FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFLE
6/28/00
CONTACTS:
BRIAN McCARTHY
NFL
212-450-2069
mccarthyb@nfl.com
LARRY WAHL
SPORTSLINE.COM, INC.
954-351-2120, EXT. 7225
wahl@sportsline.com
NFL.COM HELMET CAM DRIVES TRAFFIC TO NFL WEBSITES
NEW YORK and FORT LAUDERDALE – Virtual reality hit football fans Sunday as Web users around the world experienced the introduction of the NFL.com Helmet Cam and umpire cam. Launched during World Bowl 2000, the cams, which simultaneously delivered video to television viewers and the Internet, spurred a traffic increase of more than 250% to NFLEurope.com and an 80% spike to NFL.com compared to last year’s game.
NFLEurope.com is the official site of the NFL Europe League and is co-produced by the NFL and SportsLine.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLN), the leading global Internet sports media company, and its European subsidiary Sports.com.
The Rhein Fire defeated the Scottish Claymores 13-10 in the NFLE championship game. The game was broadcast on FOX Sports, Sunday, June 25 at 1 pm ET.
During the broadcast, FOX branded the video views from postage stamped-sized cameras attached to each quarterback’s helmet, and a camera affixed to the umpire’s hat the "NFL.com Helmet Cam." The broadcaster also encouraged viewers to see live video streaming of each camera online at NFL.com and NFLEurope.com.
"More Web users experienced the World Bowl than ever before and the NFL.com Helmet Cam was a major reason. The league will continue to look closely at this new technology and see how it might fit, if at all, into future broadcasts of NFL games," said Chris Russo, NFL senior vice president of new media.
"SportsLine.com is pleased to have partnered with the NFL for the successful coverage of World Bowl 2000 on NFL Europe.com," said Joe Ferreira, vice president of programming for SportsLine.com, Inc. "The NFL is clearly a league that is open to innovation, just as SportsLine.com prides itself in pioneering technology advancements."
Fans may still access more than two hours of NFL.com Helmet Cam and umpire cam footage from both the quarterback and umpire perspectives at NFL.com and NFL Europe.com.
About SportsLine.com, Inc.
SportsLine.com, Inc. 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 in March of 1997 as part of an exclusive promotional and content agreement with CBS. SportsLine.com, Inc. produces the official league Web sites for Major League Baseball, the PGA TOUR and NFL Europe League, and services as the primary sports content provider for America Online, Netscape and Excite. In May 1999, the Company commenced operations in Europe through its majority-owned subsidiary, Sports.com Limited.# # #