Sprint will promote its collect calling plan 1-800-ONE-DIME as the sole sponsor of ESPN SportsZone's "Roast Your Rival" promotion due to kick off today. The five-week promotion asks visitors to submit their favorite wisecracks about their school's archrival.
The Internet Advertising Bureau moved a step closer to its planned international development last week. Chairman Rich LeFurgy, also senior vice president of advertising at ESPN Internet Ventures and ABC News, began meeting with advertisers and publishers in Europe during Jupiter Communications Consumer Online Services Europe conference to discuss expanding the industry group there.
As part of a campaign to emphasize the durability of its laptop computers, Panasonic has launched a Halloween-themed online campaign called "How Did Your Notebook Die?" Panasonic agency Renegade Marketing Group, New York, a unit of Dentsu, developed the minisite and banners that will run through the end of the year.
Major League Baseball Players' Association has named Katz Millennium Marketing the ad sales rep firm for its site, bigleaguers.com. Since its July launch, the site has carried ads from Netscape and ESPN SportsZone.
The Microsoft Network and Yahoo have signed a deal for the search engine to provide a directory service on MSN's online service and on the MSN.com Web site. In return, Yahoo will carry MSNBC.com news on its site as well as Microsoft's CarPoint, the online auto- and car-buying site.
In a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, SportsLine USA, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said it will issue an estimated $35 million of its stock (3.5 million shares at between $9 and $10 per share), likely by years' end. The filing also revealed that Intel and Mitsubishi have invested in the venture, buying $5.4 million and $2.15 million worth of SportsLine stock, respectively.
CNET's third-quarter earnings report has revealed a slight increase in revenues: $6.86 million as opposed to $6.62 million during the second quarter. In the third quarter of 1996, the company reported $4.52 million in revenue. The quarter's losses came to $6.15 million, which were attributed to higher-than-expected costs of development on several new products. This year's total earnings now come to $8.67 million.