Fort Lauderdale, Florida (April 14, 1998) - SportsLine USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLN) today announced record revenue and site traffic for the first quarter ended March 31, 1998. Revenue increased 359% to $6.79 million in the first quarter of 1998 from $1.48 million in the same quarter last year. SportsLine USA's net loss for the quarter was $9.01 million or $0.56 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.23 million, or $0.67 per share in the same quarter last year. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) loss was $5.59 million compared to $4.98 million in the same quarter last year. The Company's financial results for all periods have been adjusted retroactively to include the results of GolfWeb, which SportsLine USA acquired in a pooling-of-interests transaction on January 29, 1998.
Traffic to the Company's Web sites grew 383% over the same quarter last year, averaging 4.22 million page views per day during the first quarter of 1998, compared to 875,000 page views per day in the same quarter last year. Page views during the first quarter of 1998 increased 49% over page views during the fourth quarter of 1997. Average daily visits to the Company's Web sites increased 417% to approximately 656,000 in first quarter 1998, compared to approximately 127,000 in the same quarter the previous year. Page views during the quarter increased month-over-month, with record highs set in both February (4.52 million average daily page views) and March (5.34 million average daily page views), primarily as a result of the Company's extensive coverage of both the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and the 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. [First quarter 1998 amounts represent company estimates, as I/Pro audited results for March 1998 have not yet been released. GolfWeb traffic results prior to February 1998 are excluded from the preceding traffic amounts.]
"SportsLine USA's significant growth in the first quarter of 1998 was achieved on many fronts. We continued to strengthen our comprehensive sports content with the acquisition of GolfWeb, the launching of SportsLine WorldWide, and the extensive coverage of special events such as the Olympic Winter Games and the 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament," said Michael Levy, president and CEO of SportsLine USA, Inc. "Our superior sports content, promoted effectively through our relationships with CBS, AOL, Microsoft, and Netscape, helped to generate record traffic levels throughout the quarter. These achievements enabled us to strengthen our relationships with current advertisers and to attract important new ones such as Budweiser, Xerox, and Shell."
Quarter Ended March 31, 1998 1997 ------ ------ Revenue $ 6,789 $ 1,474 EBITDA (5,592) (4,976) Net loss (9,006) (6,225) Net loss per share $ (0.56) $ (0.67) ------- ------- Weighted average 16,088 9,313 shares outstanding Average page views 4,223 875 per day (1) (2) Average visits 656 127 per day (1) (2) Members at end 54,469 33,103 of period
Advertising
SportsLine USA experienced growth in all revenue streams over the same
quarter in the previous year, most substantially in the area of advertising
revenue. Advertising revenue during the first quarter of 1998 grew to
approximately $4.42 million, an increase of 465% over the same quarter the
previous year. During the first quarter, SportsLine USA added numerous
advertisers to its roster including British Airways, Campbell's Soup,
Godiva Chocolate, DuPont, BMW, Saturn, Comdisco, Nextel, Mazda, LifeSavers,
and RCA.
A highlight of the first quarter was the approximate $2.3 million in advertising revenue from major sponsors of CBS SportsLine's Olympic Web pages including Budweiser (its first Internet ad buy), Xerox, Shell, AT&T, Sony, Ford, VISA, and IBM. The Company believes this amount represents an Internet record for sponsorship of a single event.
SportsLine USA's "E-Commerce" revenue also grew during the quarter, to $467,000, an increase of 198% over the same period last year. Growth in this electronic merchandising market is attributed to event-driven promotions -- such as those coupled with the Olympic Winter Games and the 1998 NCAA Tournament -- as well as to the Company's extensive selection of sports-focused books, videos, and games; licensed and logo apparel; sports memorabilia; trading cards; and specialty sporting goods.
Comprehensive Coverage of XVIII Olympic Winter Games
SportsLine USA's extensive coverage of the XVIII Olympic Winter Games
generated record daily page views and visits to its Web sites during the 17
days of the Olympiad. Leading up to and during the Olympic Winter Games,
CBS SportsLine produced more than 2,500 exclusive audio, video and
editorial features for its online coverage of the Games. Other highlights
of the site included real-time scores, results, news, separate sport home
pages, athlete diaries, video and audio features, Olympic history, and
chat. Tens of thousands of updates were made to the site each day. In
addition, it is estimated by CBS that the CBS SportsLine brand was exposed
to approximately 184 million viewers who watched part of the Olympic Winter
Games.
