Sportsya.com Raises $15 Million In An Investment Round Led By IMG/Chase Sports Capital; Forms Strategic Alliance With IMG The Internet's leading Spanish and Portuguese-language sports portal, today announced that it raised $15 million in a financing round led by IMG/Chase Sports Capital (``Sports Capital''). In addition, SportsYA! has established a strategic alliance with IMG, the premier sports management and marketing agency and the world's largest independent distributor of television sports. SportsYA! will be the exclusive Spanish and Portuguese-language global sports portal for IMG and its Internet affiliates, including TransWorld International Interactive, Inc. (``TWIi''). TWIi is the New Media and Technology arm of IMG and a global leader in the production of signature sports websites, including those for the Brazilian National Soccer team and Manchester United. The investor group in this round includes: * IMG/Chase Sports Capital, a New York-based investment firm specializing in sports-related businesses; * Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the New York Mets Baseball Club; and * All of SportsYA!'s initial investors: Chase Capital Partners, Flatiron Partners and Ventech LLC, among others. SportsYA! will use the financing to accelerate its current expansion into Brazil, enhance its development of unique content and acquire choice global sports properties, rights and e-commerce opportunities. David S. Moross, Managing Partner of Sports Capital, said, ``Our strategy in this strategic round of funding for SportsYA! follows a similar role we undertook last month in the second round funding for Sports.com. Both transactions reflect our global approach to sport investing, and our determination to be a leading investor in sports Internet businesses.'' SportsYA! Chief Executive Officer Emilio Romano added, ``Sports Capital is one of the leading investors in sports and its track record is fantastic. Together with our initial backers and now Sports Capital and IMG, we will have the resources to drive to our goal of being a leading sports media company in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking world.'' Moross continued, ``We are pleased to partner with our good friends at Chase Capital Partners and Flatiron Partners to provide this strategic round of financing to SportsYA!, which has rapidly emerged as one of the world's leading sports portals. As the first interactive Spanish- and Portuguese- language sports site, SportsYA! has taken advantage of the unique opportunity and is now a dominant vertical sports portal.'' The SportsYA! and IMG/TWIi deal includes an agreement to co-invest in select sports media assets throughout the world. The new alliance provides SportsYA! with exclusive rights to all of IMG/TWIi's television content, archives and libraries for development in Spanish- and Portuguese-language markets, including the U.S. Hispanic market. IMG/TWIi will also provide access to its state-of-the-art interactive media production facilities throughout the world and its partner relationships in the areas of technology, content and media. SportsYA! will also be able to develop unique online content through IMG's vast base of leading sports personalities such as Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Derek Jeter, and sports properties including Manchester United, Brazilian National Soccer, Barcelona Soccer Club, Wimbledon Tennis, Rugby World Cup and The British Open Championship. ``This agreement puts us way ahead in the area of sports content. We will be delivering the most unique and compelling Spanish- and Portuguese-language Internet sports content in the world. I can't imagine a better partner match than this,'' said Romano. About SportsYA! Founded in November 1998, SportsYA! (www.sportsya.com) is today the Internet's leading Spanish-language sports portal serving the Latin American, Spain and U.S. Hispanic markets. SportsYA! will launch a Portuguese-language offering for the Brazilian market in the first quarter of 2000. In addition to extensive soccer coverage, SportsYA! covers every sport that is relevant to the Spanish and Portuguese-language audience including baseball, basketball, volleyball, boxing, football, track and field, swimming, tennis, rugby, auto racing, golf, cycling, skiing, extreme sports and even bullfighting. The site contains an international page and independent local country pages that are produced by editors, webcasters and programmers located in each country. In this way, SportsYA! is able to offer an international perspective and locally relevant sports content, editorial and programming. Among SportsYA!'s 50-plus contributing editors and columnists are Jorge Valdano, the renowned ``Soccer Philosopher'' currently residing in Spain, Cesar Menotti, the former coach of Argentina's World Cup championship soccer team; Fernando Schwartz, a leading Mexican soccer broadcaster and former NFL great Joe Theismann. SportsYA! also maintains affiliations with sports properties such as the Mexican National Soccer team, Argentine Futbol de Verano 2000, America Soccer Club and the NBA's Miami Heat. SportsYA! users have access to free e-mail and a variety of sports-related services including chat rooms, classifieds and auctions. Users are also able to download video and audio, play NBA, NFL and soccer fantasy league games and shop for sports merchandise in the e-commerce link, SportsYA! Pro Shop. SportsYA! also has signed content partnerships with Microsoft Networks, Lycos, Prodigy, AvantGo and Yupi, among other distribution partners. Headquartered in Miami, with offices in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and Brazil, SportsYA! has more than 100 employees worldwide. For more information visit www.sportsya.com. About IMG and TWIi IMG is part of the Mark McCormack Group of Companies, founded by Mr. McCormack in the early 1960s. The company is the world's premier sports management and marketing agency. Its TransWorld International (TWI) division is the largest independent distributor of television sports and annually produces and distributes 5,000+ hours of original programming in over 240 sports to more than 200 countries. Every day of the year, IMG is commercially involved in an average of nine major sports and cultural events around the world. It represents the interests of major corporations, is a literary agency and book packager, and is manager and presenter of world-renowned classical music artists through the IMG Artists division. Its IMG Models is an international modeling agency. IMG's clients include Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, David Duval, Sergio Garcia, the United States Olympic Committee, Itzhak Perlman, Pete Sampras, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Wimbledon, Annika Sorenstam, Derek Jeter, Major League Baseball, Tyra Banks, Rebecca Romijn- Stamos, Kristi Yamaguchi, Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Martina Navratilova, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Tim Couch, John Madden, Bob Costas, the Nobel Foundation, the GRAMMYSŪ, the Kennedy Space Center, the Federation International de Ski, the Smithsonian Institution, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the WTA Tour and the NCAA.