Mark Freedman's Surge Licensing Opens New Licensing Category, Sportfishing Boats, As Rampage Sport Fishing Launches 33’ Barta Canyon Edition Based on OLN Star, Tred Barta

Mark Freedman's Surge Licensing is again making history as exclusive licensor of Tred Barta, star of OLN, by opening sportfishing boats to licensing with the Rampage Barta Canyon Edition. Freedman is acclaimed for his 1980s and '90s licensing and merchandising of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Syosset, NY (PRWEB) January 27, 2006 -- Mark Freedman of Surge Licensing is making history, opening sportfishing boats to licensing, as Rampage Yachts launches the 33-foot Rampage Barta Canyon Edition sport fisherman, based on the demanding specifications of Tred Barta, host of the hit outdoor TV show on OLN, “The Best and Worst of Tred Barta,” airing Fridays at 9 pm and Mondays at 8 pm (ET).

Surge, exclusive worldwide licensor of Tred Barta, plans a full licensing and merchandising campaign based on the bigger than life outdoorsman, who stars on OLN’s highest rated series.

Surge is no stranger to licensing success, as Freedman and his company made merchandising and licensing history in the 1980s and ‘90s as the worldwide licensor of the phenomenally successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Mark Freedman, Executive Producer of the TV show and President of Surge, said, “The Rampage license is the first we know of in the sport fishing yacht business. The Barta Canyon Edition yacht will be outfitted to Tred’s demanding blue water specs.”

Tred Barta, the dynamic hard driving world class outdoorsman, holds blue water fishing world records and hunts big game with bow and arrow. His exploits at sea, facing marlin or Big Eye tuna, and in the mountains facing big game with bow and arrow, are legendary.

Barta said, “Rampage’s Barta Canyon Edition sports fishing yacht will have speed, long range capability and be able to meet the rigors of blue water fishing, where conditions a hundred miles offshore can be unpredictable and dangerous.”

Freedman said, “The show is OLN’s top rated new outdoor series and is gaining strong audience word-of-mouth as shown by a 66% increase in men 18 to 34 and 35% gain in men 18 to 49.”

Surge said Rampage allowed Barta to play a key role in designing the sports yacht, which is outfitted with important deep sea fishing gear, including extra fuel capacity for extended range, insulated fish boxes, professional specified rod holders and rigging, storage capacity and safety features to allow ocean anglers to hunt Marlin, Tuna, Wahoo, Sailfish and other big game in one of the world’s finest and safest fishing vessels.”

Freedman said, “The Barta Canyon Edition will deliver an offshore experience that top professional captain’s demand and that families can also appreciate and enjoy for many years to come.”

He added, “The licensing potential of Tred Barta includes fishing and hunting equipment, clothing, electronics, games, publishing and the full spectrum of licensed categories.”

Freedman said, “Tred’s TV show is the first of its type offering the most demanding outdoor entertainment. The New York Times profiled him, sporting publications follow him, the hit radio syndicated show Outdoors This Week devoted a two-hour special to him, and there is other growing media and consumer interest to bring Tred Barta to sports enthusiasts and fans across the nation.”

Freedman added that Tred will captain the Rampage 33 Express, powered by twin CAT® engines, on episodes featuring him fishing ocean canyons. Freedman is an avid sportsman who fished the deep ocean canyons with Barta. He said, “Most outdoor TV shows are like infomercials, but with Tred viewers get the real experience of success and failure in hunting and fishing. We show hits and misses and all the emotion that outdoor adventures entail. The show is a high octane, out of the box, in-your-face experience.”

Freedman is the architect who built the Ninja Turtles to a $4 billion hit in the 1990s, including the #1 TV show, three major hit movies that were #1 in independent gross, a #1 toy line and licensing and merchandising tie-ins worldwide, among his other industry firsts and TV and licensing hits.

Freedman said Barta’s annual Blue Marlin Classic fishing tournament off North Carolina, has raised over $1 million to help kids. The tournament has been sponsored by companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Rolex, Rampage Yachts, Caterpillar, Maui Jim, Mercury Marine, OLN, Volvo Penta and others.

Barta is also a sports writer whose “For The Record” column appears in Sport Fishing Magazine and he has written articles for Big Game Fishing Journal, Yachting, Power & Motor Yacht and Sports Illustrated. He also writes for the offbeat, Improper Hamptonian.

Rampage Sport Fishing Yachts, the Offshore Authority, designs and builds rugged blue-water sport fishing yachts that combine comfort and convenience with speed, durability and performance-focused engineering. Based in Navassa, N.C., Rampage creates highly fishable walk around, express, and convertible sport fishing yachts, 30 to 45 feet, in 344,000 square feet of state-of-the art production facilities. To see a Rampage Sport Fishing Yacht, or to locate a dealer, visit www.rampageyachts.com.

Surge Licensing, based in Syosset, NY, is the worldwide licensor of Tred Barta, star of OLN-TV’s #1 hit, “The Best and Worst of Tred Barta.” For contact and media information visit www.dobsonpr.com.

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