ar ro aA: sie ‘whe > ” iw OF SPORTS Surfing For Sport (NAPSA)—For many fans of professional sports, “the best seat in the house” is now in front of their computers. Sports have gone digital. Fans now log on by the thousands to their favorite teams’ or sports’ Web sites to watch games and for the latest information on players, plays and standings—thanks to technology from Sun Microsystems and iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions. Major League Baseball’s Web site alone draws more than one million fans each day. The baseball Web site experienced a 52 percent increase in hits from May, 2001 to June, with June seeing more than 38 million people visiting the site and 108 million page views. Millions of fans flockingto sites like Major League Baseball’s MLB.com prove that sports and technology are a good match. From a technical point of view, Internet experts say the site scores big points. Developed using Sun servers, software and storage products, and iPlanet’s platform, it is fully interactive and user friendly. “The technology has helped us to connect with fans worldwide, bringing the commerce, information and statistics of baseball fully into the digital age,” says Bob Bowman, president of MLBAM— the interactive media and Internet A number of sports fans use the Internet to follow their favorite players and teams. arm of Major League Baseball. For many fans, pro baseball is a gameofstatistics and the new technology gives them the information they need to more fully enjoy the game, including pitch-by-pitch reporting on over 2,400 season games, media coverage, team schedules and ticketing, fantasy league and fan club information. “The technology gives both the armchair manager following play by play and the statistician comparing decade-long careers exactly what they need,” says Hal Stern, chief technology officer of iPlanet. Sun’s Web Services solutions are revolutionizing major league sports, as well as many key industries. See www.sun.com for more information.
