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Deal includes live radio game broadcasts

Sept. 12, 2000

ESPN.com, the leading sports Web site, and Student Advantage's FANSonly Network, the Internet's largest college sports network, are extending their relationship to create the most comprehensive college sports offerings on the Web, including live radio game broadcasts of more than 50 college football teams, including Notre Dame and Florida State, official live statistics and play-by-play tracking. ESPN.com is part of Walt Disney Internet Group (NYSE:DIG).

"Fans look to ESPN.com for the most comprehensive college football coverage on the Web, and our relationship with FANSonly re-affirms our commitment to college football," said John Marvel, vice president and executive editor, ESPN.com. "Marrying FANSonly's assets with ESPN.com's unparalleled news and analysis provides for the most immersive experience on the Web."

"The combination of FANSonly and ESPN.com brings together a powerful team on behalf of our network partners," said Jeff Cravens, vice president and general manager, FANSonly Network. "We are focused on driving traffic and generating revenue for our partners and this deal will accomplish both of those initiatives. There is not a better company to associate with than ESPN.com, which is the worldwide leader in online sports. Our content will help fill out the ESPN.com college sports area while driving traffic to our sites from the world's best and largest sports site."

The ESPN.com-FANSonly relationship will result in:

  • Players' and coaches' diaries and columns, press conferences, and other weekly programming;
  • An enhanced College Sports section on ESPN.com with exclusive content provided by FANSonly and its member schools.
  • Touchdown Club - weekly chats from top performers at FANSonly-member schools
  • Weekly chats from top performers at FANSonly-member schools
  • Live and archived audio programming and highlights
  • Exclusive recruiting columns and high school stats and analysis from noted recruiting expert Bill Hodge
  • Rivalry Week - event coverage, message boards, diaries and chats during Rivalry Week, when schools such as Florida-Florida State and USC-UCLA take the field.

    ESPN.com, the leading sports Web site, is part of the Walt Disney Internet Group (NYSE:DIG). WDIG manages some of the Internet's most popular Web sites, including ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, ABCSports.com, Disney.com, Disneystore.com, DisneyTravel.com, ESPN.com, Family.com, GO.com, Movies.com, Mr. Showbiz, NASCAR Online, NBA.com, NFL.com and Soccernet. The Internet Group also includes The Walt Disney Company's direct marketing business. Steve Bornstein is chairman of Walt Disney Internet Group, which is headquartered in North Hollywood, Calif., with operations in Sunnyvale, Calif.; Seattle; New York; Bristol, Conn.; and London. For more information, visit our web site at www.dig.com (http://www.dig.com).

    Student Advantage's FANSonly Network is currently the largest and fastest-growing site on the Web devoted exclusively to college sports. Through its publishing of Official Athletic Sites for each university, Student Advantage's FANSonly Network provides online brand management and content delivery to more than 75 university athletic departments and conferences throughout the country. FANSonly .com serves as the network hub and complement to individual Official Athletic Sites, providing comprehensive information on collegiate sports, including in-depth statistical packages and analysis, information on collegiate recruiting, and team pages on every NCAA Division I. For more information about FANSonly Network, please visit www.fansonly.com.




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