"March Mayhem" Generates Record-Breaking Traffic
Traffic to SportsLine USA's Web sites during the 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball
Tournament in March generated record daily page views and visits. During
the 19 days of this event, the Company's daily page views and visits
averaged approximately 5.81 million and approximately 693,000,
respectively. For the first two days of the Tournament, total page views
and total visits exceeded 25 million and 2 million, respectively.
CBS SportsLine created an in-depth "March Mayhem" site devoted to the Tournament with features including live scores and audio highlights from every game; team, results, starting line-ups, statistics, current scores, and analyses; printable and interactive brackets; a content-rich historical database; and access to live audio broadcasts of all 63 Tournament games.
GolfWeb Acquisition
On January 29, SportsLine USA completed the acquisition of GolfWeb, an
Internet company that provides golf-related content, interactive
entertainment, membership services, and merchandise through its GolfWeb
online service (www.golfweb.com), as well as international Web sites
targeted to golf enthusiasts in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
The acquisition dramatically expanded the coverage of golf on SportsLine
USA's Web sites, which, in addition to CBS SportsLine, include the official
Web sites of Tiger Woods, John Daly, The Golf Channel, and Golf Holidays.
In this transaction, valued at $14.85 million, SportsLine USA acquired all
of the outstanding capital stock of GolfWeb in exchange for approximately
860,000 shares of SportsLine USA common stock.
SportsLine USA Goes Global
In February 1998, SportsLine USA launched SportsLine WorldWide
(www.sportsline.com/u/worldwide/), which allows fans all over the world to
follow their favorite sports - in their own native languages and in one
location. The SportsLine WorldWide site combines, in a revenue-sharing
arrangement, the coverage of internationally respected Soccernet
(www.soccernet.com), and CricInfo (www.cricket.org) with CBS SportsLine's
award-winning coverage.
SportsLine WorldWide users can also keep in touch with sports events around the world in several foreign languages, through coverage provided in association with major news organizations including O Estado de Sao Paulo (newspaper, Brazil), Verlagsgruppe Fleet (publisher, Germany), El País (newspaper, Spain), and World Online (ISP, Netherlands).
Soccernet, co-produced by SportsLine USA, is owned by The Daily Mail, England's best-selling middle-market newspaper. CricInfo, based in London but managed across 11 countries, offers approximately 100,000 pages of cricket coverage, including live scorecards of nearly every international game, a complete scorecard archive of all Test and One Day International matches ever played, news and articles from 20 contributing organizations, and profiles and statistics of thousands of cricketers and cricket grounds. According to New Age Media results for March, CricInfo and Soccernet ranked as the second and third most-visited Internet sites in the United Kingdom, respectively.
Expanded Sports Coverage and Special Event Sites
CBS Sports has acquired the rights from the NFL to broadcast AFC games for
eight years, beginning with the 1998 season. This broadcast deal is
expected to provide significant exposure for the CBS SportsLine Web site
during NFL games and will allow CBS SportsLine to offer expanded pro
football coverage to its viewers.
Also, in addition to the Olympic Winter Games and "March Mayhem" Web sites, during the first quarter of 1998 SportsLine USA produced several comprehensive sites devoted to coverage of special events such as the FedEx Orange Bowl and the XXXII Super Bowl. During the 1998 professional golf season, SportsLine USA will continue to benefit from its alliance with CBS Sports and its acquisition of GolfWeb by expanding its comprehensive golf tournament coverage. This year, CBS Sports will broadcast 24 golf tournaments including The Masters and The PGA Championship.
Webby Award
In March, CBS SportsLine topped all other sports web sites and was awarded
the prestigious 1998 Webby Award in the sports category. Dubbed "The
Oscars of the Web," the Webby Awards honor the most creative and innovative
Web sites of the year -- and the talented editorial, technical, marketing
and design teams behind them. Web sites considered for the award are
judged on content, design, technical ingenuity and ease of use. Then, a
respected panel of leading new media experts, Web visionaries, journalists,
and celebrities choose a winner in each of nineteen categories including
Sports, Film, Health, Money/Business, Music, and News.
