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$10 Million 'Hit for the Cycle' Interactive Sweepstakes

During the summer online contest, which has already began accepting contestants, fans predict baseball players ``Hitting for the Cycle'' -- a baseball term used to describe a player who hits a single, double, triple and home run on the same day.

Each day, visitors to the AthletesDirect ``Hit for the Cycle'' web page receive a computer-issued, group of four players. Contestants place each player of this group on the various bases of a baseball diamond graphic. For example, an entrant receives a team of four players, such as Mike Piazza, Ken Griffey, Jr., Ivan Rodriguez and Barry Bonds.

If the entrant accurately predicts Piazza to single, Griffey to double, Rodriquez to triple and Bonds to hit a home run, then the contestant would be eligible for a $10,000 daily cash prize. Each day, contestants must select one of their entries as a ``$10 Million Man'' to represent them in the Grand Prize Sweepstakes.

Contestants can also receive points and win weekly prizes based on the overall hitting performance of their players. Access to weekly and overall point totals is available through www.athletesdirect.com.

AthletesDirect will award special prizes to the top three contestants who have accumulated the most points by the end of the promotion. The first prize winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Baseball's mid-summer classic game July 12 in Atlanta and will serve as a co-host for AthletesDirect's star-studded athlete party at the game, giving the winners a chance to meet major league stars affiliated with AthletesDirect. Second and third place prizes will be cash awards of $2,500 and $1,000, respectively.

The promotion will close with the chance to win the $10 Million Grand Prize. On July 2, three names will be drawn to compete for the $10 Million. These three entries will be flown to watch their player representatives in action. If one of these participant's entries Hits for the Cycle on July 9, he or she will receive the $10 Million award. Non-winning finalists will each take home $10,000.

``Our goal at AthletesDirect is to provide hard-core sports fans the opportunity to interact with their favorite players on a daily basis,'' said Ross Schaufelberger, Senior Vice President of Business Development for AthletesDirect parent company, Broadband Sports.

``Throughout the pre-season, the regular season and the playoffs, AthletesDirect brings fans face-to-face with many of the greatest names in all of sports. The interactivity of our Hit for the Cycle contest is just one of the many ways we improve the fan experience at www.athletesdirect.com. We are also delighted the innovative nature of the contest has drawn support from major sponsors such as Budweiser and Mandalay Resort Group.''

AthletesDirect recently notified its first $10,000 winner for correctly picking Eric Owens to hit a single, Jason Kendall to hit a double, Darin Erstad to triple, and Butch Huskey to slam it out of the ball park. As part of the award package, the lucky winner was told of his baseball prowess by Butch Huskey of the Minnesota Twins.

``Hit for the Cycle'' was developed with the assistance of BigBallot, the world's leading sweepstakes management company.

Budweiser, the world's best-selling beer, is brewed by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., the world's leading brewer.

AthletesDirect, a subsidiary of Broadband Sports, is a leading developer, publisher and aggregator of high-quality, official online sites for athletes. AthletesDirect has over 300 athlete and sports personality partners, across 15 sports, ranging from football, baseball, basketball and hockey to tennis, soccer and auto racing. Among the world-renowned stars on the AthletesDirect roster are Troy Aikman, Ken Griffey Jr., Kobe Bryant, Sergei Fedorov, Anna Kournikova, Mia Hamm and Ward Burton. AthletesDirect's athlete sites are accessible through the company's web site at www.AthletesDirect.com, Yahoo! Sports at http://sports.yahoo.com/allstars and America Online (AOL) at keyword ``AD.''

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