WWE announces international partnership with Special Olympics to help create change through sports, Play Unified events

Special Olympics

WWE issued the following press release on Monday.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS AND WWE® ANNOUNCE INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP

STAMFORD, Conn., June 27, 2016 – Special Olympics and WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced an international partnership to help create change through sports. Through this new partnership, WWE will support Special Olympics’ Play Unified campaign, which fosters friendships, understanding, and inclusive communities among people with and without intellectual disabilities by uniting them through the power and joy of sports.

WWE Superstars will participate in Play Unified events with Special Olympics athletes from around the world, including China, India, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and WWE will utilize its global platforms including WWE Network, television broadcasts, live events, and digital and social media to generate awareness and support for Special Olympics.

“Special Olympics and WWE have an authentic, shared value of creating understanding and inclusion and celebrating diversity. We are thrilled that WWE is joining us in Playing and Living Unified,” said Special Olympics CEO Mary Davis. Davis added “when an influential entity, like WWE, publicly demonstrates their support for Special Olympics and marshals its support around us, that’s an incredibly validating signal to our 4.5 million Special Olympics athletes that says ‘you count, you’re not invisible, your life matters.’”

“WWE is proud to expand our support of Special Olympics globally and help spread the message of acceptance and inclusion to people all around the world,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “The heart, passion, and dedication of Special Olympics athletes has served as inspiration to all of our Superstars, and we are certain that anyone who has the honor of joining these athletes in competition will walk away focused on helping us build a unified generation.”
WWE’s partnership with Special Olympics dates back to the 1995 World Games in New Haven, and more recently has included partnerships with the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles, the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games in New Jersey and an on-going corporate partnership with Special Olympics Connecticut.
To read more about the partnership and learn about the Play Unified campaign, visit www.specialolympics.org and www.playunified.org.

About Special Olympics

Special Olympics is a global movement that unleashes the human spirit through the transformative power and joy of sports, every day around the world. We empower people with intellectual disabilities to become accepted and valued members of their communities, which leads to a more respectful and inclusive society for all. Using sports as the catalyst and programming around health and education, Special Olympics is fighting inactivity, injustice and intolerance. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown to more than 4.5 million athletes in nearly 170 countries. With the support of more than 1.4 million coaches and volunteers, Special Olympics delivers 32 Olympic-type sports and more than 108,000 games and competitions throughout the year. Visit Special Olympics at www.specialolympics.org. Engage with us on: Twitter @specialolympics, fb.com/specialolympics, youtube.com/specialolympicshq, instagram.com/specialolympics and specialolympicsblog.wordpress.com.

About WWE

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 25 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 180 countries. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.

Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/

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