While CBS can "brag about heavily trafficked"
SportsLine.com, and ABC can "claim kinship with top-ranked"
ESPN.com, "few people know where to turn" when looking for
NBC's sports presence on the Web, according to David Sweet
of the WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE. NBC Sports' Web
presence, under MSNBCSports.com and currently located at
MSNBC.com, has been "struggling to find the limelight" since
its launch in '96, but "after focusing its resources on news
for four years, the MSNBC.com brass is investing in sports."
A store "boasting 10,000 sports items" was opened in July,
while columnists and Web producers are "slated to be hired,"
with "secondary sports" such as tennis and track nabbing
"better coverage." MSNBC.com Editor-in-Chief Merrill Brown:
"We'd like to get competitive in that top tier (of sports
sites)." Meanwhile, although MSNBCSports.com will "miss a
golden opportunity" by not being promoted on TV during NBC's
2000 Games coverage due to NBC's joint web venture with
Quokka, the division will enjoy a "prominent link" off of
the Olympics site. NBC Sports VP/Business Development Kevin
Monaghan predicts MSNBCSports.com will "get a tremendous
flow of traffic" due to the link (WSJ.com, 8/16).
NOTES: Internetnews.com's Thor Olavsrud reported that
Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch and its affiliate,
Ticketmaster Corp., "lost ground" in its ongoing legal
battle with Tickets.com Monday. U.S. District Court Judge
Harry Hupp "denied" Ticketmaster's motion for a preliminary
injunction against Tickets.com to "prevent the company from
deep linking to Ticketmaster.com and using spiders to
extract information from the site" (Internetnews.com,
8/15).....PGA.com has formed a partnership with
SportsLine.com to provide real-time online coverage and
online merchandise sales via MVP.com for the 82nd PGA
Championship. Editorial content from PGA.com and
SportsLine.com's on-site writers and reporters will be
featured along with live chats, player diaries and a virtual
tour of the course. Ad sales for the site will be a joint
effort of PGA.com, SportsLine.com and CBS Sports. Sponsors
include MasterCard, KPMG, Merrill Lynch and Pfizer
(SportsLine.com)...Mandalay Sports Entertainment (MSE) has
announced an agreement with TodaysSports.com. Under the
agreement, MSE will provide consulting services in the areas
of strategic alliances, athlete and team relations, contest
development and sponsorship (MSE).
