Posted: May 18, 2004

Athletics: USATF and Visa expand partnership; Visa Tour to start in 2005

NEW YORK – USA Track & Field on Friday announced that Visa USA, America’s leading payments brand, is adding depth and breadth to its long-standing partnership with USATF by agreeing to a new contract through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Beginning in 2005, the partnership includes title sponsorship of the Visa Tour, currently known as the Golden Spike Tour, and the creation of Visa Cup awards that provide financial incentives to top track and field athletes.

The new agreement continues Visa’s long-standing commitment to helping USATF develop the country’s preeminent track and field athletes. At the same time, it helps Visa engage its Member financial institutions and merchant partners to build their business in Olympic-related marketing activities and events between Olympic Games.

“Part of Visa’s long-term Olympic strategy is to maintain close partnerships with the sports and athletes that comprise Olympic competition,” said Michael Lynch, senior vice president, Event and Sponsorship Marketing, Visa USA. “By supporting USA Track & Field in these new ways, we’re giving our Members and merchants opportunities to reach their own customers with a compelling, Olympic-themed marketing message. It’s part of how we’ll tap into consumer passion and remain the preferred card among U.S. consumers from now through Beijing in 2008 and beyond.”

The Visa Tour (formerly the Golden Spike Tour) is USATF’s elite track & field circuit which includes ten nationally televised events, including the Indoor and Outdoor USA Track & Field Championships. As title sponsor, Visa will be the preferred payment service and card for tickets sold to the events.

Beginning in 2005, Visa will also introduce the Visa Cup, which will award the top male and female athletes in the Indoor and Outdoor Visa Tour with a total of $100,000 in new, bonus pool monies and two tickets each to a Visa-sponsored event of their choice.

Visa has been a proud sponsor of USATF since 1990, and has already played a crucial role in athlete development in the men’s decathlon and women’s pole vault events in which the United States has broken world records and won gold medals, including at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, as well as the 1999, 2001 and 2003 World Outdoor Championships.

“Thanks to our long-standing partnership with Visa, American athletes have received the support they needed to develop into world and Olympic champions,” said USATF CEO Craig Masback. “We and our athletes appreciate the support they have given us, and we’re looking forward to the Visa Tour and Visa Cup building on the enormous success that the Golden Spike Tour has enjoyed.”

The Golden Spike Tour revolutionized the domestic track and field circuit for world-class U.S. athletes. Television ratings for the events have grown each year – by as much as 30 percent – even as other sports have suffered ratings declines. The Visa Tour will continue enabling athletes to compete on their home soil for substantial prize money.

Visa is the world’s leading payment brand and largest consumer payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and merchant customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives. Nearly 21,000 financial institutions worldwide rely on Visa’s processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $2.5 trillion in annual transaction volume with virtually 100 percent reliability. Within the United States, nearly 14,000 financial institutions issue more than 400 million Visa cards, accounting for more than $1 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources — anytime, anywhere, any way.

For more information on USA Track & Field, visit www.usatf.org.