Starch Madness On Spike TV

WITH THE 'ST. PATRICK'S DAY CHOWDOWN' MAJOR LEAGUE EATING EVENT FEATURING CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE, JALAPENOS, AND GREEN DONUT-EATING

The World's Best Major League Eaters To Compete In Prime Time Special on Saturday, March 17 at 7:00pm

NEW YORK, March 1 -- Spike TV will telecast its first MLE(TM) (Major League Eating) event, the "MLE: ST. PATRICK'S DAY CHOWDOWN"(TM) on St. Patrick's Day emanating from Savannah, Georgia and involves the consumption of corned beef and cabbage, jalapenos, and green donuts. The event will air same day tape on Spike TV Saturday, March 17 (7:00-8:00pm ET/PT).

The first annual "ST. PATRICK'S DAY CHOWDOWN"(TM) will occur in historic Savannah, Georgia on the banks of the Savannah River during one of the country's largest St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The preliminary rounds will involve such delicious gastronomical delights as jalapenos and the famed Irish dish of corned beef and cabbage. The final event, a green donut-eating contest, will include the two top eaters from the prelims.

Top MLE eaters will participate in the "ST. PATRICK'S DAY CHOWDOWN"(TM) including the legendary Takeru Kobayashi, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, "Humble" Bob Shoudt, Patrick Bertoletti, Timothy "Eater X" Janus, Richard LeFevre and ChipBurger Simpson. George Shea, MLE's Chairman, will join Richard Shea to host the Spike TV telecast.

The first round of the tournament will feature eight eaters consuming corned beef and cabbage. The top four will advance to the second round which features jalapenos. The final two advance to green donut eating.

This marks Spike TV's first foray into competitive eating and the first multi-event television deal for the MLE. Brian J. Diamond is Senior Vice President, Sports & Specials, Spike TV. Peter V. Symuleski serves as Executive in Charge of Production for Spike TV. David Baer is Executive Producer for Shea Baer Productions, which will produce the series.

Major League Eating(TM) (MLE) is the world body that governs all stomach-centric sport. There were 100 MLE events in 2006. Major League Eating was developed by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), which was established in 1997 by George and Richard Shea, who have represented Nathan's Famous since 1988 and were responsible for developing the July 4th International Hot Dog Eating contest into its current form. Major League Eating produces events in the USA, England, Japan, Germany, Thailand and Canada.

Spike TV is available in 91 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc.

SOURCE Spike TV
http://www.spiketv.com/