SportsLine Europe Joins Forces With IMG

SportsLine USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLN), the leading global Internet sports media company, announced today that SportsLine Europe Limited, its majority- owned subsidiary, has entered into a three-year promotional and consulting agreement with IMG. IMG, the largest independent producer and packager of sports programming in the world, will receive a minority stake in SportsLine Europe Limited in exchange for production services, consulting services and promotional support through IMG-owned television, event and media properties. IMG will also assist SportsLine Europe in identifying and structuring strategic alliances within the European Sports Marketplace, concentrating specifically on securing media partners to support the development of the network in each European country. Among the television programs owned and produced by IMG are Trans World Sport, the world's most widely-viewed, regularly scheduled sports program seen in 566 million homes and Futbol Mundial, which is seen weekly in over 400 million homes. IMG is also the exclusive marketing representative for the International Olympic Committee's Television Archive Bureau (OTAB), the British Open Golf Championship, PGA European Tour, Rugby World Cup, International Ski Federation, Le Mans, the International Skating Union, and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Wimbledon). In addition, IMG represents all Internet rights for many of the world's leading sports organizations and brands, including: Manchester United (www.ManUtd.com); the Brazilian National Football Team (www.brasilfutebol.com); Rugby World Cup 1999 (www.rwc99.com); and the official website for last week's British Open Golf Championship (www.opengolf.com). "IMG's worldwide sports marketing expertise will add greatly to the SportsLine Europe venture," said Michael Levy, chairman, president and CEO of SportsLine USA, Inc. and chairman of SportsLine Europe. "This alliance will allow us to accelerate the development of SportsLine Europe as the dominant European Internet sports service." "IMG is very established in the European marketplace and SportsLine Europe will benefit from their consultancy and relationships in developing content and promotional opportunities," added Thomas Jessiman, managing director of SportsLine Europe. "SportsLine brings to Europe five years of operational expertise on the Internet and the necessary financial resources to bring real value to the European sports marketplace. We are confident that we can help develop synergy for SportsLine with media partners throughout Europe to build independent subsidiary operations in each of the major European markets, " said Eric Drossart, Executive Vice President, European Operations, IMG. About SportsLine USA, Inc. SportsLine USA, Inc. is at the leading edge of media companies, providing Internet sports content, community and e- commerce on a global basis. SportsLine USA's content includes more than 400,000 pages of multimedia sports information, entertainment and merchandise. SportsLine USA was founded in 1994 and its flagship Internet sports service (www.sportsline.com) was renamed CBS SportsLine in March of 1997 as part of an exclusive promotional and content agreement with CBS Sports. SportsLine USA produces the official league Web sites for Major League Baseball, the PGA TOUR and NFL Europe League, and serves as the primary sports content provider for America Online, Netscape and Excite. About SportsLine Europe Limited SportsLine Europe Limited was formed as a subsidiary in May 1999, with Intel Corporation, MediaOne Ventures, a division of MediaOne Group and Reuters holding minority interests in the venture. SportsLine Europe acquired SportsWeb, (www.sportsweb.com), one of Europe's leading sports Web sites, from Reuters in May, and more recently acquired Infosis Sport, a premier provider of real-time scores, statistics, match reports and features. About IMG For four decades, IMG has been recognized as a world leader in sports marketing, with over 2,100 employees in 66 offices in over 30 countries around the world. IMG's film and television group, Trans World International (TWI), has established an equal reputation within the sports world as a leading independent producer and distributor of sports programming. TWI produces over 5,000 hours of sports per year and distributes programming to over 200 countries. Building on its innovation in sports media, TWIinteractive is the world leader in both production of sports websites and negotiation of new media rights. This press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. SportsLine USA's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward- looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, among others, competitive pressures, the growth rate of the Internet, constantly changing technology and market acceptance of the company's products and services. Investors are also directed to consider the other risks and uncertainties discussed in SportsLine USA's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including those discussed under the caption "Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results" in SportsLine USA's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K. SportsLine USA undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. ots Original Text Service: SportsLine USA, Inc. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Larry Wahl, ext. 7225, or Kathy Bradley, ext. 7519, or Alex Riethmiller, ext. 7535, all of SportsLine USA, Inc., (in the USA) 954-351-2120; or Bill Sinrich of IMG, 011-44-181-233-5300 Web site: http://www.ManUtd.com Web site: http://www.brasilfutebol.com Web site: http://www.rwc99.com Web site: http://www.opengolf.com Web site: http://www.sportsweb.com Web site: http://www.sportsline.com

Klíčová slova SportsLine USA, Inc.

Oblast
USA, Kanada, OSN, svět a Arktida (us)

Kategorie
Sport

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