SportsLine USA Inc., publisher of CBS SportsLine, is
acquiring GolfWeb, a privately held
Internet company that provides golf-related content, interactive
entertainment, membership services, and merchandise.
GolfWeb also operates international Web sites targeted to golf enthusiasts in
Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
The acquisition will dramatically expand the coverage of golf on SportsLine
USA’s Web sites, which, in addition to CBS SportsLine, include the official
Web
sites of Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, John Daly, The Golf Channel, and Golf
Holidays.
The deal provides for SportsLine USA to acquire all the outstanding capital
stock of GolfWeb in a merger in exchange for approximately 860,000 shares of
SportsLine USA common stock. Based on the five-day average closing price of
SportsLine USA’s common stock through January 14, the value of the shares
to be
issued to GolfWeb’s shareholders in connection with this transaction is
approximately $14.85 million.
Following the acquisition, GolfWeb, based in Cupertino, CA, will operate as a
wholly owned subsidiary of SportsLine USA, under Tim Harrington, who will
continue as GolfWeb general manager.
“GolfWeb instantly allows us to significantly expand the depth and breadth of
our golf coverage to exceed that of any Web site in the world,” said Michael
Levy, president and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, FL-based SportsLine USA.
“With GolfWeb’s outstanding international content, coupled with our extensive
marketing and distribution relationships, we have now become the world’s
leader in online golf information.”
GolfWeb claims eight million monthly page views. In addition to golf news
coverage, it has a worldwide golf course directory with information on 21,000
golf courses, as well as an online discount golf pro shop. There are also
fantasy golf leagues, golf classifieds, a golf auction, online stats tracking
and game improvement and online instruction.
The business model is based on revenue from multiple revenue streams:
advertising, product sales, membership and services.
