Atlanta, Ga. (October 10, 2000). Turner Sports and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) announced today that Turner Sports has acquired NASCAR’s internet rights and will become the exclusive producers of NASCAR Online, the official NASCAR website. The multi-year agreement was announced today by president and chief operating officer of TBS, Inc., Steve Heyer, Turner Sports President Mark Lazarus and NASCAR Senior Vice President Brian France.

Turner Sports will re-launch NASCAR Online on January 1, 2001. The new site will continue to offer NASCAR fans total access to an array of content and features they currently enjoy including: important news and notes from all of NASCAR’s drivers, teams and tracks, audio feeds, Garage Cam, official up-to-the-minute point standings, chats with NASCAR personalities and the popular live timing and scoring. In addition, in the near future, Turner Sports will debut exciting new features such as: branded content, videostreaming of race highlights, expanded garage cameras and photo galleries, archives of past races, live and taped audio, NASCAR fantasy leagues and columns from some of NASCAR’s most highly regarded television analysts. NASCAR fans will also have access to the most extensive line of NASCAR merchandise and collectibles available anywhere through the NASCAR Online Store.

Through this unique agreement, Turner Sports and NASCAR will work together to provide unprecedented editorial coverage of the sport. NASCAR fans will now see not only the traditional NASCAR stories but they will find original, hard breaking news plus some colorful anecdotes and insiders access to the always churning rumor mill. Turner Sports has also acquired exclusive internet video rights which will be used to enhance viewing during races to complement network telecasts with live timing, real-time statistics, scoring and in-car cameras.

‘An acquisition of this scale can stand alone in and of itself as a tremendously successful venture,’ said Heyer. ‘But when you consider the success that the site has had already and you integrate the TBS Superstation television schedule and the resources that Time Warner can put behind this endeavor, what you have can only be described as a ground breaking agreement.’

‘Today’s complex environment demands creative, integrated media solutions, along with NASCAR’s television partners, we perceive this to be a landmark deal on which all future online sports negotiations are based,’ said Lazarus. ‘By combining the resources of our successful companies, we will create the most comprehensive and technologically advanced sports site on the web… the definitive site for NASCAR fans.’

‘Today’s unprecedented agreement is something our NASCAR staff has been working on for many months,’ said France. ‘There is no question this strategic partnership with Turner Sports is the perfect compliment to the new NASCAR broadcast television package starting in 2001. NASCAR fans will not only be able to watch more live television coverage of NASCAR events, through this agreement they will also be able to log onto the internet at their convenience for complete NASCAR coverage. We truly believe NASCAR Online can become the most visited site among all sports properties.’

Turner Sports will base its NASCAR Online staff in Atlanta with additional personnel in Daytona Beach and Charlotte and at speedways giving the site the ability to break news stories around the clock. NASCAR Online will also provide users with some of the industry’s best information resources.

In November 1999, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and NBC Sports reached a landmark agreement with NASCAR on a six-year contract giving each network the exclusive television rights to the second half of the NASCAR Winston Cup and NASCAR Busch Series seasons. In this first-of-its-kind deal, TBS Superstation and NBC will work in equal partnership on production, promotion and sales efforts.

For Further Information, Contact:

Greg Hughes, Turner Sports, 404/827-3362 or Paul Bennett, Turner Sports, 404/827-5759
John Griffin, NASCAR, 904/947-6834 or Dave Kobuszewski, NASCAR, 704/348-9634