IBM and National Football League Team for Sponsorship and Information Technology Agreement

ARMONK, N.Y. -- The National Football League and IBM recentlyannounced a three-year agreement naming IBM as the NFL's officialinformation technology (IT) partner. The agreement is centered onhelping the NFL create the technology platform required to supportnext-generation digital media and other critical new business venturesfor the NFL.

As part of the agreement, IBM will receive the rights to use NFL andSuper Bowl marks and imagery in its advertising and marketing efforts.It also will receive prominent presence on numerous NFL mediaplatforms, including NFL.COM and NFL Sunday Ticket (the NFL'sout-of-market satellite subscription package on DIRECTV). In addition,IBM will be a charter advertiser of NFL Network, the new NFL televisionprogramming service launching November 4.

The initial focus of the agreement includes assisting the NFL indesigning and implementing an advanced, flexible and centrally manageddigital asset "warehouse" to maximize the ongoing use of more than 80years of NFL assets (i.e. video, audio, images, text and statistics)across the League's member Clubs, varied properties and Internetpartners.

"The NFL continues to align itself with partners that will help movethe league into the next phase of information technology, an elementthat is critical to continue to deliver on the needs of our fans,member clubs and business partners," said John Collins, the NFL'ssenior vice president of marketing and sales. "We look forward toworking with IBM as we evolve the way we view and use technology overthe next several seasons."

The NFL and IBM will team to define next generation technology thatwill help enable NFL Films, Clubs, broadcasters and partners to accessand distribute the NFL's digital content in a controlled and secureenvironment.

The NFL chose IBM for its technology expertise and portfolio ofproducts, such as DB2 Content Manager, DB2 Universal Database software,Tivoli Storage Manager software and IBM tape storage, which run on IBMeServer xSeries and pSeries servers.

In addition, as the official information technology partner for theNFL, IBM Business Consulting Services will provide consulting services,business model definition and IT prioritization throughout the durationof the relationship to maximize the NFL's return on investment.

"This solution will demonstrate how the NFL can transform the use ofNFL digital content to enrich the way it operates the League forcoaches, media, scouts and fans," said Dick Anderson, general manager,IBM Digital Media. "The digital media solutions we are creating willnot only be a showcase of IBM's capability in the emerging area ofdigital media, but they also will help prepare one of the world'sforemost media properties for next-generation of on-demand digitalmedia."

Over the past 43 years, IBM has extended its business solutions intoentertainment and professional sports by providing results andcompetition management systems. With the emergence of e-business, IBMhas expanded many of these relationships to include a presence on theWeb. Today, IBM provides technology support and solutions to majorsports and entertainment properties, including the Australian Open,Roland Garros, Wimbledon and U.S. Open Tennis championships, the PGATOUR, Cirque du Soleil and the Tony Awards.

About IBM

IBM is a leading information technology company, worldwide, with 80years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM helpscustomers, Business Partners and developers in a wide range ofindustries that leverage the power of the Internet for e-business. Formore information about IBM, visit www.IBM.com.