Rivals.com filed public offering statements yesterday
with the SEC, according to Roger Yu of the SEATTLE TIMES,
who writes that company officials did not specify the number
of shares or the dollar value of the IPO. In '99, Rivals
reported a loss of $21.4M on sales of $1.17M, all from
advertising. Among Rivals.com's "notable backers" are
Rupert Murdoch's News America, which is the largest
shareholder at 46.2%, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners with
20.5%, Softbank Capital Partners with 13.9% and Rivals.com
Founder & CEO Jim Heckman with 19.2% (SEATTLE TIMES, 3/14).
BROADBAND IPO CLOSE: The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's
Daniel Kaplan writes that Broadband Sports "expects" its IPO
to be priced between $8 and $10 a share, meaning the company
would raise between $26.4-33M in trading that is "expected
to begin" next month. IPOfinancial.com President David
Menlow said Broadband Sports "could see around a 40 percent
opening premium if market conditions still hold together."
Menlow: "We like the offering. It certainly has a lot going
for it." Menlow adds that having Morgan Stanley & Co. as
the lead underwriter means the offering already has "a
tremendous push from behind" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/13).
