FOXSports.com and University of Nebraska's Live College Football Webcast Serves More Than 200,000 Video Streams

Business Wire, Sept 6, 2000

Sports & College Football Editors/Interactive & Multimedia Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BW SporstWire)--Sept. 6, 2000

Weekly Press Conferences of the Nation's Top College Coaches

Added to FOXSPORTS.com's Innovative Line-Up

Setting a record breaking day in site traffic, FOXSPORTS.com and the University of Nebraska's live college football Webcast held September 2 had fans logging on in droves.

Marking the first college or pro football game ever produced and shown on a Web site directly linked to a major television network, the Webcast resulted in more than 200,000 video streams around the world. Users logged on after downloading the necessary Quicktime, RealPlayer or Windows Player software applications.

"FOXSPORTS.com is pleased that so many fans were able to watch the season opener," said Danny Greenberg, senior vice president of FOXSPORTS.com. "Based on the tremendous positive feedback, we're already planning additional college football Webcasts -- This is only the beginning."

"The online streaming of the Nebraska/San Jose State football game by FOXSPORTS.com and Digital Island marked a watershed event for both the Internet and college football," said Tim Wilson, vice president of marketing at Digital Island, the primary company responsible for encoding and delivering the Web content. "It was one of the largest streaming events we have produced, and the biggest college football game ever streamed live in its entirety. We saw a dramatic increase of more than 10 percent in high-speed broadband traffic during the event, the biggest single jump in the past five years." Wilson added.

"We have heard from many of our fans around the globe who were able to see the first Internet broadcast of a Husker football game. From the comments that I have received, it was very successful," said Bill Byrne, Nebraska director of athletics. "That tells me that this is something we want to continue to pursue. We believe the Internet brings us one step closer to our fans, particularly those who are miles from home and have limited access to our normal radio and TV broadcasts. I'm excited about this medium as a way to bring the great tradition of Nebraska athletics to our fans."

The game between the Cornhuskers and Spartans, which was not televised, was generated from the HuskerVision video used inside the stadium and the radio feed from the Pinnacle Sports Network, and featured the Husker broadcast team of Warren Swain and Adrian Fiala. Adding to the Webcast, FOXSPORTS.com provided real-time game stats, chats and a live scoreboard, allowing Husker fans nationwide to be a part of the excitement at Memorial Stadium.

College Coaches Press Conferences at FOXSPORTS.com

Building on FOXSPORTS.com's innovative and groundbreaking coverage of college football, the site will provide weekly highlights of college football coaches press conferences featuring some of the top college teams in the nation including; Nebraska, Notre Dame, Kansas State, Penn State, Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama, Virginia Tech, S. Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Illinois and West Virginia.

The press conferences on FOXSPORTS.com provide viewers with a backstage pass to the college football world delivering analysis, previews and news on top football teams straight from the university's head coach.

About FOXSPORTS.com

FOXSPORTS.com, a division of News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) News Digital Media, is the premier sports destination on the Internet for up-to-the-minute stats, news and scores for all professional, college and high school sports. Unlike any other sports site, FOXSPORTS.com features: 18 regional sites covering local sports news and teams across the country, Maximumgolf.com, the innovative golf destination delivering unprecedented and progressive golf coverage, FOXSPORTSBiz.com, the definitive source for sports business news, FOXStudentSports.com, the most comprehensive online destination for high school sports and the FOX Sports Fantasy Network, one of the Web's most active fantasy sports leagues. Additionally, FOXSPORTS.com is the top provider of content to broadband and wireless platforms and owns STATS, Inc., the leading distributor of statistical information, delivering the most comprehensive player, team, game and situational information on the Web.