Video gamers aren’t going to have to travel any further than their local Scion dealership to compete for cash and a 2005 Scion xB in the National VGL Video Gaming Tournament, which begins this spring. The local tournaments will be held in twenty-eight metro markets throughout the United States.

Scion has signed a one-year sponsorship agreement as a top level VGL tournament sponsor. Janet Catinna, Vice President of Turn-Key Marketing Services, brokered the sponsorship.

The tour, which is made up of two tournament seasons, is produced and managed by the Video Gamers League (VGL) of Dallas, TX and Turn-Key Marketing Services, Inc. of Orlando, FL. Scion will host 112 qualifying tournaments in Scion dealerships each season. Halo 2 will be the game used for the first season. Local winners will advance to one of six regional tournaments, taking place in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Orlando, San Francisco, and Chicago. Each season, winners of the regional tournaments will advance to the national championships to compete for cash and prizes, with the national champions winning cash and a 2005 Scion xB.

"Scion is very aware that gaming is a popular activity among our target buyers. It has influenced our marketing and advertising strategies, which can be seen on scion.com and in our commercials," said Adrian Si, Scion interactive marketing manager. "We’re taking this another step further with this sponsorship and are excited to be an integral part of the largest console gaming tournament tour produced in America."

Scion, from Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. produces the xA subcompact, xB urban utility vehicle and the tC sports coupe.