SportsLine USA Files Registration Statement to Raise Additional Capital For
Future Growth
On March 19, SportsLine USA filed a registration statement with the
Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the public offering
of 4,000,000 shares of common stock. Of the 4,000,000 shares being offered,
2,288,430 shares are being offered by SportsLine USA, Inc. and 1,711,570
shares are being offered by selling shareholders.
SportsLine USA, Inc. plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including expansion of the Company's marketing and advertising sales efforts, content development and licensing, international expansion, capital expenditures, and potential acquisitions or investments in complementary businesses, products, and technologies.
About SportsLine USA
SportsLine USA, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLN) is a leading Internet-based sports
media company that provides branded, interactive information and
programming as well as merchandise to sports enthusiasts worldwide. The
Company's flagship Web site, CBS SportsLine (cbs.sportsline.com), delivers
real-time, in-depth and compelling sports content and programming that
capitalizes on the Web's unique graphical and interactive capabilities.
The Company's other Web sites include those devoted to (i) sports
superstars such as Joe Namath, Michael Jordan (jordan.sportsline.com),
Tiger Woods (tigerwoods.com), Shaquille O'Neal (shaq.com), Cal Ripken, Jr.
(2131.com) and Wayne Gretzky (gretzky.com); (ii) specific sports such as
golf (golfweb.com), cricket (cricket.org) and soccer (soccernet.com); and
(iii) international sports coverage (sportsline.com/u/worldwide).
The Company distributes a broad range of up-to-date news, scores, player
and team statistics and standings, photos and audio and video clips
obtained from CBS and other leading sports news organizations as well as
the Company's superstar athletes; produces and distributes entertaining,
interactive and original programming such as editorials and analyses from
its in-house staff and freelance journalists; produces and offers contests,
games, fantasy league products and fan clubs; and sells sports-related
merchandise and memorabilia. The Company also owns and operates a
state-of-the-art radio studio from which it produces all-sports radio
programming which is broadcast over the Internet and on traditional radio
stations in more than 50 markets in association with the SportsFan Radio
Network.
Note: 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997. 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.
Contact:
Kenneth Sanders
Chief Financial Officer
SportsLine USA, Inc.
(954) 351-2120, ext. 829
or
Sara L. Wilkins
Director, Investor Relations
SportsLine USA, Inc.
(954) 351-2120, ext. 511
saraw@sportsline.com
Quarter Ended
March 31,
1998(1) 1997(1)
-------- --------
Revenue:
Advertising $ 4,419 $ 782
Merchandise 467 157
Membership 493 326
Premium Service 516 194
Licensing & other 894 15
---- ----
Total revenue 6,789 1,474
Cost of revenue 4,414 1,886
----- -----
Gross margin (deficit) 2,375 (412)
----- -----
Operating expenses:
Product development 389 672
Sales and marketing 4,363 2,232
General and
administrative 3,215 1,660
Depreciation and
amortization 3,828 1,394
----- -----
Total operating
expenses 11,795 5,958
------ -----
Loss from operations (9,420) (6,370)
Net interest income 414 145
-------- --------
Net loss $ (9,006) $ (6,225)
-------- --------
-------- --------
Net loss per share $ (0.56) $ (0.67)
Average shares
outstanding 16,088 9,313
-------- --------
-------- --------
EBITDA $ (5,592) $ (4,976)
-------- --------
-------- --------
(1) Amounts include the results of GolfWeb, which the Company acquired in a pooling-of-interests transaction on January 29, 1998.
March 31, 1998 December 31, 1997(1)
-------------- --------------------
Assets:
Cash and investments $31,320 $33,988
Other current assets 15,670 5,579
Property and equipment, net 4,232 4,170
Other assets 1,780 1,989
------- -------
$53,002 $45,726
------- -------
------- -------
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity:
Current liabilities $ 8,481 $ 8,283
Long-term obligations 457 458
Shareholders' equity 44,064 36,985
------- -------
$53,002 $45,726
------- -------
------- -------
(1) Amounts include the results of GolfWeb, which the Company acquired in
a pooling-of-interests transaction on January 29, 1998.