The Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC) and
NY-based We Media Inc. have joined to offer worldwide live
Web coverage of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games in October
via We Media's Web site, located at www.wemedia.com. The
deal marks the first time that any event at either the
Olympic or Paralympic Games will be Webcast live. SPOC also
has granted U.S. broadcasting rights to the 2000 Games to We
Media for over-the-air coverage, in addition to the Web
package. Former CBS Sports Exec Producer Rick Gentile will
produce We Media's Games coverage as We Sports' Senior VP.
In addition, Gentile will oversee the production of the We
Sports Web site. We Sports also added former CBS VP/
Programming Jay Rosenstein and former NHL VP/PR Arthur
Pincus to create programming/content for the site (SPOC).
GOING LOCAL: The WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE's
David Sweet examined the growing popularity of local sports
Web sites and noted a recent Cyber Dialogue report which
indicated that a "large number -- 56% -- of sports-content
visitors" log onto local Web sites "at least once a month."
e-commerce on Tribune Interactive's (TI) local sports Web
site, ChicagoSports.com, will bring in "well over a third"
of the site's revenue (WSJ.COM, 4/12).
NOTES: U.S. women's soccer team member Kristine Lilly
and Titans RB Eddie George appeared on "Biz Buzz" to discuss
adidas' new "TrainingForSports.com" Web site. Lilly: "What
adidas is doing is ... educating the youth about training.
These kids have access to great drills and skills to enhance
their performance on the field." George, on adidas: "I've
been with adidas going on three years, and the product has
definitely matured along with me. So it's cool doing things
like this, especially giving back to the youth" ("Biz Buzz,"
4/12)....In DC, Kenneth Bredemeier profiled Fantasy Sports
Properties Owner Patrick Hughes, who developed and gained
the patent for a scoring method that is used in fantasy
sports leagues. Hughes is currently in a legal dispute with
companies that include ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS SportsLine,
Time Warner, Yahoo and Sandbox.com over patent infringement
and has already gained a settlement from Gannett Co. for use
of his system. Settlement terms weren't disclosed, but
sources said that Hughes "received close to what he is
demanding from each of the defendants -- about 10 percent of
the royalties" (WASH. POST, 4/12)....In Philadelphia, Ed
Weiner reviews the Phillies Web site, www.phillies.com, and
writes that "in many ways" the site is "highly admirable."
But Weiner notes the site's lack of advanced ticket sales
and writes that the "only East Coast team beside the
Phillies that doesn't have advanced Internet ticket sales"
is the Orioles, who "have perhaps the best stadium and
unquestionably the worst Web site" (DAILY NEWS, 4/13).
