FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information contact: Bret Werner/Jerry Milani Alan Taylor Communications 212/714-1280 E-mail: bret@alantaylor.com jerry@alantaylor.com
Live Internet Radio, Extensive Video Programming, Contests, and a Dozen
Columnists on Site in New Orleans Highlight Premier Super Bowl Web Site
Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- January 16, 1997 -- Football novices and seasoned experts alike, can revel in Yahoo! and SportsLine USA's dedicated Super Bowl XXXI site. The world's largest sports Web site, SportsLine brings its unique perspective to the world's most popular single sporting event, designed to make fans feel like they are in New Orleans celebrating the big game. The site can be accessed through Yahoo!, the world's favorite guide to the Internet, at http://www.yahoo.com or SportsLine USA at http://www.sportsline.com.
SportsLine has teamed with premier Internet companies Yahoo!, U S West, VDOnet, and Preview Travel to produce a Super Bowl site that is rich in information for the "dyed-in- the-wool" football fan and includes unique audio and video content for new football fans and experts alike. The site includes content accessible to all Internet users, but it will also feature original video programming customized for those accessing the Internet through high bandwidth connections. SportsLine's Super Bowl XXXI site offers the following unique content:
"New Orleans Uncensored," a reality-based daily video montage using a hand-held camera and VDOLive. "Uncensored" will take a look at the craziness that surrounds Super Bowl week, from a fan's perspective. It will also be available on demand on Wednesday through Saturday of Super Bowl week;
"A Day With...," a video feature which will follow the exploits of major sports celebrities around New Orleans, chronicling their activities leading up to the big game;
fans can send "electronic postcards" through the site to friends and family;
stats, stats, stats: detailed analysis of both teams during the 1996 season and their respective runs at the title;
odds and analysis for those friendly wagers;
chat with other football fans in special Super Bowl sessions;
thorough history of Super Bowls past, from 1967 to the present;
special contests in which users can win a trip to the Topps trading cards NFL Rookie photo shooting sessions, sponsored by Preview Travel;
dozens of interviews with superstars including Jerry Rice, Joe Namath, Keyshawn Johnson and more throughout Super Bowl week.
"The Yahoo!/SportsLine Super Bowl site does more than just provide comprehensive statistics and game matchups," said SportsLine CEO Michael Levy. "It is an entire multimedia experience which includes audio, video, photographs, and top reporting. The goal is to make football fans, whether they be novices or experts or anything in between, feel like they are part of the excitement in New Orleans."
"Yahoo! is committed to creating innovative programming for our users as well as a compelling environment for advertisers by working with leading, specialty content providers such as SportsLine," said Bill Miltenberger, sales promotion manager at Yahoo!. "We will continue to develop unique content areas, celebrating events and holidays that are interesting to our users."
Yahoo! Inc., offers a globally-branded Internet navigational service to information and entertainment on the Web. As the first online guide to the Web, Yahoo! is one of the most visible and recognizable names associated with the Internet. Yahoo! provides a context- based directory structure for Internet resources, as well as integrated AltaVista Web-wide search capabilities. The company is continuing to develop a global family of Yahoo!- branded media properties for targeted geographic areas, interest areas, and demographic audiences. Yahoo! can be found on the Web at www.yahoo.com.
Preview Travel, the leading independent online travel service, offers one-stop shopping for airline tickets and vacation packages. Preview Travel operates award-winning sites on the World Wide Web (http://www.reservations.com and http://www.vacations.com) and the primary ticketing service on America Online (keyword: reservations).
VDOnet Corporation, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has developed both fundamental technology and compelling products for video broadcasting and video telephony over computer networks of any bandwidth and for use over public internets or private intranets. VDOnet's URL is http://www.vdo.net.
U S WEST Interactive Services is part of U S WEST Media Group, one of America's largest broadband communications companies. Media Group is involved in domestic and international cable and telephony, wireless communications, and directory and information services.
Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, SportsLine USA was founded by Michael Levy in February 1994, and is the official online service of the NFL Players. Spokespersons and advisors for the 80,000 page Web site include Joe Namath, Mike Schmidt, Arnold Palmer, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry Rice, Bill Walton, Keyshawn Johnson, Gabrielle Reece, Pete Sampras, Monica Seles, Joe Montana, and John Daly.