Broadband Sports was originally founded in 1998, later becoming a high-flying dotcom-era network of sports-content Web sites that raised over $60 million before shutting down in February 2001.
Its focus was to allow sports fans and athletes alike to connect directly via a community of fellow enthusiasts.
Broadband Sports was originally a high-flying dotcom-era network of sports-content Web sites that raised over $60 million before going bust in February 2001.
[1] The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company originally started out as Athlete Direct ("AD"), that served as the host of 350 official web sites for such athletes as Troy Aikman, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Brett Favre, Mia Hamm, Eric Karros, and Anna Kournikova.
Troy Aikman, then the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, made unannounced visits to the AOL Athlete Direct chat room to interact with community members.
For example, after tossing a bat at Mike Piazza during the 2000 World Series, Roger Clemens stiffed reporters in the locker room following the game but offered a full explanation on his web site.
[5] Following the demise of Broadband Sports, athletes such as NASCAR driver Ward Burton sued under the ICANN Policy to obtain ownership of their respective domain names.