OPEN Sports Network Secures an Additional $4 Million in Funding; Inks Deal With FOX Sports

OPEN Sports Network Secures an Additional $4 Million in Funding; Inks Deal With FOX Sports

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- OPEN Sports Network, a premier producer of next-generation social-powered sports experiences, has scored big with three game-changing announcements: an additional $4 million in private investor funding; a five-year relationship with FOXSports.com to create exclusive, state-of-the-art fantasy games; and the appointment of FOX Sports Chairman David Hill to OPEN Sports' Board of Directors.

The new investment funds, provided by OPEN Sports' original team of investors, have been dedicated to build out an exclusive product line across all major sports to support the new FOX agreement.

"OPEN Sports Network is poised to revolutionize fantasy sports with the industry's best suite of products through this additional round of funding, coupled with support by our new partner FOXSports.com," said Mike Levy, chairman and CEO, OPEN Sports Network. "We're very pleased to have David Hill join our board of directors and offer his leadership and experience as we grow the company."

The OPEN Sports and FOXSports.com relationship includes fantasy football, baseball and other sports games. The initial group of games, FOX Fantasy LIVE, FOX Fantasy Quick Challenge and FOX Fantasy, unveiled last week, are all dedicated to the upcoming football season and powered by the OPEN Sports Network. Under the terms of the agreement, FOX will own 20% of equity in OPEN Sports and will provide $20 million of on-line and on-air promotion through FOXSports.com on MSN, FOXSports.com, FOX Sports and FSN's owned-and-operated regional sports networks. The FOXSports.com/OPEN Sports partnership also includes a revenue sharing component whereby the FOX Sports sales team will sell the new fantasy offerings in collaboration with OPEN Sports Network.

David Hill has been Chairman and CEO, FOX Sports Television Group, since 1999. Hill also served as President of DIRECTV's entertainment division from April 2005 to March 2007, integrating new technologies and developing programming services such as NFL Sunday Ticket SuperFan and NASCAR HotPass enhanced viewing experiences. He was Chairman and CEO, FOX Broadcasting Company from 1997 to 1999 while retaining his leadership role at FOX Sports. Hill arrived in the U.S. in 1993 to create FOX Sports and serve as its first president. His vision led to such innovations as the FOXTrax computer enhanced hockey puck; the FOXBox constant-score-and-clock graphic; "Diamond Cam," "Catcher-Cam," NASCAR on FOX's "Gopher Cam" and "The Adventures of Digger & Friends" cartoon series and merchandise line. Before his arrival in the U.S., Hill held several leadership posts for News Corp. in the U.K.

"The creative team Mike has gathered at OPEN Sports is stacked with talented individuals that will take the business to the next level," said Hill. "That is why FOX has taken an equity stake and why I accepted the seat on the board. From this position, I will facilitate greater cooperation between our companies which in turn should propel OPEN Sports and FOXSports.com into industry leadership positions."

About OPEN Sports Network

OPEN Sports is a producer of next generation social-powered sports experiences combining social media and community tools with traditional sports content and best-of-breed fantasy sports games. Founded in March 2008 by Mike Levy, founder and former CEO of SportsLine.com, the Company's mission is to exploit the highly compelling market opportunity that has been created at the intersection of traditional sports, fantasy sports, and social media. OPEN Sports' applications and services support a community-driven model that empowers sports fans to shape the platform and corresponding content with a combination of community-centric tools. In addition, the Company is leveraging its extensive experience to develop next-generation fantasy gaming and scoreboard services that incorporate the viral, collaborative aspects of social media with the entertainment and reward of fantasy sports games for prizes. For more information, visit www.OPENSports.com

About FOXSports.com

FOXSports.com on MSN is a leading sports Website that delivers exclusive commentary and sports video, breaking news, real-time stats and fantasy games to more than 14 million unique visitors every month. FOXSports.com is the online extension of FOX Sports television coverage and is the exclusive provider of sports content for MSN.com in the US, located at http://msn.foxsports.com/. FOXSports.com is an industry leader in the delivery of sports content to mobile devices. Sports fans can access the latest scores, stats and news while on the go from FOXSports.com on MSN Mobile, simply by entering FOXSports.com on their Web-enabled mobile phones, or texting SPORTS to either 36977 or FOXSP.

Contacts: Wendy Zaas/Ivy Mollenkamp
Rogers & Cowan
310-854-8148/310-854-8131
wzaas@rogersandcowan.comimollenkamp@rogersandcowan.com

Lou D'Ermilio
FOX Sports
212-556-2573
loud@fox.com

Source: OPEN Sports Network

CONTACT: Wendy Zaas, +1-310-854-8148, wzaas@rogersandcowan.com, or Ivy
Mollenkamp, +1-310-854-8131, imollenkamp@rogersandcowan.com, both of Rogers &
Cowan, for OPEN Sports Network; or Lou D'Ermilio of FOX Sports,
+1-212-556-2573, loud@fox.com

Web Site: http://www.opensports.com/
http://msn.foxsports.com/

-------
Profile: intent