For Immediate Release
April 23, 1997

ESPNET SPORTSZONE REGISTERS RECORD
23 MILLION PAGE VIEWS NFL DRAFT WEEKEND

Site Attracts A Record 9 Million Page Views Sunday

ESPNET SportsZone (http://espnet.sportszone.com) set traffic records with

more than 23 million page views and more than 2 million visits this past weekend (Saturday/Sunday/ Monday) due to its comprehensive coverage of the NFL Draft. In addition, ESPNET and NFL Enterprises teamed up to further serve football fans via a special NFL Draft Web site accessed through ESPNET and the NFL’s official Web site, http://nfl.com. Other ESPNET records set this weekend:

• 9 million page views on Sunday
• 742,000 visits on Monday
• 93.3 million hits for the weekend
• 34 million hits on Sunday

Throughout the weekend, ESPNET and the NFL provided the most comprehensive draft coverage, featuring:

• Real-time "DraftTracker," which enabled fans to analyze picks in real time, sorting by player, position, NFL or college team and other variables
• Scouting reports on more than 600 draft prospects
• Player profiles and statistics
• Mock drafts
• Historical perspectives of past drafts
• Mel Kiper,Jr.’s top 50 prospects with video
• An on-line diary by former Ohio State cornerback Shawn Springs
• Multi-media clips on dozens of players
• Live chat sessions with drafted players, experts and executives
• Updated photos from draft headquarters
• Live draft-day feeds from ESPN Radio
• Live chat rooms for fans
• Analysis from Gil Brandt and ESPN personalities

DRAFTTRACKER A "HIT" ON-SITE

In an on-line first, the popular "DraftTracker" was frequently projected on a large screen at the draft, giving fans and team and league representatives the opportunity to see how each selection affected the draft as a whole.

Contacts:

Eric Handler, ESPN, (212) 916-9319 or handlere@espn.com
Jennifer Yazzolino, Starwave, (206) 957-2026 or jennifery@starwave.com
Mary Griswold, NFL, (212) 450-2068 or griswoldm@nfl.com