ESPN.com and Fact City Launch Men's College Basketball Tournament Q&A Service.

Technology Editors and Sports Writers 

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2000

Fact City's Fact-Finding Engine Instantly Answers

Basketball Questions with Reliable Facts and Statistics

ESPN.com, part of GO.com (NYSE:GO), and Fact City, the only fact-finding engine for Internet portals, search engines and vertical market Web sites, announced the first Internet facts-on-demand service. The service will enable ESPN.com users to ask questions about men's college basketball and instantly receive accurate facts and historical statistics. The launch of this service coincides with the opening of the men's college basketball championship tournament. Fact City is an add-on service that enhances the user experience on any Internet site.

"This Fact City agreement brings a new element to ESPN.com's already abundant tournament coverage," said Geoff Reiss, senior vice president, Programming and Production, ESPN Internet Group. "Fans can now pore over tons of intriguing facts and figures about their favorite teams and players while keeping pace with the action in the tournament."

The ESPN.com and Fact City alliance offers sports fans instant access to a wealth of men's college basketball statistics from 1996 to present, including information on players, teams, coaches, seasons, tournaments, arenas and mascots. A link to the ESPN.com "NCAA StatSearch" service can be found on the front page of the men's college basketball section. It can also be located by going directly to this Web address: http://espn.factcity.net

"Fact City enables ESPN.com to offer college basketball fans the fastest, most interactive way to find facts and statistics," said Eric Ziering, president and founder of Fact City. "Best of all, delivering sports statistics is only the beginning. Consumers will soon find our fact-finding service on Web sites covering every topic from entertainment to business, as well as integrated into their favorite Internet search engines."

"Web sites must continually seek new ways to build in switching costs and keep customers at their sites. Syndicated content is an excellent way to make a site 'sticky.' Traditional search engines encourage customers to follow links to other Web sites," said Tim Hickernell, program director, Web and Collaboration Strategies, The META Group. "Fact City's unique approach of blending syndicated database content with existing search tools returns factual information, not just links, which can keep a customer at a site for a longer period of time."

Accuracy From a Trusted Sports Data Authority

Fact City ensures that sports statistics delivered through its service are current and accurate through a partnership with STATS, Inc., the leading provider of sports information and statistical analysis to news publications and services, broadcasters, software game developers, online services, paging companies and fantasy game operators.

"Fact City provides STATS, Inc. with an intelligent and elegant way to deploy our deep, rich and highly specialized sports data to a broad Internet audience," said Jim Capuano, senior vice president of sales at STATS, Inc. "Our partnership with Fact City gives us a powerful way to extend our brand and create new business opportunities while allowing fans to answer sports related questions."

Helping Web Users Get the Facts

ESPN.com is the first Web site to offer Fact City's facts-on-demand service. Fact City aggregates facts, statistics and other quantitative information from brand-name data partners; accesses that data with proprietary search and retrieval technology; and delivers it through the Web sites of its search engine, portal and vertical market partners. Fact City is not a destination Web site itself, it is a service that enhances the user experience on other sites.

Fact City enables Internet portals to attract and retain visitors by combining unique factual content with an easy way to access it. The service is both useful and fun, which encourages users to spend more time on a site and return frequently. The resulting increase in page views provides Fact City's affiliate partners with measurable advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

Fact City offers data providers a new and vast distribution channel for content, branding and e-commerce opportunities, and increased site traffic. Fact City also provides partners with market research figures on the use of content.

About ESPN.com

ESPN.com, the most popular sports site on the Web, delivers up-to-the-minute sports news, statistics, analysis and scores, along with extensive video and audio programming, and chats with players, ESPN experts and other sports personalities. The service features analysis from a roster of more than 70 ESPN experts, more than 50 free and premium Fantasy games, real-time statistics and graphics, and more.

GO.com was created as part of the recent merger between Infoseek Corporation and The Walt Disney Company's online unit, Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG). GO.com oversees many of the Web's most popular sites and services, including the GO Network portal, ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, Disney.com, Disneystore.com, DisneyTravel.com, ESPN.com, EXPN.com, NFL.com, NBA.com, NASCAR Online, ESPNstore.com, ABCsports.com, Family.com and Mr. Showbiz.

About STATS, Inc.

STATS, Inc. is owned by News Digital Media, the producer of Foxsports.com. News Digital Media is the digital division of News Corporation. STATS operates a Member's Choice area on America Online (Keyword: "STATS") with real-time electronic scoreboards covering all major sports plus rich statistical offerings and in-depth analysis. STATS offers a virtual fantasy sports playground on the World Wide Web at www.stats.com where sports fans can play games and obtain up-to-the-minute information on their favorite team or player. STATS also publishes 12 pro sports annuals and two all-inclusive baseball encyclopedias. In addition, STATS provides timely and innovative sports information to an extensive list of commercial clients including Fox Sports, ESPN, MSNBC, The Sporting News, EA Sports and the Associated Press.

About Fact City

Founded in 1999, Fact City is the Internet's only fact-finding engine. Its service enables Internet portals, search engines and vertical Web sites to provide visitors with straight answers to factual questions. Unlike search technologies that respond to queries with hyperlinks or related questions, Fact City responds to English-language questions with specific facts. Fact City is not a destination site. It is a repeat-use service that enhances the search capabilities of portals and other Web destinations, attracting advertising revenue. For content providers, Fact City is a new distribution channel providing promotion and sales opportunities to a vast Web audience. Fact City is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more information, go to www.factcity.com.