Official Web Site of CBS Sports Offers Most Extensive Coverage, Fastest Final Four Scores on the Net
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (March 22, 1999) - As the 1999 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship comes to a close, CBS SportsLine, published by SportsLine USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLN), is set to cover all the action with the most comprehensive coverage of the 1999 Final Four. Offering the deepest coverage of college basketball on the Web, CBS SportsLine, the official Web site of CBS Sports, will detail every aspect of the semi-finals and the championship game on March 29th in St. Petersburg, Florida.
CBS SportsLine's team of writers will provide extensive Final Four coverage, including feature stories, game matchups and predictions and more. CBS SportsLine's March Mayhem site (http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/madness) features the most current scores and up-to-the minute statistics for every game of the tournament through its exclusive Tournament LIVE feature.
The first two days of the 1999 NCAA Tournament set new traffic records for SportsLine USA, both in terms of daily page views and visits. On Thursday, the opening day of the NCAA Tournament, SportsLine received approximately 21 million page views and 1.4 million visits, and Friday SportsLine received approximately 21.5 million page views and 1.5 million visits. Over the past 15 days, since CBS Sports' coverage of the tournament began with the announcement of the brackets, SportsLine has generated more than 150 million page views.
"As the tournament concludes, college basketball fans all across the world will continue to turn to CBS SportsLine as they did in record-setting numbers during the tournament's first round," said Michael Levy, president and CEO of SportsLine USA. "Because of our relationship with CBS Sports, no Internet publishing company is better positioned to bring fans the most current information throughout the tournament. Fans have already visited our site in record numbers during the tournament to update their brackets, to read our game previews and in-depth features."
Tournament LIVE, CBS SportsLine's unique multimedia application allows fans to feel like they're watching the game, even when they can't be watching the game on CBS Television. This feature simulates a game statistics sheet with shots, free throws, fouls and complete game statistics, and simulated fan sounds from the game.
Other features from the site include:
Live Interactive Regional Brackets - Users can see all the games at a glance, and see each team's path to the Final Four. The brackets also feature links to game summaries and team pages.
March Mayhem Contests - Fans can compete for prizes in the Pick-A-Box, Tip-Off Trivia and Tourney Give-Away contests.
Team Merchandise - The Sports Store (www.TheSportsStore.com), CBS SportsLine's e-commerce arena, offers a full line of merchandise for college basketball fans, including a full selection of merchandise for all of the Final Four teams. Fans can get caps, flags, beanie mascots and other merchandise featuring their favorite team's logo. In addition, a complete line of championship merchandise, including Official Locker Room Caps and T-shirts, will be available as soon as the championship game ends on March 29. The Sports Store is also available to AOL members at Keyword: The Sports Store.
Matchup Breakdown - Statistics of any two teams or any two players can be compared graphically through this feature, helping fans to analyze contests and look towards future potential matchups.
Team Pages - CBS SportsLine continues its extensive team coverage with breakdowns of each of the Final Four teams, including rosters, results, starting lineups, statistics, current scores and analysis by writers who have covered the teams all year.
Chat and Fan Forums - CBS SportsLine lets fans express their opinions through chat rooms dedicated to each game; chat guests will include CBS Sports on-air talent, former NCAA players, CBS SportsLine writers and newspaper columnists who regularly cover the game. Fans can visit http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/madness/1999/chat/ for the most current chat schedule.
Live SportsLine Radio Broadcasts - Leading up to the finals, SportsLine Radio's morning show, "Who's On First," (6:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. ET) and mid-day show, "The Drive," (10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET) will broadcast live from St. Petersburg on Thursday and Friday, March 25 and 26, leading up to the Final Four, with a wealth of guests sharing insight on the tournament. Coaches, players and officials will be on hand to provide inside information, and CBS Analyst Clark Kellogg will offer insight on the big weekend and the final game.
About SportsLine USA, Inc.
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 publisher of CBS SportsLine (http://cbs.sportsline.com), SportsLine USA's content includes more than 400,000 pages of multimedia sports information, entertainment and merchandise, covering all major professional, collegiate and international sports with exclusive content from sports teams, organizations and superstars such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Shaquille O'Neal. The Sports Store (www.TheSportsStore.com) is SportsLine USA's electronic commerce arena offering a unique collection of sports-related merchandise, memorabilia and licensed products. In 1998, the Company acquired two golf-related properties, GolfWeb (www.golfweb.com) the Internet's premier golf site, and International Golf Outlet (www.igogolf.com), a leading Internet retailer of fine golf products and equipment. SportsLine USA was founded in 1994, and its flagship Internet sports service was renamed CBS SportsLine in March of 1997 as part of an exclusive five-year promotional and content agreement with CBS Sports which has been extended through 2006.
For Information Contact:
Larry Wahl
954-351-2120, ext. 7225
Kathy Bradley
954-351-2120, ext. 7519