Watkins Incorporated to sponsor FLW Fantasy Fishing

America’s original gourmet spice and extract company to sponsor world’s richest fantasy sports game

MINNEAPOLIS – FLW Outdoors announced today that Watkins Incorporated, one of America’s first gourmet flavorings and natural apothecary personal-care manufacturers, will come on board as a sponsor of FLW Fantasy Fishing. In 2008, Watkins will have a considerable presence in all of FLW Outdoors’ media channels, most notably FantasyFishing.com.

Watkins has been in business for 140 years and was the first company in the United States to offer a customer satisfaction guarantee. Through their sponsorship with FLW Outdoors, Watkins will be featured in the richest fantasy sports game in the world: FLW Fantasy Fishing.

FLW Fantasy Fishing, which is free to play, features a guaranteed first-place award of $100,000 at each of the six Wal-Mart FLW Tour qualifying events. The cumulative points winner throughout the season will win $1 million in cash guaranteed. In addition, FLW Fantasy Fishing offers thousands of other prizes that include a Chevy Silverado, a fully equipped Ranger Z19 boat and trailer, a $25,000 Wal-Mart gift card, a $20,000 U.S. savings bond, ATVs, personal watercrafts and more. To play, participants need to select 10 anglers at each FLW Tour event. When the tournament is over, players receive points for how high their 10 anglers finished. To help with the selection of anglers, FLW Fantasy Fishing offers Player’s Advantage – a portfolio of tools including lake reports, expert blogs, extended angler profiles and more.

As a sponsor of FLW Fantasy Fishing, Watkins will have a wrapped Ranger boat and fishing simulator that will be used throughout the year for promotional purposes. The innovative simulator mimics the exact action and feel of being out on the water. In addition to FantasyFishing.com, Watkins will receive placement on FLWOutdoors.com, the world’s most popular competitive fishing Web site as well as prominent advertisements in each of the three editions (bass, walleye, saltwater) of FLW Outdoors Magazine.

“We’re extremely excited to be involved with such a phenomenal organization as FLW Outdoors,” said J.R. Rigley, vice president of sales and marketing for Watkins. “They provide a perfect platform to promote our award-winning products.”

Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.