ATLANTA, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas L. Jarvie, President and CEO of
Dallas-based Universal Sports America, Inc., was named today President of Bull
Run Sports Investments, a division of Universal Sports America, Inc., wholly
owned subsidiary of Bull Run Corporation (Nasdaq: BULL). This action was
taken in conjunction with Bull Run's acquisition of Universal Sports America
and a major USA investor - Host Communications Inc. of Lexington, Kentucky.
W. James Host, currently CEO of Host Communications, Inc., will assume CEO
and President duties for USA as Doug Jarvie moves over to run the Bull Run
Sports Investments fund.
Commenting, Robert S. Prather, Jr., President and CEO of Bull Run said,
"USA and Host have been active in the development of Internet-related entities
for several years. In 1996, USA acquired an equity position in broadcast.com,
inc., which offers audio and video programs over the Internet. In 1999,
following broadcast.com's initial public offering of its common stock in 1998,
USA sold its equity position. We believe we have virtually unlimited
opportunity to expand this type of activity through greater focus. Doug
Jarvie has been a key player in our successful Internet investment activities
to date and I'm delighted he will now focus full-time on this very high
potential area."
Doug Jarvie added, "We continue to see many opportunities here. Recent
examples are our relationships with the National High School Federation as an
equity participant to form iHigh.com, and our investment in Total Sports,
Inc."
iHigh.com is creating a network of websites centered in high school sports
and activities by linking 51 high school state associations and 17,500 public
high schools in partnership with the National Federation of State High School
Associations. To date, Host has provided a working capital loan and certain
services and expertise in exchange for an equity position. iHigh is currently
raising capital from private sources.
Currently, Bull Run holds an 11.4% equity position in Total Sports, Inc.,
a sports content Internet company, in exchange for a $3,500,000 cash
investment and services provided by Host and USA. On November 12, 1999, Total
Sports filed a Form S-1 Registration Statement with the Securities and
Exchange Commission relating to a proposed $50,000,000 initial public offering
of its common stock. On November 29, 1999, Total Sports announced that it had
expanded its strategic relationship with NBC, receiving on-air promotion from
NBC in return for NBC's minority equity position in Total Sports.
Robert S. Prather, Jr. commented further, "The Internet is obviously an
incredible growth opportunity for our sports and media businesses. We intend
to take full advantage of these opportunities by focusing some of our
resources on finding and developing entities without employing a significant
amount of capital. These entities, like broadcast.com and Total Sports, could
benefit from our marketing services and expertise, as well as our strategic
business relationships."
Doug Jarvie will be located in Dallas.
SOURCE Bull Run Corporation
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http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/232438.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 232438
CONTACT:
Robert S. Prather, Jr., President and CEO of
Bull Run Corporation, 404-266-8333, or Douglas L. Jarvie,
President of Bull Run Sports Investments, 972-392-5700
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