FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA (March 2, 1999) - CBS SportsLine, published by SportsLine USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLN), offers college basketball fanatics the most comprehensive coverage of the 1999 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship on the Web. As the official Web site of CBS Sports, 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.
Offering the deepest coverage of college basketball on the Web, CBS SportsLine will detail every game of the tournament from the first round March 11 and 12 all the way to the championship on March 29th in St. Petersburg, Florida. Fans can track the progress of their favorite team individually, or play the March Mayhem bracket contest to see if they can guess who this year's NCAA champion will be. CBS SportsLine's team of writers will cover every tournament game and provide feature stories, game matchups and predictions and more.
Kicking off CBS SportsLine's coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, former North Carolina Tar Heel and Los Angeles Lakers great, and CBS Sports college basketball analyst James Worthy will chat with college hoops fans on Tuesday, March 9 at 10:30 p.m. ET.
"With 32 games played in two days, the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be the biggest two days in sports Internet traffic this year," said Michael Levy, president and CEO of SportsLine USA. "No other sports Internet publishing company is better positioned than CBS SportsLine to bring the tournament to Internet users. As CBS Sports' online partner, we have immediate access to the most current information, we have the sophisticated technology in place to handle peak traffic, and, through our relationships with America Online, Netscape and Excite, we have the distribution channels in place to keep the largest number of college hoops fans up-to-date throughout the tournament."
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, broken down by region, with scores constantly updated and links to game summaries and team pages.
Printable Bracket - Fans can print a high-quality 8 ½ x 11 bracket sheet to follow all the tournament action.
Tournament Tracker - This feature enables fans to track all their selections in the tournament, from the first round through the national championship game on March 29th. Users can email their completed tracker to friends, and through an Internet connect feature, the tracker will automatically update. At the end of the tournament, participants can compare with friends to see who was most accurate.
March Mayhem Contests - Fans can compete for prizes in the Men's March Matchup, Tip-Off Trivia, March Mayhem Contests, Sweet 16, Pick-A-Box and Cyber-Ticket Lucky Seat 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, with an emphasis on teams participating in the NCAA tournament. 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 final 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 teams, including rosters, results, starting lineups, statistics, current scores and analysis by writers who have covered the teams all year.
Chat and Fan Forums - Chat rooms dedicated to each game, the tournament overall and specific regions; chat guests will include CBS Sports on-air talent, former NCAA players, CBS SportsLine writers and newspaper columnists who regularly cover the game. Kicking off the tournament's chats will be former North Carolina Tar Heel and Los Angeles Lakers great James Worthy on Tuesday, March 9 at 10:30 p.m. ET. Fans can visit http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/madness/1999/chat/ for the most current chat schedule.
Live SportsLine Radio Broadcasts - SportsLine Radio will cover the men's tournament extensively, previewing all 64 teams and all of the matchups. Leading up to the finals, SportsLine Radio's mid-day show, "The Drive," will broadcast live from the first round of the tournament in New York on March 11 and 12, and from St. Petersburg during the Final Four, with a wealth of guests sharing insight on the tournament.
Extensive Women's Coverage - CBS SportsLine offers complete coverage of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, from first round action, all the way to San Jose. CBS SportsLine columnists will file reports from each game and Staff Writer Mark Soltau will file reports from the women's Final Four in San Jose. CBS SportsLine will offer a Women's Tournament Tracker and printable brackets for those who wish to track favorite teams or predict game outcomes.
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