CELEBRITY MATCH ADDED TO OPENING DAY FESTIVITIES

Red Bull New York announced today that a celebrity game will be among the pre-match festivities as the team opens its 2008 Major League Soccer (MLS) season against the Columbus Crew at 7:30 PM on Saturday, April 5 at Giants Stadium.

The game, kicking off at 5:00 PM and will feature notable celebrities from the worlds of soccer, football, television, movies, and radio. The match will be promoted through numerous mediums, with give-aways as well as a contest. The contest winner will watch the game from the field with the players and celebrities. The Red Bulls will donate a portion of each game ticket sold to the Worldwide Children’s Foundation of New York and the Books for Kids Foundation.

Worldwide Children’s Foundation of New York (www.wwcf.org)is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing life-saving or life-altering surgeries to children in need in the United States and throughout the world. They partner with hospitals and health care professionals in the New York area to provide crucial medical care.

For 21 years Books for Kids has been responsible for distributing over five million books to needy children, in the New York area and across the nation. The mission of Books for Kids Foundation (www.booksforkids.org) is to promote literacy among all children with a special emphasis on low income, disadvantaged children of pre-school age. Books for Kids creates libraries, donates books and partners with world renowned literacy programs to help develop the critical foundation and skills which these young children need to be successful in life.

The celebrities scheduled to participate in the match include:

Shep Messing, Former New York Cosmo, Soccer Analyst for the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG)
Bob Smith, Former New York Cosmo
Werner Roth, Former New York Cosmo
Amani Toomer, Wide Receiver for the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants
Italo Zanzi, Deputy Secretary of CONCACAF
Robert Funaro, Emmy nominated actor who has appeared in The Sopranos and American Gangster
Goumba Johnny, Afternoon Drive-Time DJ on WKTU 103.5
Hollywood Hamilton, Afternoon Drive-Time DJ on WKTU 103.5
Ken Stafford, Contestant in Survivor Thailand

The Opening Day festivities will also include a performance by Katelyn Tarver, international recording star and American Juniors finalist regularly featured in Radio Disney.

For tickets to the match, please call 1.877.RBSOCCER or CLICK HERE