originally published: 08/17/2022

(NEWARK, NJ) /Black PR Wire -- On August 20, 2022, the streets of downtown Newark will be alive with the sights, sounds, and innovative style of basketball that made athletes such as "Main Event," "Hot Sauce," "The Professor," and other streetball players on basketball courts around the globe iconic legends. The Newark Streetball Festival will be held at 920 Broad St, in front of City Hall, from 11:00am until 6:00pm. Activities are free to the public, but registration is required. Attendees can register at www.btsba.com and in person. The event will bring basketball enthusiasts and families together to enjoy a one-of-a-kind festival!

Legendary New Jersey hoopster Waliyy "Main Event" Dixon has assembled original members of the Mixtape Tour (sponsored by And1) to launch Blacktop Streetball Association. The new platform will promote the authentic game of street basketball and create opportunities for a new crop of talented players to build stronger communities through social engagement and economic development initiatives. The City of Newark enthusiastically embraced the concept as a way to bring the community together for wholesome entertainment and information sharing.

iHeart Media and other national media outlets will be covering the event. IMU Media will be streaming and conducting play-by-play commentary during the games. In addition, local and national entertainers are scheduled to perform. Newark's Mayor, The Honorable Raz Baraka, Obalaji Baraka, and many celebrities, including Jay Morrison, Chuck Chillout, Dylan, and Dakota Gonzalez, have committed to attend. In addition, these stars will host various parts of the programming and play in one of the featured streetball events. Those events include 1-on-1 Countdown (5 seconds to score), Blacktop Rough (No Foul, No Help, Everyone For themselves), Blacktop Slam Dunk Contest (New Rules-Dunkers from around the World), Full Court Run with Blacktop, and Newark's Neighborhood Basketball Players hosted by Champ NDO, Al Cash and others.

This experience will be the essence of family entertainment. Food vendors, merchants, a kid's zone, competitive activities, games, and live music will be on-site. Community groups and non-profit organizations, such as National Action Network's The Jumpstart program, will also present educational information. There will also be HBCU representation and financial literacy programming.

The Newark Streetball Festival is the first of many events that Blacktop plans to promote. A 15-city tour will launch in 2023, and the best 150 players will be drafted, launching the first-of-its-kind professional street basketball league. In addition, all of the original players on the Mixtape Tour that created the global streetball phenomenon of the early 2000s were granted an ownership stake in one of Blacktop's 12 professional streetball franchises. As a result, attendees at the Newark Streetball Festival will witness streetball history in the making – again!