marketing capability. Octagon employs over 1500 people with 74
offices in 23 countries on all major continents. For further
information please visit:
www.octagon.com.
CART
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Ricardo González
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