TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 07/05/12 -- Starting with the first kick at 7:30 am today, GTA residents and visitors to Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square are invited to help put Toronto into Guinness World Records® history by building the largest soccer ball mosaic ever assembled.

The attempt will take place today at the 'BMO Score 1,000' event at Yonge-Dundas Square in Downtown Toronto, from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. EDT.

The standing world record for a soccer-ball mosaic is 47.7 m2 (513 ft2). BMO hopes Toronto will beat that record by placing more than 1,000 soccer balls in a mosaic that forms a 62.6m2 (673.6 ft2) BMO logo.

Visitors to Yonge-Dundas Square can take their best shot and kick a soccer ball into a net. Each ball will be used to build the mosaic and if Toronto breaks the world record, BMO will donate $10,000 to support Kids Help Phone, Canada's leading free, anonymous and confidential professional youth counselling service.

The AIR MILES Reward Program and MasterCard Canada have offered to match BMO's donation to Kids Help Phone - generating a total donation of $30,000 by the end of the event.

Giveaways and free refreshments include:

--  More than 100,000 AIR MILES reward miles
--  20,000 free beverages and PayPass demo tags
--  10,000 soccer stress balls
--  Thousands of free ice cream cones
--  3,000 free barbecued hamburger sliders

Event Details:

What:    BMO Score 1,000 Event
Who:
         -  Thousands of Torontonians and visitors trying to break soccer
            ball mosaic world record
         -  Kara Lang - Former Canadian National Team player and current
            Sportsnet personality
         -  Danny Dichio - Former Toronto FC player and current TFC Senior
            Academy Team Coach
         -  Freestyle trick dribblers
         -  2011 Team of the Week Champions, the Glen Shield Sun Devils
            girls' soccer team

When:    Thursday, July 5, 2012, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Where:   Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, ON

B-roll footage will be available via satellite today, Thursday, July 5th at 16:00 - 16:15 Eastern

GALAXY 17 15K, Slot C Bandwidth 9.00 MHz
Uplink: 14304.5000 V
Downlink 12004.5000H
Sym: 6.1113

This event will also highlight the bank's summerlong BMO Gold AIR MILES MasterCard bonus offer. From now until August 31, 2012, BMO is offering 1,000 Bonus AIR MILES reward miles to all new BMO Gold AIR MILES MasterCard cardholders, enough for a round trip flight between Vancouver and Kelowna, Halifax and St. Johns, Toronto and Ottawa, and many other destinations across Canada and between Canada and the U.S.

About Kids Help Phone

Since 1989, Kids Help Phone has been Canada's leading online and phone counselling service for youth. It's free, it's anonymous and confidential, and it's available any time of the day or night, 365 days a year in English and in French. Professional counsellors support the mental health and well-being of young people, ages five to 20, by providing one-on-one counselling, information and resources. As a community-based national charity, Kids Help Phone receives no core government funding and relies on community and corporate support to fund its essential and vital service.

About BMO and Soccer

BMO's commitment to soccer extends throughout communities across Canada, with more than 15,000 youth house league soccer players proudly wearing "BMO" on their jersey. As a partner of the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), BMO supports Canada's Men's and Women's National teams. As well, BMO is the premier sponsor of Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

BMO® Team of the Week is a contest that rewards youth soccer teams that display team pride, spirit, community commitment and passion for the game. Youth soccer teams across the country between the ages seven to 12 are eligible to win $125,000 to refurbish their community soccer field, a trip for the whole team and other great weekly prizes.

About the AIR MILES® Reward Program

Founded in 1992, the AIR MILES Reward Program is Canada's premier coalition loyalty program with more than 10 million active Collector accounts, representing approximately two-thirds of all Canadian households. AIR MILES Collectors can earn reward miles simply by doing their everyday shopping at more than 220 leading brand-name Sponsors, representing thousands of retail and service locations across Canada and leading global brands online. Collectors can indulge in more than 1200 leisure, entertainment, merchandise, travel and a range of accredited, environmentally-friendly lifestyle rewards. With AIR MILES Cash, Collectors can also have the flexibility to instantly redeem their AIR MILES reward miles in-store towards many everyday and high value purchases like gas, grocery, drug store items and home improvement purchases at participating Sponsors.

About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world's fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard's products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews, join the discussion on the Cashless Conversations Blog and subscribe for the latest news.