In a tribute to sports fans with spelling prowess, and in honor of the renowned Scripps National Spelling Bee, ESPN Zone announces its 3rd Annual "Sports Spelling Bee" competition.

The Sports Spelling Bee is timed in conjunction with the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee. ESPN Zone locations will seek competitors to go head-to-head in proving their sports spelling acumen on Thursday, June 3.

Each participating ESPN Zone location will accept a limited number of Sports Spelling Bee competitors for the single-elimination event. Spellers ages 18 and over will attempt to spell the names of local and national and past and present athletes and coaches. The challenge level ranges from Easy to Difficult and the competition will continue until there is one champion speller left standing in each location.

Each Sports Spelling Bee competitor will have 30 seconds to correctly spell the given name, which can include a first or last name. The first round will kick off with local names; the second round will include national names; and the third round and beyond will include both local and national names. Contestants are only allowed to ask what team the athlete/coach is/was associated with, as well as one repeat of the name.

Press Release

Beginning on Friday, May 7, 2010, hopefuls are asked to send an e-mail to SportsSpellingBee@espnzone.com and include their name, address, phone number, year of birth and the ESPN Zone location at which they'd like to participate. Participants may also register in-person by visiting the Retail Store at their local participating ESPN Zone location. Walk-up participants may be accepted on event day, if space is available

• Anaheim
• Baltimore
• Chicago
• Las Vegas
• New York

See official rules for individual site prizes.

To receive more information or schedule an interview with an ESPN Zone representative, contact Formula at (310) 578-7050 or Matt Kovacs via e-mail at kovacs@formulapr.com.