As part of Text Fest 2005, a month-long celebration of free text messaging, Virgin Mobile USA is hosting its first official Thumb Wrestling Championship (TWC), to take place in Miami between March 22-25.

Daily winners of the competition, which is open to thumbs of all sizes that are at least 18 years old, will receive a Virgin Mobile phone plus $200 in airtime. The final championship match will take place March 25, where the last thumb standing will win a flyaway trip worth over $3,000.

Text messaging is expected to reach more than $2.5 billion in revenue by 2007, according to Yankee Group, and Virgin Mobile is urging the wireless industry to educate their customers on proper thumb conditioning to avoid injury.

"Thumb wrestling is hands-down the best way to condition your thumbs for text messaging," said Peter Boyd, vice president of promotions and partnerships for Virgin Mobile USA. "More than 70 percent of our customers used text messaging in 2004 and we care about their well-being. We hope that this competition will help raise awareness about the importance of training your thumbs before taking on something as intense as Text Fest when all of our users get free texting for a month."

The TWC matches will take place on a regulation-sized boxing ring set up on the beach outside Shelborne Hotel and amidst the organized chaos of Spring Break. The competition will be a process of elimination, so while a contender may have the longest thumb or best "Knuckle Buster" around, it doesn't mean they'll have the stamina to make it to the final round.

Interested contenders will need to abide by strict rules and regulations, such as no cuticle gouging. A seasoned thumb wrestling referee will also officiate each match, so contenders considering the use of thumb extensions and the like should stay home.

"I've got an eagle eye for illegal choke holds and fake thumbs, which have become a growing problem within the thumb wrestling community," stated one of the referees. "None of it will be tolerated in my ring."

Virgin Mobile finds the growing popularity of thumb wrestling encouraging. "By increasing participation in this great sport, our users will reduce the chance of repetitive stress injury so they can take full advantage of the Text Fest texting blitz," said Boyd.

Text Fest 2005

Virgin Mobile users love to text. They are among the most elite triple- strikers out there. Therefore, it only makes sense to recognize and celebrate their abilities with Text Fest 2005 where, for all of March, every Virgin Mobile user gets free text messaging from 8:00pm to midnight.

An "Oasis" on the Beach

Virgin Mobile users and others lucky enough to find a special Text Fest badge will also have access to the Virgin Mobile Paygoist Beach Village during their Spring Break in Miami. Visitors can take advantage of ring-side thumb wrestling seats, relax on beach furniture, re-hydrate, slather on more suntan lotion and win Text Fest giveaways such as thumb-ready sweat bands and take- home thumb wrestling rings.