Fastest live scores on the Internet, deep regional coverage are featured
One lucky fan could win $10 million in brackets contest
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA (March 11, 2002) - CBS SportsLine.com (http://cbs.sportsline.com), published by SportsLine.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLN), offers college basketball fanatics the most comprehensive coverage of the 2002 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship on the Web. As the official Web site of CBS Sports, CBS SportsLine.com provides March Mayhemsm coverage (http://www.sportsline.com/mayhem/) that features the most current scores and up-to-the minute statistics for every game of the tournament through its live scoreboards and GameCenter feature. CBS SportsLine.com's championship brackets were posted as soon as CBS Sports announced the 65 participants during its Selection Sunday broadcast, at 6:00 p.m. ET on March 10th.
CBS SportsLine.com will detail every game of the tournament region-by-region from the first game on March 12th all the way to the national championship game on April 1st in Atlanta. Fans can track the progress of their favorite team individually, focus on a specific region or simply follow all the action of the tournament at large. Users can test their selection skills by playing the Kinkos $10 Million Bracket Challenge where there is no entry fee, a guaranteed prize of $25,000 and one lucky fan could walk away with $10 million. CBS SportsLine.com's team of writers, highlighted by college hoops expert Dan Wetzel, will cover every tournament game all the way to the Final Four and provide feature stories, game matchups, predictions and more.
Highlights of CBS SportsLine.com's March Mayhemsm Coverage include:Scoreboards with "Live Publishing System" - CBS SportsLine.com offers users scoreboard pages to follow all the action of the NCAA Tournament in an exciting new format. Breakthrough technology using the exclusive "live publishing system" allows users to sit back and follow the games as the page updates automatically, without the user having to refresh. The system allows CBS SportsLine.com to provide the fastest, most-up-to-date scoreboards anywhere on the Internet. Scoreboard sponsors include Hyundai, Burger King, United Airlines, Smirnoff and ING.
Tournament GameCenter - CBS SportsLine.com's unique feature, sponsored by Marriott, allows users to follow the game in real-time with access to enough statistics to pacify the most hardcore college hoops fan. Users can follow a game, with in-depth stats such as shot charts and a description of the last ten plays while at the same time listening to the audio portion of the CBS Sports television broadcast of the game. The GameCenter also allows users access to the scores from all games in the tournament with statistics such as individual player scoring.
Kinkos $10 Million Bracket Challenge - On Sunday, March 10th, fans can begin making their bracket selections to enter a cumulative brackets contest sponsored by Kinkos. There is no entry fee and one lucky contestant will win $10 million if he/she selects the winners of all 63 games, excluding the play-in game (the prize will be shared if more than one perfect entry is submitted). If no perfect bracket entry is submitted, any single contestant whose bracket has only one incorrect game selection will win $1 million (the prize will be shared if more than one submission has only one incorrect game selection and a perfect bracket entry is not submitted). If neither the $10 million nor $1 million prizes are won, the
contestant with the most overall points at the end of the tournament will win a guaranteed $25,000. The contest is governed by the official rules, which are available on the Web site.
Other features from the site include: Head-to-Head & "The Edge" Breakdowns - Statistics of any two teams or any two players can be compared graphically through the Head-to-Head feature, sponsored by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which helps fans to analyze contests and look towards future potential matchups. In addition, automatic comparisons of any team's performances against common opponents will assist fans in filling out their brackets. "The Edge" breakdowns give the user a way to analyze upcoming games from every conceivable angle. From the coaches, strategies, and team backcourts and frontcourts fans can find out who really has "The Edge."
Regional Arenas and Team Pages - CBS SportsLine.com continues its extensive coverage with breakdowns of each region and of all the teams, including rosters, results, starting lineups, statistics and current scores. Team pages are sponsored by Smirnoff. SportsLine.com will provide on-site analysis by our team of college basketball writers at every regional all the way through the Championship game.
Media Player - Fans will enjoy access to both audio and video highlights using CBS SportsLine.com's Media Center, presented by Intel. For every game throughout the tournament, fans can link to the live CBS Sports' TV audio feed. After coverage of each day's action concludes, CBS SportsLine.com will archive video highlights of that day's games for fans to access.
Brackets - Sponsored by Pontiac, users can view all the games at a glance, broken down by region through CBS SportsLine.com's Live Regional Brackets, with scores constantly updated and links to game summaries and team pages. Fans can also download a Printable Bracket that allows them to print a high-quality 8 ½ x 11 bracket sheet to follow all the tournament action.
Team Merchandise - CBS SportsLine.com's e-commerce arena, MVP.com offers an extensive assortment of merchandise for all sports fans, including an assortment of merchandise for all of the participating teams. College basketball fans will find unique items like team logo tables, mini backboards, and collectibles as well as hats, t-shirts and team jersey's. A complete line of championship merchandise, including caps and t-shirts, will be available as soon as the final game ends on April 1. MVP.com is operated in partnership with Electronic Commerce Solutions a Division of USA Interactive.
Extensive Women's & N.I.T. Coverage - CBS SportsLine.com offers complete coverage of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, from first round action, all the way to San Antonio. Additionally, extensive coverage of the National Invitation Tournament (N.I.T.) is also presented. CBS SportsLine.com will offer printable brackets for those who wish to track favorite teams or predict game outcomes in either of these tournaments.
Major sponsors for CBS SportsLine.com's March Mayhemsm coverage include Burger King, Cingular, Hyundai, ING, Intel, Kinkos, Marriott, Pontiac, Smirnoff and United Airlines.
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. As the publisher of CBS SportsLine.com and the official Web sites of the NFL and the PGA TOUR, the Company serves as one of the most comprehensive sports information sources available, containing an unmatched breadth and depth of multimedia sports news, information, entertainment and merchandise. SportsLine.com also has strategic relationships with Major League Baseball and the NBA, and serves as a primary sports content provider for America Online. In 1999, the Company commenced operations in Europe through Sports.com Limited, Europe's leading Internet and mobile data provider of sports content.
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For further information, contact:
SportsLine.com Inc. — Corporate Communications — (954) 489-4000