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SportsLine Europe to Start French, Rugby Web Sites (Update1)
(Adds comment from Pangolin from 7th paragraph.)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- SportsLine Europe Ltd., a U.S.-controlled company that is setting up Internet sports sites in Europe, said it started a French language Web site and a rugby sports site.
The sites at france.sports.com and rugby.sports.com will offer live events, analysis and game statistics. Merchandise will also be sold. The rugby site has an exclusive partnership agreement with the official Rugby World Cup site.
SportsLine USA owns 80 percent of SportsLine Europe, and plans to invest about $50 million in the venture over the next few years. Other investors include top computer chipmaker Intel Corp., cable TV company MediaOne Group and financial information service Reuters Group Plc. As part of the venture, Reuters contributed its European Internet sports site sportsweb.com. ''We want to bring the experience gained from the U.S. and use it in Europe,'' said Mike Levy, chief executive of SportsLine USA, in an interview.
SportsLine USA, 18 percent-owned by broadcaster CBS Inc., already produces soccer Web sites for international audiences. Beefing up its presence in Europe could help the company gain an edge on its bigger competitors, including Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN and Time-Warner Inc.'s CNN-SI.
More sites are planned in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. It is also planning to start sites related to cricket and other sports, Levy said.
One European competitor said Sportsline's U.S. experience might be of little use in Europe. ''You can't just parachute in the Big Mac and make it work in Europe,'' said Neil MacDonald, chief operating officer at Pangolin UK Ltd., a U.K.-based company that is setting up European sports sites at sportal.com.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based SportsLine USA said it will forge partnerships with local print, Internet and broadcast media in each country it covers. The company will also integrate audio and video news into each site.
It recently agreed with AOL Europe, a venture between America Online Inc. and Bertelsmann AG, to supply content to Netscape Online, the venture's free Internet access service.
SportsLine USA shares rose 1 15/16, or 8.59 percent, to 24 1/2 on Friday.
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