Monopoly- now with Riga

Aug 20, 2008
In cooperation with BNS

RIGA- Riga came out on top of 68 cities of the world and has been included in the new version of Monopoly board game.

In an online voting poll of cities to be included in the game, Riga ranked second, with Montreal coming in first.

"Riga is a wonderful city with friendly people. Now people from across the world will learn about Riga," said Hasbro Games vice-president George Burtch.

He said that Latvian ex-president Vaira Vike-Freiberga earned her doctor's degree at McGillUniversity in Montreal, the city which was at the top of the voting list. Montreal and Riga will be located on the most prestigious spaces on the board -- the blue ones, said Burtch.

Riga has left behind some of the world's largest cities as Hong Kong, London, Paris, Beijing, New York, Rome Sydney in the dust.

A total of 22 cities have been included in the new version of Monopoly.

The board game will be on sale starting from August 26 and will cost 37 lats (EUR 52). It will be published in 50 countries and 37 languages, including Latvian.

For more than a month people were able to cast their votes on the city they wanted to be included in the special version of Monopoly game.

Edzus Jasenovics, the marketing head of Hasbro's official dealer in Latvia Anvol, said that initially Riga was at the bottom of the list, but later a campaign helped to get the necessary number of votes.

Riga City Council vice-mayor Almers Ludviks said that the Monopoly is one of original chances to promote the name of Riga in the world.

"The vote shows that Riga is a metropolis of the Baltics and we are able to stand side by side with Paris, New York, London, Rome. I would like to thank each Latvian resident for responsiveness and contribution by actively casting their votes for Riga," said Ludviks.

In September, October 2009, the Monopoly world championship will be held in Las Vegas, and the selection of Latvian candidates will begin early next year.