BOSTON, MA – April 25, 2000 – FOX Sports Net New England, a service of Rainbow Sports, will premiere the second telecast of its revolutionary broadband-driven Interactive Sportstalk TV show at 8:00 PM on Thursday, April 27th. The second installment of FOXWOODS GAMEFACE will give New England sports fans the chance to discuss the new Patriots stadium in Foxboro, the proposed building of a new Fenway Park, and the highly anticipated start of the Red Sox 2000 season. Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT has signed on as the title sponsor of FOXWOODS GAMEFACE.
Hosted by WEEI’S, Glenn Ordway, the second edition of FOXWOODS GAMEFACE will feature in-studio guests Jonathan Kraft, Executive Vice President of the New England Patriots, former Patriot Fred Smerlas and Boston Herald sportswriter Steve Buckley. In addition, FOXWOODS GAMEFACE will include a special appearance by WBCN’S Cha Chi via a home web-cam.
The April 27th show is the second in a series of scheduled FOXWOODS GAMEFACE programs that incorporate exciting new programming options that leverage the growing broadband delivery infrastructure in New England. New England has more than 150,000 broadband customers, most of whom receive high speed Internet access from cable modems.
The show will include live viewer “call-ins” via Web-cams, as well as video e-mails (v-mails) and e-mails sent to the network prior to the program telecast. Each “Web-cammer” image will appear on-screen, in a picture-in-picture format, with Ordway and his guests as they engage each other in discussion. A special segment will feature fans “facing-off” in a local sports trivia competition via Livewave’s interactive “Outertainment Centers” at Jillian’s Atlas Bar & Grill and Champions in Boston. Working in partnership with Livewave Inc., the Outertainment Centers allow sports fans without broadband access at home to participate on-site in high action areas during the show.
“Reaction was overwhelmingly positive to the first FOXWOODS GAMEFACE and we’re eager to continue pioneering new territory in sports television,” said David Woodman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FOX Sports Net New England. “FOXWOODS GAMEFACE leverages the exciting new opportunities made possible by the proliferation of broadband in New England. We expect the second installment, buoyed by Foxwoods becoming the show’s title sponsor, will lead to FOXWOODS GAMEFACE becoming a regular part of our programming lineup in the near future.”
Fans can submit their questions, or share their rants about their teams, by sending video file attachments or traditional e-mails for possible inclusion for the April 27th show as well as upcoming specials in May and June by logging on to www.gamefacetv.com Depending on software, video e-mails can be created as an executable file that can be double clicked or saved to disk to open. Files may also be sent with the following extentions: .mov, .avi and .mpeg.
FOX Sports Net is a service of National Sports Partners, a 50/50 joint venture between Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., and the FOX Entertainment Group. Equally owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. and FOX Entertainment Group, FOX Sports Net now reaches more than 68 million homes nationwide.
Rainbow Sports, a division of Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., has dedicated itself to “Home Team” fans for more than 20 years. Rainbow Sports incorporates all of Rainbow Media’s sports assets, including its 50 percent ownership of FOX Sports Net and FOX Sports National Advertising, majority ownership of the Madison Square Garden Properties, and the ownership and management of FOX Sports Net regional networks in six of the nation’s largest markets — Chicago, Florida, New England, New York, Ohio and San Francisco. MediaOne has a 50 percent interest in FOX Sports Net New England.
Contact:
Ryan Donovan
FOX Sports Net
781-994-3628
Gregory Trieste
Bratskeir & Company
212-679-2233