Sports@Home, chaired by ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen, is
scheduled to be unveiled "in full" June 1 and will offer
"computerized games, chat rooms and e-commerce," according
to David Sweet of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Rasmussen: "We're
going to be the ESPN of sports games." Sports@Home plans to
buy airtime this fall on CBS, NBC or ABC to broadcast a
"prime-time sports game show called 'Pro Sports Payday.'"
The show will air six times and will feature contestants
competing in an hour-long program, answering questions
"devoted to a single sport." Individual shows will "boast
purses" of $2M. Paul Kagan Associates Senior Analyst John
Mansell: "It's a very interesting idea, especially when you
see how popular 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' has been.
It could be a blockbuster." Sweet added that Rasmussen
plans to "post a slew" of computer-oriented sports games on
the site, such as EA Sports' Madden 2000, NHL 2000 and Tiger
Woods 2000. Rasmussen expects the site to make a profit in
"fewer than two years," and he "points to naming rights,
membership revenue and advertising dollars from the TV show
as crucial income streams" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/9).
