The NBA will release its 50-game schedule at 5:00pm ET
today exclusively on its Web site at NBA.com. The season
will begin on February 5. The release marks the first time
a pro sports league has used the Internet for such a
purpose. Fans will also be able to print "specially
formatted" pocket schedules from the Web site. The site
will also offer the regular season telecast schedule for the
league's North American TV partners (NBA). Stefanie Scheer,
Dir of Internet Services for the NBA, called the schedule's
online release all "part of the ongoing effort to reach out
directly to our fans. Releasing it online is one way to
talk to the fans directly and makes our schedule instantly
available to our fans around the world" (THE DAILY).
MORE KUDOS: YAHOO reviews basketball-related Web sites
and calls NBA.com "further evidence" of the league's "acute
Web savvy." The site offers "everything you need to know
about pro hoops" and it all "downloads quickly." The site
is given four stars out of four (YAHOO, 2/99 issue)....In
the WALL STREET JOURNAL, David Sweet reported that Michael
Jordan's retirement announcement gave sports Web sites the
chance to display "the Internet's power to offer immediacy"
as "fans tried to wade through it all." Traffic on Jordan's
personal site produced by CBS SportsLine jumped 600%. Fox
Sports Online drew five times its normal weekday traffic on
the day of Jordan's press conference, while CNN/SI.com
reported its traffic "doubled from two hours before" the
announcement (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/20).
HENDRICK DEVELOPS E-COMMERCE END: Online shopping for
NASCAR merchandise "is hot" and NC-based Hendrick
Motorsports has entered the race, according to the ARIZONA
DAILY STAR's David Boraks. The site is at
www.hendrickmotorsports.com. Site Manager Marshall Carlson:
"The demand for this merchandise has outgrown the pace at
which physical distribution can keep up, and that's why e-
commerce is such a good fit" (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 1/21).
