Penguins Owner Mario Lemieux has partnered with
SportsLink, a provider of Internet-based services for the
amateur sports community (THE DAILY). SportsLink co-Founder
Michael Upton said that the company "is hoping pro teams buy
the software, use it to create a Web site, then give amateur
associations a space on its portal." Lemieux's role "will
be to open doors for the company to other markets and
provide guidance" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 9/15).
NOTES: In St. Paul, Martin Moylan profiled Minneapolis-
based online fantasy sports site Fanball.com. In August,
Fanball.com drew more than 530,000 visitors with the average
visit lasting three hours and 10 minutes, ranking "tops
among sports sites." Fanball.com CEO Rob Phythian said that
the company "hopes its online service will be profitable by
the start of the 2001 football season" (ST. PAUL PIONEER
PRESS, 9/14)....After more than eight months of retooling,
Disney is "ready to roll out a revamped version of the Go
portal" today (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/15). In L.A., Greg
Miller writes that company officials say Go will "take a
lesser place in the Disney Internet stable, as more of a
sibling than a parent to ESPN.com" (L.A. TIMES, 9/15).
