Bass Pro Shops to Sponsor Major League Fishing

by Major League Fishing Communications

TULSA, Okla. - When seven-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and four-time Bassmaster Classic champ Kevin VanDam competes for the Major League Fishing title, something about his competitive look will be familiar. He will be fishing in a Nitro boat.

VanDam said he feels "right at home" knowing that Bass Pro Shops and Nitro boats have agreed to become a 2012 sponsor of Major League Fishing, the recently formed partnership between Outdoor Channel and 24 of the world's best anglers.

"I've had a great relationship with Bass Pro Shops and Nitro. And now we're going into Major League Fishing, which I see as one of the most creative and challenging ventures that our industry has ever seen," said VanDam. "I think it's a perfect fit to have Bass Pro Shops as part of Major League Fishing."

Major League Fishing's first event, the Challenge Cup presented by Busch Beer, took place November 6-11 on Lake Amistad near Del Rio, Texas. The Lake Amistad event debuted the league's innovative format that allows anglers to compete with no limit on the number of legal fish they can catch and weigh. Competitors were not allowed to begin competition with stored, user-generated GPS waypoints, and were not allowed any practice time. The anglers also were equipped with real-time leader boards in their boats, which showed where they ranked in the standings at all times.

Bass Pro and Nitro provided 12 Z-7 bass boats for the first event. Now, they have agreed to continue their sponsorship of Major League Fishing in 2012. Major League Fishing Commissioner Don Rucks said he is delighted to welcome "perhaps the largest, single most influential brands name in the fishing industry" to the league.

"Bass Pro Shops is an outstanding company, and it is an honor to bring their vast resources and good name to Major League Fishing," Rucks said. "We believe we have a great product to offer, and nothing could please us more than knowing that we have a partner like Bass Pro Shops that supports and help us deliver our product to sports fans across the country."

The Challenge Cup presented by Busch Beer will be offered to the public via a web-based pay-per-view broadcast early in 2012, and will be aired on Outdoor Channel beginning in April 2012. Details of pay-per-view programming will be announced in December.

About Bass Pro Shops

Bass Pro Shops - 57 retail stores in 26 states and Canada visited by over 110 million people annually, international catalog and internet retailing, American Rod & Gun wholesale division selling to over 7,000 independently owned retail stores worldwide, Outdoor World Incentives also selling Bass Pro Shops gift cards through over 132,000 retail outlets across America and a restaurant division with 26 locations.  For more information regarding Bass Pro Shops store locations, products or special events, please visit www.basspro.com.  To request a free catalog call 1-800-BASS PRO.

About Major League Fishing

Major League Fishing is a partnership of 24 of the world's most talented, influential professional bass anglers and the Outdoor Channel. For more information about the new game, with new rules and no limits, visit: www.majorleaguefishing.com.

About Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc.

Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: OUTD) owns and operates Outdoor Channel, America's leader in outdoor TV, and Winnercomm Inc., an Emmy Award winning production and interactive company. Outdoor Channel offers programming that captures the excitement of hunting, fishing, shooting, off-road motorsports, adventure and the Western lifestyle and can be viewed on multiple platforms including high definition, video-on-demand, as well as on a dynamic broadband website. Winnercomm Inc. is one of America's leading and highest quality producers of live sporting events and sports series for cable and broadcast television. Winnercomm also owns and operates the patented Skycam and CableCam aerial camera systems which provide dramatic overhead camera angles for major sports events, including college and NFL football. For more information, please visit www.outdoorchannel.com.