April 12, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ESPN Broadcast on Sunday, April 15
Columbus, OH (April 12, 2007) – Who knew cheetahs enjoyed bowling? Motel 6, official lodging sponsor of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), brought in Kago, a live cheetah, to highlight one of the five different lane oil patterns used on the Denny’s PBA Tour at the recent taping of the final round of the 2007 Motel 6 Roll to Riches special bowling event. Tune in to ESPN on April 15 to watch Kago cheer on the competitors for the $150,000 prize awarded at the Motel 6 Roll to Riches special event.
Kago, the cheetah, famous for his appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “Good Morning America” came out to show support to top PBA bowlers Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Doug Kent, Wes Malott, Pete Weber and Walter Ray Williams, Jr. at the event. The six-and-a-half year-old cheetah was there to illustrate the Cheetah oil pattern – the highest scoring of the five oil patterns used during professional competition. Other patterns include the Chameleon, Scorpion, Shark, and Viper.
Six top bowlers battled for the $150,000 prize at Motel 6 Roll to Riches, a winner-take-all event. Major winners from the 2006-07 Denny’s PBA Tour season (Tommy Jones, Doug Kent, Pete Weber) earned automatic berths into the event along with the 2006-07 PBA World Point Rankings leader (Wes Malott) at season’s end. The final two bowlers (Norm Duke and Walter Ray Williams, Jr.) were selected via an on-line fan vote.
Roll to Riches was held a Sequoia Pro Bowl in Columbus, Ohio, and is scheduled to be televised on ESPN on Sunday, April 15 as two one-hour shows from 1-2 p.m. and 2-3 p.m. EST.
Kago appeared courtesy of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Columbus, Ohio. He usually travels with Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium with professional wildlife handler, Suzi Rapp.
###
About Motel 6
Motel 6 offers the best price of any national chain at more than 850 company-owned and franchised locations covering 48 U.S. states and Canada. For 21 years Motel 6 has used the tagline, “We’ll leave the light on for you,” earning the chain the highest brand recognition in the economy lodging segment. Motel 6 was the first national pet friendly chain, welcoming pets since 1962. Standard amenities include free local phone calls, no long distance access charges, free morning coffee, data ports, and cable channel line-up with premium channels including HBO, ESPN/ESPN2, and CNN. Most locations offer swimming pools and guest laundry facilities. For more information, visit www.motel6.com.
About Accor North America
Headquartered in Dallas (Carrollton), Texas, Accor North America operates more than 1,200 upscale and economy properties including nationwide economy leaders Red Roof Inn, Studio 6 and Motel 6 and the upscale Sofitel and mid-scale Novotel and Ibis hotel locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. For more information, visit www.accor-na.com.
About Accor Worldwide
Accor, European leader in hotels and tourism, global leader in corporate services, operates in nearly 100 countries with 160,000 employees. It offers to its individual and corporate clients nearly 40 years of expertise in its two core businesses:
- Hotels, with the Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, Red Roof Inn, Etap Hotel, Formule 1, Studio 6 and Motel 6 brands: over 4,000 hotels and 475,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre;
- Services to corporate clients and public institutions: 21 million people in 35 countries benefit from Accor Services products – meal and food vouchers, people care, incentive and loyalty programs.
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events. The organization has more than 4,000 members spanning 13 countries, and nearly one million viewers tune-in to watch the Denny’s PBA Tour every Sunday on ESPN throughout the season. PBA sponsors include Ace Hardware, Bayer, Brunswick, Columbia 300, Denny's, Discover® Card, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Motel 6, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information on the PBA, log on to www.pba.com.
-end-