Visit California Lets Fans Take The Lead On Social Engagement For The 2014 Amgen Tour Of California

LOS ANGELES, May 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Amgen Tour of California, America's largest and most prestigious cycling event, and Visit California announced the launch of a new social platform, the "Amgen Tour of California Social Hub presented by Visit California."

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The Social Hub is a one-stop shop where fans can interact with news, information, fellow cycling enthusiasts, and behind-the-scenes content featuring their favorite cyclists leading up to, during and after the upcoming 8-day event set to begin May 11^th. Starting today, fans will have the ability to access the Hub on any of their connected devices.

"The Amgen Tour of California Social Hub presented by Visit California brings the passion and excitement of one of cycling's greatest events to an all new platform," said Kristin Bachochin, executive director of the race and senior vice president of AEG Sports  "Fans now have the opportunity to share content and engage in cycling and race-related activities that will bring the 8-day race to a year-round experience."

The Hub is designed to aggregate all of the fragmented social media conversations among cycling fans in one place, while providing unique content across all platforms. Key features include real-time Twitter polls, hashtag battles, live competitor statistics, and sweepstakes – all in an effort to extend and enhance fan engagement and second-screen optimization. In addition to powering the Hub, Visit California will also create a video series aptly named "Rolling with the Tour presented by Visit California." The series gives fans consistent highlights of the race and offers an exclusive behind-the-curtain look at what it takes for these athletes to perform at such high levels.

"We are thrilled with the opportunity the Social Hub affords us, deepening engagement with the audience and providing different opportunities to pull fans deeper into the race experience," said Caroline Beteta, President and CEO of Visit California. "The new multi-media content we've produced specifically for this event highlights the amazing communities and beautiful landscapes that the cyclists traverse."

The 2014 Amgen Tour of California race will return to a route traveling north-to-south from May 11-18 along more than 710 miles of scenic roads through some of California's most picturesque backdrops. The overall start will begin in front of the state's Capital Building and travel through 11 additional host cities during the eight day event including Folsom (first time host city), San Jose, Mount Diablo State Park, Monterey, Cambria (first time host city), Pismo Beach (first time host city), Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Mountain High (first time host city), Pasadena and Thousand Oaks.

For further information on the 2014 Amgen Tour of California, and to view the 2014 Amgen Tour of California Social Hub presented by Visit California, visit www.AmgenTourofCalifornia.com/socialhub.

About the Amgen Tour of California

The Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race created and presented by AEG that challenges the world's top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course that traverses hundreds of miles of California's iconic highways, byways and coastlines each spring. The teams chosen to participate have included Olympic medalists, Tour de France contenders and World Champions. More information is available at www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.

About Amgen

Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology. - more - Amgen focuses on areas of high-unmet medical need and leverages its biologics manufacturing expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be the world's largest independent biotechnology company, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential. For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen.

About Visit California

Visit California (formerly known as the California Travel & Tourism Commission) is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs - in partnership with the state's travel industry - that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to Visit California, travel and tourism expenditures total $109.6 billion annually in California, support jobs for 965,800 Californians and generate $7.1 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about Visit California and for a free California Official State Visitor's Guide, go to www.visitacalifornia.com.mx. For story ideas, media information, downloadable images and more, go to media.visitcalifornia.com.

About AEG

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 100 of the world's preeminent facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), StubHub Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Center and The O2 arena and entertainment district (London, England).  Developed by AEG, L.A. LIVE is a 4 million square foot / $3 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, Club Nokia, the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14 theater, 19 restaurants the GRAMMY Museum and a 54-story, 1001-room convention "headquarters" hotel/destination.  In addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers, assets of AEG Sports include franchises such as the LA Kings, LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo and the Amgen Tour of California cycling stage race.  Along with AEG Facilities, other global divisions include AEG Live, the world's second largest concert promotion and touring companies comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions and AEG Global Partnerships, responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships, naming rights and other strategic partnerships.  In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program featuring the industry's first sustainability report while in 2011, AEG introduced AXS a comprehensive entertainment platform serving as the company's primary consumer brand including AXS Ticketing which provides fans the opportunity to purchase tickets directly from their favorite venues via a user-friendly ticketing interface, Examiner.com and the AXS TV network. For additional information, visit www.aegworldwide.com.

SOURCE AEG

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