Free online game cash prize

ATLANTA--(BW SportsWire)--Aug. 4, 1999--

'Beat the Experts' Game Allows Users to go Head-to-Head with

CNN/Sports Illustrated

CNNSI.com will offer three online fantasy football games this season, all of which will be FREE.

Each game will award weekly cash prizes and one lucky winner will earn a Sports Illustrated VIP trip for two to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. "Beat the Experts," launching later this month, is a new game in which contestants will match their picks each week against CNN/Sports Illustrated experts. All games can now be accessed at CNNSI.com's Fantasy Central - http://cnnsi.com/fantasy.

"We've created a fantasy football lineup to appeal to all sports fans, whether they have ten minutes or ten hours to play," said Hart Hooton, CNN/Sports Illustrated Interactive general manager. "Our new and exciting games, plus the launch of our Fantasy Central section, allows us to better serve our community of fantasy fans. And, offering our games free to users allows us to showcase our games to the largest possible audience."

Registration for "General Manager," the first of three fantasy football games this season, will begin Mon., Aug. 2, followed by "Coach's Quest" and "Beat the Experts" later in August. All three games begin in conjunction with the regular football season on Sept. 12. A description of the games follows:

"Beat the Experts" - Each week contestants pick the winners of each

NFL game against the cast of CNN/Sports Illustrated television's

NFL PREVIEW, including analysts SI's Peter King, CNN/SI's Trev

Alberts, Pat Kirwan, Ron Meyer, and host Bob Lorenz, and SPORTS

TONIGHT hosts Vince Cellini and Fred Hickman. The contestant that

correctly picks the most games will be featured on the site and

on SPORTS TONIGHT. Each week is a new game so contestants do not

have to play the full 17 week season.

"Coach's Quest" - Classic rotisserie-style game in which contestants

participate in a round-by-round draft that allows them to draft

their most important positions first, and the top choices for

each position. Contestants create their own league to compete

against their friends, and they also compete against all other

contestants for the grand prize. Contestants can trade players

with others in their division. There are three scoring systems to

choose from and the contestant with the most points at the end of

the season will receive the grand prize.

"General Manager" - Contestants purchase players based on a

pre-determined salary cap, and can buy and sell players

throughout the season. Player prices change each week and

contestants' points are earned according to actual NFL player

performance. Contestants can compete in a division against their

friends, as well as compete for the grand prize.

The grand prize for "General Manager" will be a Sports Illustrated VIP trip for two to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The winner and guest will fly to Sydney, stay six nights aboard the Norwegian Star cruise ship, receive two Olympic tickets each day for six days, and have access to Olympic venue hospitality centers and Sports Illustrated parties. The grand prize for "Coach's Quest" is $1,000, while second- and third-place winners will receive $500 and $250 respectively. All three games will award weekly prizes of $100 to the winner, $50 for second and $25 for the third place.

CNNSI.com is Time Warner's sports Web site featuring up-to-the-minute scores, news, statistics and analysis of U.S. and World and men's and women's sports, as well as fantasy sports, live video-streaming and a local sports section for more than 150 cities. The site features the renowned journalism and photography of Sports Illustrated; content from Turner Sports, including NBA, golf and motor sports; and CNN/Sports Illustrated, the 24-hour sports news network. CNNSI.com is the home of Sports Illustrated on the Web and the sports site for CNN Interactive.

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