Fox Sports "is planning an assault on the leaders of
online sports -- ESPN SportsZone and CBS SportsLine -- with
a relaunch of its Web site and an aggressive integrated
advertising strategy" later this month, according to Beth
Snyder of AD AGE. James Murdoch, President of News Corp.'s
News America Digital Publishing unit, "wouldn't disclose how
much News Corp. is investing in the relaunch." The site,
www.foxsports.com, includes a layout that will place its
navigation bar at the top of the screen along with scrolling
scores, and will move stories to the bottom frame. Snyder
writes that the look "more closely mirrors the graphics of
Fox Sports TV broadcasts." Fox Sports is also adding the
ability for advertisers "to place a button on the top bar
that, when clicked, launches advertising content into the
bottom frame without making the user leave the site." Fox
Sports "plans to sell cross-media ad packages and to go
beyond traditional online banner advertising." Advertisers
already signed up include Puma and E-Trade. Snyder reports
that Puma has a "six-figure deal" (AD AGE, 8/10 issue).
