STATS, Inc. Powers March Mania Games for USATODAY.com

STATS, Inc. Powers March Mania Games for USATODAY.com

    Sports Editors

    MORTON GROVE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2005--STATS, Inc. announced today that it is offering March Mania 2005 - an online college basketball bracket game - for USATODAY.com college basketball fans. STATS, Inc. will also run USATODAY.com's Office Pool Manager that will allow fans the option to choose from four different scoring systems for their own custom office pool.
    USATODAY.com's March Mania game requires contestants to predict the winner of each game of the Men's College Basketball Tournament and accumulate points increasing in value for each round of the tournament. The game is free to play and offers fantastic prizes to the winners, including:

--	Grand Prize: Sony 50" Grand WEGA LCD Rear Projection HDTV
--	Runner-Up Prize: Sony DVD Dream System
--	Third-Place Prize: Sony PS2 gaming console with an EA Sports Gamepack containing NCAA March Madness 2005, NBA Live 2005, MVP Baseball 2005, Madden 2005, NHL 2005 and NASCAR 2005: Chase For the Cup

    STATS, Inc., the world's leading sports information provider, will be responsible for development, web hosting, technical operations and customer service of USATODAY.com's March Mania 2005 game. Game registration is now available at marchmania2005.usatoday.com.

    About USATODAY.com

    USATODAY.com is an award-winning news and information Web site that is updated 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Each month, millions of unique monthly visitors access USATODAY.com News, Money, Sports, Life, Technology, Weather and Travel sections which combine the best of USA TODAY news and information and the latest breaking news with cutting-edge interactive features, information graphics and multimedia functions including audio, video and live Webcasts. USATODAY.com is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI). For more information, please visit www.usatoday.com.

    About STATS, Inc.

    With more than 20 years of experience in sophisticated sports data collection, processing and distribution - STATS is the world's leading sports information and statistical analysis company. STATS provides exclusive information and data from its proprietary databases to fans, professional teams, print and broadcast media, iTV platforms, software developers and interactive and wireless service providers around the globe. STATS, Inc.'s business partners include FOX Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, WGN Sports, Yahoo!, SI.com, MSNBC, AOL, Sporting News, EA Sports and the Associated Press. (http://biz.stats.com)

--30--CE/cg*

CONTACT: STATS, Inc. Nick Stamm, 847-583-2110 stamm@stats.com or USA TODAY Heidi Henderson, 703-854-5304 hhenderson@usatoday.com

KEYWORD: ILLINOIS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SPORTS PRODUCT SOURCE: STATS, Inc.

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