Yahoo! Sports Puts on Full Court Press for College Basketball Tournaments

''Tournament Tracker'' Integrates Live Audio Play-by-Play From Yahoo! Broadcast With Real-Time Scoring From PRAJA inc.; Tournament Pick`em Game Grand Prizes Include an Autographed Michael Jordan Jersey and a Trip to Universal Studios

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BW SportsWire via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--March 10, 2000--Yahoo!(R) Sports (https://sports.yahoo.com) is virtually the only place basketball fans need to go to follow and participate in all of the upsets and buzzer-beating thrills of the 2000 men`s and women`s college basketball tournaments.

Whether at work or home, Yahoo! users can experience the heart-stopping action in several ways:

-- ''Tournament Tracker'' integrates live audio play-by-play of men`s tournament games from Yahoo! Broadcast (https://broadcast.yahoo.com) with real-time scoring and customized alerts through a relationship with PRAJA, a leading provider of interactive event software;

-- Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick`em, a bracket game where fans can predict the winning teams for both the men`s and women`s tournaments and have the opportunity to win a number of prizes, including an authentic autographed Michael Jordan jersey from The Upper Deck Co. (men`s bracket winner) and a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., from eSuperfan.com (women`s bracket winner), plus additional prizes from WhatsHotNow.com and CollegeGear.com;

-- Up-to-the-minute coverage, matchups and analysis from Yahoo! Sports and its leading content providers;

-- Audio shows covering the tournament on Yahoo! Broadcast (https://www.broadcast.com/sports/ncaa/basketball/madness2000/), including College Hoops Insider, Selection Sunday Call-in Show, The Final Four Show, and A Prelude to a Championship, as well as audio highlights of past Great NCAA Tournament Moments.

''Whether you are a hard-core sports fan or a casual enthusiast, Yahoo! Sports takes users` passion for the college tournaments experience to another level,'' said Tonya Antonucci, senior producer, Yahoo! Sports. ''Access to live audio and real-time scoring, our Tournament Pick`em game, specialized tournament audio shows, and audio highlights from years past make Yahoo! Sports` tournament coverage extremely compelling.''


Tournament Tracker

Through a relationship with PRAJA (www.praja.com), Yahoo! Sports provides Tournament Tracker for users to experience real-time scoring, statistics, updates and results, integrated with live audio through Yahoo! Broadcast.

Users can track both live and concluded games simultaneously and set customized combinations of audio feeds, scoring updates, and detailed stats for any tournament game they choose to follow. Tournament Tracker also allows users to opt for real-time updates based on a number of game criteria, including start times, two minute-warnings, point differentials, overtime, or concluded games.


Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick`em

The Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick`em game includes brackets for both the men`s and women`s tournaments, with a user`s goal to accumulate as many points as possible by correctly picking the winning team in each tournament game.

Users can enter either or both brackets and submit one set of picks per bracket to three public and three private groups, where they have the ability to track themselves against other group members, including co-workers, friends, family or other basketball fans.

The Tournament Pick`em game provides the ability to analyze tournament match-ups, including those announced during the draw and simulated match-ups which might occur in later rounds of the tournament. Sign-ups for both games continue from the draw on Sunday, March 12 until one hour before the first game of each tournament tip-off (Thursday, March 16 for men; Friday, March 17 for women.)


Gift Basket

In addition to the autographed Jordan jersey provided by The Upper Deck Co. (men`s bracket winner) and the trip to Universal Studios provided by eSuperfan.com (women`s bracket winner), participants in the Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick`em game also have the opportunity to win other valuable prizes from sponsors Upper Deck, WhatsHotNow.com, and CollegeGear.com.

Men`s bracket prizes include a First Prize of an autographed Larry Bird basketball and a Second Prize of an autographed Kevin Garnett jersey, while women`s bracket prizes include a first prize of an autographed Kevin Garnett jersey and a second prize of an autographed Charles Barkley basketball. No purchase is necessary in order to participate.

The official rules are available at
https://help.yahoo.com/help/us/tourn/trules/trules-10.html.


Analyze This

Fans can research their Tournament Pick`em selections and analyze what experts are saying about specific teams or matchups through Yahoo! Sports` lineup of content providers, such as The Sporting News, CNNSI.com, and Coach`s Edge.

TSN and CNNSI.com provide basketball fans with team and game analysis from its stable of expert writers, while Coach`s Edge, an interactive sports media company, provides play diagrams and analysis as well as coaching strategies that explain the action behind the action.


Chalkboard Chatter

Connecting with other fans or the online basketball community is easy with Yahoo!`s extensive community and communication services such as Yahoo! Chat, Yahoo! Clubs, Yahoo! Message Boards and Yahoo! Messenger. Using these tools, college hoop fans can hook up with alumni to track teams, discuss tournament seedings, predict potential upsets, or analyze brackets with fellow hoop fanatics.


About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) is a global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services to 120 million users each month worldwide.

As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach, and is one of the most recognized brands associated with the Internet.

The company also provides online business services designed to enhance Yahoo!`s clients` Web services, including audio and video streaming, store hosting and management, and Web site tools and services. The company`s global Web network includes 21 World properties. Yahoo! has offices in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada and the United States, and is headquartered in Santa
Clara.


Note to Editors: Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.