Former Football Pro-Bowler and USC Legend Pat Haden Tops August List of Rising Sports Stars

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Southern California's new Athletic Director, Pat Haden, tops the list of Rising Sports Stars to watch in the month of August.  The list ranks the top ten U.S. sports professionals from all major sports who experienced the greatest relative growth in popularity during the prior thirty days.  Haden, a retired Los Angeles Rams quarterback and former USC star, is returning to his alma mater to take over the athletic department after a scandal-plagued year resulted in some of the strictest sanctions ever levied by the NCAA.  His official start date is August 3.

"USC will benefit from Pat Haden's well-earned popularity as he works to return the athletic department to greatness," said Ryan Steelberg, President & CEO of BAT. "His position at the top of August's Rising Sports Stars ranking reflects the spike in public awareness and support that Haden has received as he prepares to take on his new role."

Rising Sports Stars is distributed by Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), a company that calculates daily consumer affinity based on a proprietary combination of media exposure, performance, awards, popularity, engagement, and fan base, among others, for more than 38,000 athletes and celebrities.  Sports professionals can see their popularity jump based on a notable achievement, consistency of play, or something that happens off the field that lands them on the Rising Sports Stars list.

August Rising Sports Stars (Details at: http://www.brandaffinity.net/risingstars/august2010)

1. Pat Haden (USC Athletic Director)
2. Louis Oosthuizen (British Open winner)
3. Hank Baskett (Philadelphia Eagles)
4. Josh Childress (Phoenix Suns)
5. Andres Torres (San Francisco Giants)
6. Gael Monfils (ATP tennis player)
7. Ian Stewart (Colorado Rockies)
8. Ronny Cedeno (Pittsburgh Pirates)
9. Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee Bucks)
10. Chris Denorfia (San Diego Padres)

Rising Sports Stars lists go live at the start of each month; subscribe to BAT's Twitter feed at @BATimpact to learn when new lists are posted.

About Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc.  (BAT)

Founded in 2007, BAT (http://brandaffinity.net) is reinventing the business of celebrity marketing by making it easy and affordable for advertisers of all sizes to launch ad campaigns featuring athletes and celebrities. Advertisers use BAT's Endorsement Platform to identify, license, and activate the most effective talent for their campaigns, based on brand and targeting considerations. Currently, BAT's Platform features more than 3,500, and tracks over 38,000 top athletes and celebrities in markets nationwide.  It is used by leading advertisers to build brand value and boost campaign performance. BAT's celebrity roster includes Olympic athletes and marquee active and retired players in nearly every sport, including Drew Brees (NFL), Jorge Posada (MLB), Rajon Rondo (NBA), Brooks Robinson (MLB – Hall of Fame), Walt Frazier (NBA – Hall of Fame), and Lennox Lewis (Boxing). Connect with BAT on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrandAffinityTech and Twitter:@BATimpact.

SOURCE Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc.

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