SPORT SECTIONS
Friday, July 6
 
ESPN.COM LAUNCHES WEB'S MOST COMPREHENSIVE OUTDOORS SECTION

ESPN.com, in conjunction with Winnercomm, Inc., in Tulsa, Okla., has launched its outdoors section (http://espn.com/outdoors) with the most in-depth, comprehensive coverage of fishing and hunting on the Web. In addition to the latest headlines, analysis and television listings, ESPN.com has teamed up with several industry leaders to provide features such as an online license sales center, extensive weather reports and fantasy fishing leagues.

"We know that fishing, hunting and camping are by far the largest participatory sports in America, and that's a huge fan base we can serve," said John Skipper, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN.com. "This new section will not only allow users to follow these activities as a fan, it will also give them a head start on planning their own adventures."

Jim Wilburn, President and CEO of Winnercomm, Inc., added, "The cross-media promotional opportunities in this venture are truly unique. Complementing the world's leader in outdoor programming with the largest hunting and fishing web site opens up convergent promotional and marketing opportunities that simply don't exist in these sports today. We're delighted to be working with ESPN on the site's development, and to offer our existing outdoor sponsors the opportunity to reach their audiences through the world's number one sports site."

Highlights of the outdoors section include: · TV listings: Television listings for outdoors programming updated weekly, including time, show and subject; · ESPN experts: Regular columns and analysis from contributors such as show hosts Curt Gowdy, Denny Brauer, Jimmy Houston, Ron Schara and Tom Miranda; · B.A.S.S. coverage: BASSMASTER Magazine and other B.A.S.S. publications will provide bass fishing and BASSMASTER Tournament Trail coverage; · Contributing columnists: Veteran outdoor magazine writer Keith Sutton will pen a bi-monthly "Out There" feature, while Joe Healy, David Klausmeyer and Phil Monahan from Abenaki Publishers will provide how-to expertise in flyfishing and fly-tying; -more-

· In-depth weather: Access to five-day forecasts for more than 43,000 zip codes, current conditions for 5,000 U.S. cities, weather advisories and warnings, marine weather, and animated radar and satellite images, from Accuweather; · Search engine: an outdoor recreation search engine powered by IMOutdoors.com; · Tide predictions: eAngler.com provides a tide chart "wizard" that can predict tides for 8,000 coastal locations; · Flyfishing and fly tying: Abenaki Publishers will provide expertise on freshwater and saltwater flyfishing and fly tying from the pages of American Angler, Fly Tyer and Saltwater Fly Fishing, as well as the site's comprehensive database of searchable fly recipes; · Online license purchasing: GreatLodge.com will power ESPN.com's online license sales center for fishing and hunting licenses, along with the "Game Encyclopedia," offering biological information on dozens of animal species; · Tips of the Week: The Content Well will provide the site's illustrated fishing and hunting "Tips of the Week;" · Fantasy games: FBC2000.com will provide users the opportunity to join fantasy fishing leagues, following the B.A.S.S., Professional Walleye Trail and FLW; · Maps: Downloadable maps of fishing and hunting hotspots in 17 states, updated weekly, from Fishing & Hunting News; · Fishing Records: The International Game Fish Association will provide exclusive access to its database of Youth and State Line-Class Fishing Records; · Video games, including an interactive shooting gallery; · Daily user polls and regular live chats with ESPN and industry experts.

Long John Silver's has signed on as presenting sponsor for the section, while Remington Arms Company, Natural Gear and McAlister have been lined up as additional sponsors. ESPN.com, the leading sports site, is part of the Walt Disney Internet Group. Walt Disney Internet Group is one of five business units of The Walt Disney Company and manages many of the most popular Web sites and services, including Disney.com, ESPN.com, ABC.com and ABCNEWS.com. Additional properties include Family.com, Mr.Showbiz, Movies.com, DisneyAuctions.com, DisneyStore.com, DisneyVacations.com, Soccernet.com and NFL.com. Walt Disney Internet Group also produces Enhanced TV telecasts in conjunction with select ABC Television and ESPN programming and includes the catalog operations of The Walt Disney Company and 19 Disney-branded international properties. Steve Wadsworth is president of Walt Disney Internet Group, which is headquartered in North Hollywood, CA, and has operations in Bristol, CT; Seattle; New York; Tokyo and London. -30-

Ashley Swadel, ESPN.com (212) 456-7890 or ashley.c.swadel@dig.com




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