SportsLine USA "is knocking 'em out of the park," with
its "millions of Web fans," $220M in cash, and an "enviable
part-owner" in CBS, but Wall Street's reaction has been to
cut 56% off the company's market value since late July,
according to Neil Weinberg of FORBES, who writes that what
"has investors running for the exits" is the company's
expansion into Europe and on-line sales of sporting goods.
SportsLine Chair Michael Levy: "I think people are confused
about whether we're a content company or an e-commerce
company. We're definitely a content company, but it would
be crazy not to sell to all the people coming to our site."
Weinberg writes that SportsLine's e-commerce approach "is
low-risk," as it "resells golf gear and racks up an average
of $240 per sale." In other sports, it "hands off orders to
manufacturers." Gross margins are at 23% "versus single
digits for many e-tailers." Levy claims that ESPN.com
"trails" SportsLine in terms of total sales revenue, to
which ESPN "won't comment." Levy: "The reason ESPN.com
doesn't talk revenue is it's embarrassing for them. They
brag about everything else" (FORBES, 9/6 issue).
