PGA.com Teams Up With SportsLine.com And MVP.com For The 82nd PGA ChampionshipChampionship Site Provides Real-Time Scoring, Up-to-the-minute Coverage, Highlights, Analysis and Official PGA Championship Merchandise | ||
|
Palm Beach Gardens and Fort Lauderdale, FL and Chicago, IL (August 14, 2000) - PGA.com, the official Web site of The PGA of America, has formed a strategic relationship with SportsLine.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLN), to provide exclusive real-time online coverage, and with MVP.com to provide online merchandise sales for the 82nd PGA Championship. The Championship will be held Aug. 17 - 20 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky and televised live by CBS Sports and TNT.
Jointly developed and hosted by SportsLine.com, the 2000 PGA Championship Web site, located at PGA.com, will offer the only official real-time, online scoring and statistics for The PGA Championship.PGA.com also offers complete access to the latest news, player information, statistics and more throughout the four-day competition. SportsLine.com is the leading global Internet sports media company and publisher of CBS SportsLine.com. MVP.com, the premier online sports and outdoors store, will operate the e-commerce site of PGA.com, the only online location to find official PGA Championship merchandise.
Additional features on the site include editorial content from PGA.com and SportsLine.com's staff of on-site writers and reporters, exclusive live chats and player diaries, a virtual tour of the course, and much more in-depth information augmenting the 27 hours of live television coverage provided by CBS Sports and TNT. Advertising sales for the official PGA Championship site are a joint effort of PGA.com, SportsLine.com and CBS Sports. Prominent sponsors include MasterCard, KPMG, Merrill Lynch and Pfizer.
Last year, as Tiger Woods claimed his second major title at the 81st PGA Championship at Medinah, the PGA.com site achieved record volume with 201 million hits and 48 million page views during the four-day event.
"We are pleased to partner with SportsLine.com and MVP.com to provide golf fans with exclusive coverage of the golf season's final major," said Don Pettinato, general manager of PGA.com. "Our relationship with two of the leading sports Internet companies, SportsLine.com and MVP.com, enables us to enrich our user's online experience.
"It's an honor for us to join with PGA.com to bring golf fans unparalleled access to the final major championship of the golf season," said Mark Mariani, president, sales and marketing for SportsLine.com, Inc. "Our use of sophisticated technology enables fans to get the most up-to-date information on the Championship, supplementing CBS Sports' live television broadcast of the event."
"MVP.com already has a strong presence in the online golf community," said Brent Hill, vice president and general manager of golf for MVP.com. "By partnering with PGA.com, we are offering golf enthusiasts more of what they want - from fan gear and novelty items to official licensed products and apparel."
Among its highlights, PGA.com's exclusive online coverage of the 82nd PGA Championship at Valhalla will feature:
§ Real-time scoring - The PGA.com site offers users the only official real-time scoring, with the ability to follow their favorite players through each hole of play. Fans can also view player scorecards and hole statistics.
§ Timely news, columns and statistics - Immediately access the latest information, so waiting for updates is no longer necessary.
§ Complete multimedia coverage of all player news conferences - Hear the players discuss their rounds and other issues.
§ Daily diaries -- Follow the progress of Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson throughout the PGA Championship via daily player diaries.
§ Daily digital photo gallery - See the highlights of the day's events.
§ PGA Rules Official Q & A -- A Certified PGA Rules Official will be on site at the PGA Championship and available to answer questions from visitors to the site.
§ Live chats -- A variety of guests will stop by during the PGA Championship to chat with users, including Laird Small, director of golf at Pebble Beach Golf Academy. Users are encouraged to return to the chat area frequently as new guests will be added daily.
§ PGA Championship history - Learn about the evolution of golf's strongest major event.
§ Official PGA Championship Online Store -- Fans can purchase the same commemorative merchandise online that is available through local PGA Professionals, including hats, shirts and other memorabilia. MVP.com will provide fulfillment services for the PGA Championship Online Store.
§ Virtual tour of Valhalla Golf Club - Experience the luxury of the club without leaving a user's home or office via video flyovers of the course.
§ Local information on the tournament and the Louisville area - Discover what's happening off the course.
PGA.com is the strategic alliance of The PGA of America and IBM. It is the official Web site of The PGA of America and Cybercast provider for the PGA Championship and The Ryder Cup Matches. PGA.com also produces The Senior PGA Championship, The PGA Grand Slam of Golf and The PGA Club Professional Championship. PGA.com provides The PGA Experience online to golfers, PGA Professionals, golf manufacturers and the golf industry with a vast array of golf information and services that is the most comprehensive available on the World Wide Web.
About SportsLine.com, Inc.
SportsLine.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLN) is at the leading edge of media companies providing Internet sports content, community and e-commerce on a global basis. SportsLine.com, Inc.'s content includes more than one million pages of multimedia sports information, entertainment and merchandise. Founded in 1994 as SportsLine USA, Inc., the Company changed its name to SportsLine.com, Inc. in November 1999. Its flagship Internet sports service (http://cbs.sportsline.com) was renamed CBS SportsLine.com as part of an exclusive promotional and content agreement with CBS in March 1997. SportsLine.com, Inc. 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. In 1999, the Company commenced operations in Europe through its subsidiary, Sports.com Limited.
About MVP.com
MVP.com offers a broad assortment of apparel and equipment for all skill levels from amateur sports and outdoors enthusiasts to professional athletes. The MVP Edge portion of the site, authored by its team of experts and the MVP.com Advisory Board, provides a unique perspective on training and performance, as well as up-to-date information about the products it sells - including product technologies, nutrition information, and buying guides. MVP.com's Advisory Board includes the world's top athletes and experts, including John Elway, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky. MVP.com's partners include leading sporting goods retailer Galyan's Trading Co., providing merchandising expertise, customer service and fulfillment, SportsLine.com, the leading global Internet sports media company and a four-year, $85 million marketing agreement with CBS Corporation. In addition to operating the e-commerce sites of sportsline.com and FaceOff.com, MVP.com also owns and operates mvp.com, igofolf.com and tennisdirect.com. Chicago-based MVP.com was founded in October 1999 and has received financial backing from Benchmark Capital and Freeman Spogli. The site launched January 26, 2000, and carries more than 50,000 unique stock keeping units and over 500 brands.
# # #
| ||
| For further information, contact: |
| |