12/18/97

NFL, NBC SPORTS AND IBM TEAM TO PRODUCE
INTERACTIVE SUPER BOWL ONLINE VENTURE

- - Web Site Provides Fans With Virtual ‘Drive To Super Bowl XXXII’ and
Content from ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ - -

The National Football League, NBC Sports and IBM will jointly produce the official Super Bowl XXXII web site (http://www.superbowl.com), which will kick off on Saturday, December 20 and culminate with a live global "cybercast" of Super Bowl XXXII from San Diego on January 25, 1998.

IBM, the exclusive sponsor of Superbowl.com for the second consecutive year, also is serving as the technology partner - - developing, designing and hosting the site. The site will be hosted on an IBM RS/6000, using the same technology that ran IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer in its chess match victory over Garry Kasparov earlier this year. The site also will showcase IBM’s Net.Commerce software, which will enable fans to purchase Super Bowl merchandise via the Internet.

The multimedia project will feature an extensive on-air and on-line cross-promotional campaign by NBC and the NFL. Details of Superbowl.com will be announced live nationwide on the NFL on NBC pregame show on Saturday, December 20, with additional promotional spots airing on the network’s AFC playoff coverage. A Superbowl.com commercial, featuring a "Drive to Super Bowl XXXII" theme, is being produced by IBM and will debut on December 28 during NBC’s AFC Wild Card Game telecast.

Superbowl.com will include:

u "Route XXXII" – a virtual tour of the cities hosting playoff games, including extensive game coverage and a "flavor" of the city, as the field narrows to the two Super Bowl teams.

u Global Cybercast - - live gameday commentary from a team of NFL experts, including NFL on NBC analyst Bob Trumpy, former Dallas Cowboys personnel chief Gil Brandt and an NFL player to be named.

u Streaming audio/video - - live coverage of Super Bowl events in San Diego, including player/coach interviews, press conferences and a daily video news update.

u Jay Leno characters - - Jay Leno and the "The Tonight Show" Web site will contribute content to Superbowl.com, including Super Bowl and other football-related comedy bits. Users will encounter Leno characters such as "Iron Jay" and "Guy Living."

u Super Bowl Sweepstakes - - fans can enter to win a trip to Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego.

u "The Store" - - official Super Bowl party gear and merchandise, conference championship merchandise, mini-shops for two Super Bowl teams, official Super Bowl program, champion’s hat and T-shirt as worn by players in lockerroom.

u Animated Playbooks - - graphical play-by-play depiction of games, including commentary/analysis by NBC Sports experts.

During the game-day global "cybercast," the commentators will respond to fan questions from around the world. The live cybercast also will include play-by-play, audio game broadcasts in Japanese (NHK), German (Premiere), Russian (NTV), and Italian (Tele+), animated playbooks, chats, photographs and more.

Additional features on Superbowl.com include historical video and audio clips from past Super Bowls, daily chats with NFL stars and coaches, the latest NFL news, party guide/recipes, interactive games for adults and kids, fan photo album, virtual post cards, polls and trivia contests.

"Computers have joined television, family and friends and chili as essential ingredients of the Super Bowl experience," said Ann Kirschner, vice president, NFL Interactive. "We’ve brought together the best partners to bring a new dimension to the Super Bowl experience for the NFL fan."

"The Internet is the most significant technology development in professional sports since television," said William J. Moses, vice president, broadcasting, cable and sports, IBM Global Telecommunications and Media Industries. "As the world's premier one-day sporting event, the Super Bowl is the ideal opportunity for combining the traditional strengths of football and television with the global reach of the Internet."

"NBC worked with the NFL at Super Bowl XXX in 1996 and helped make Internet history with the web's first sports cybercast," said Jon Miller, senior vice president, NBC Sports. "Now with a partnership that includes IBM, the NFL and NBC Sports, we're contributing a powerful promotional effort on behalf of superbowl.com, which no doubt will become the Web's most trafficked event sports site ever."

Contacts:
Mary Griswold, NFL, 212/450-2068
Robert Silverman/NBC Interactive, 212/664-2756
Ed Markey, NBC Sports, 212/664-2014
John Bukovinsky/IBM, 914/499-4045