As the NFL's Web site production contract with Starwave
expires shortly, competition for the next deal "is expected
to be fierce," with Starwave, CBS SportsLine and Fox Sports
Online "understood to be vying for the rights," according to
Mary Huhn of the N.Y. POST. Estimates on the value of the
next deal "vary wildly," but Huhn writes it could "go as
high as" $8M. NFL Interactive VP Ann Kirschner: "It's not
an auction. We're just talking to the major players."
During the NFL season, the site draws 250,000 users on
Sundays alone. Huhn adds that IBM could be a technology
development partner and sponsor, as it paid $1M to build and
sponsor the league's Super Bowl site (N.Y. POST, 2/25).
TOTAL PROFILE: Total Sports Exec VP Michael Gersham is
profiled by William Hathaway in the HARTFORD COURANT.
Gersham, who spent "nearly two decades" doing PR for groups
such as The Doors, The Who and Jefferson Airplane, created
Total Baseball in '93, which merged with NC-based Koz Inc.
in '97. The company, which now specializes in digital
broadcasts, will be "facing competition from media giants
moving rapidly to stake out an emerging market," but Gersham
"can't think of a better way to make a living." Gersham:
"I'm a little country boy who wanted to do baseball books.
I've seemed to have taken a wrong turn somewhere, but I'm
having a great time" (HARTFORD COURANT, 2/25). NC-based
Total College Network will launch 42 new Web sites, each
focusing on sports at major colleges (BRANDWEEK, 2/23).
WEB FANTASY: SportsLine USA fantasy sports Producer
Christopher Weeks said that over 5,000 people played its NFL
"Challenge" fantasy game for $29.95, while 17,000 took part
in its NFL "Commissioner" game for $59.95. Multimedia
Entertainment & Technology Report estimated that SportsLine
took in "more than" $1.1M in revenue this past NFL season,
and "expects that revenue will increase with each sports
season." Weeks also said that its golf and auto racing
leagues are "growing areas" (MEDIA CENTRAL, 2/20).
SportsLine also announced the launch of SportsLine WorldWide
(www.sportsline.com/u/worldwide), which combines the
coverage of Soccernet, CricInfo and GolfWeb (SportsLine).
ALL A'S: The A's reached a deal with AudioNet to
broadcast A's games on www.oaklandathletics.com. The first
live webcast is this Saturday's preseason game (A's).
