PARKS MADNESS 2025 CELEBRATES AMERICA'S TREASURED SPACES WITH PARKS CHANNEL AND EARTHX

DALLAS, May 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Public lands are in the spotlight like never before. Recent administration efforts to slash personnel, facilities and budgets at the National Park Service come even as "America's Best Idea" draws record crowds – over 330 million visitors in 2024. It's the perfect time to engage audiences with an event that showcases the places our country has chosen to protect.

The Parks Channel and EarthX Media are teaming up for Parks Madness 2025, a bracket competition to determine the Park of the Year. In last year's inaugural event, launched during National Park Week, fans from across the country voted for their favorites, round by round, and sent in photos from their adventures. The championship came down to two iconic parks, Yellowstone and Zion, with the world's first national park taking the crown, 64-36%.

"As one of our voters said last year, 'No matter who wins, we all win, because the national parks are the best of us,'" said Parks Channel Co-Founder and CEO Charles Poe. "Parks Madness is a great opportunity to celebrate some lesser-known sites along with the usual star attractions. We're thrilled to have EarthX Media on board to this year to bring even more park lovers into the tournament."

"Our goal is to inspire people to love our planet," said Tim Pirrello, Head of EarthX Media. "We're excited to share programs with viewers about America's national parks. Partnering with The Parks Channel promotes audience engagement by voting in the Parks Madness 2025 bracket competition."

This year the field goes beyond national parks to include some of our most famous historical monuments, national historic trails and other iconic places. Each bracket has a designated mascot – Bear, Eagle, Bison and Owl – and features geographic variety to create more interesting matchups and drive debates. After winning handily last year, Yellowstone is taking the year off, to shine a light on other parks that don't get as much attention.

Parks Madness 2025 Schedule:

"Selection Sunday": Bracket release and voting begins on Friday April 25. 

First Round (Round of 64): April 25 - May 4. Winners announced on Monday, May 5.

Second Round (Round of 32): May 5-8. Winners announced on Friday, May 9.

Sweet 16: May 9-11. Winners announced on Monday, May 12.

Elite Eight: May 12-15. Winners announced on Friday, May 16.

Final Four: May 16-19. Winners announced on Tuesday, May 20.

Championship Game: May 20-22. Winners announced on Friday, May 23.

ABOUT THE PARKS CHANNEL

The Parks Channel is a new platform for "America's Best Idea" – at home, on the journey and for making memories. Our streaming app is available through Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung and VIZIO. Our mobile-optimized website, theparkschannel.com, features over 500 curated and geotagged videos, enabling visitors to discover amazing places to go, informed by park superfans and others dedicated to public lands. Users can create their own pages, unlock park badges by submitting content and create curated gear checklists for travel based on where they want to go and what they like to do.

ABOUT EARTHX MEDIA INC.

EarthX is a multidimensional global non-profit, founded in 2011, dedicated to promoting the environment and sustainability. EarthX's initiatives include the world's premier environmental expo, high-impact conservation and investments forums, and grassroots programs across the globe.

Extending the EarthX mission are two TV entertainment networks that draw on a library of expertly curated original and first-run programming. EarthX is a premium channel available to over 20M U.S. PayTV households and EarthXtra is a 24/7 streaming channel featuring 100's of hours of premier and highly-engaging programming reaching 125 million monthly average users.

Learn more about EarthX: https://EarthxMedia.com

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SOURCE EarthX Media, Inc.