Free Fantasy Baseball Returns on ESPN.com
Fans Get Live Scoring, Mobile Alerts and Expert Analysis;
Baseball Tonight Fantasy Baseball Draft Special – March 25 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Baseball is back, and ESPN.com is calling all players — league managers, veterans and newcomers — to report in for its third year of FREE ESPN Fantasy Baseball. To kick off the season, ESPN2 will air the Baseball Tonight Fantasy Baseball Draft Special on March 25 at 2 p.m. ET to break down this year’s roster of players and to analyze the playing field with Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech, “The Talented Mr. Roto” Matthew Berry and ESPN baseball analyst and senior writer Buster Olney.
ESPN Fantasy Baseball participation grew 33 percent in 2008 (it has grown more than 12X since 2006). Additionally, time spent per visit with ESPN Fantasy Baseball content grew 20% last season.
As always, fans will have access to the industry’s most in-depth collection of tools and content including live scoring, multiple draft options, full wireless control of ESPN.com teams, and content across the Internet, television, radio, podcasts, mobile phones and other portable devices — all for free.
Fans will also find free ESPN Fantasy Baseball and all of ESPN’s fantasy baseball tools and content online.
FREE ESPN Fantasy Baseball
ESPN Fantasy Baseball will be entirely free for the third straight year and will deliver fans a host of features. New to the offerings this year is ESPN FantasyCast, an interactive tool that uses live scoring and real-time results to track fantasy team players as the games are being played. Users will be able to click through multiple games within FantasyCast for the latest box scores and stats. Additional viewing options include match-up comparisons with other fantasy teams in a specific league, a My Team tab and league scoreboards. Other returning features for ESPN Fantasy Baseball include:
- Live Scoring – live player-by-player scoring and results, including live updating box scores.
- Mock Draft Lobby – lets players drop in at any time to run through a draft, try out a new draft strategy or just see who and how other players are drafting.
- Multiple Draft Options – including live online Auction drafts, Private drafts, Live Draft Lobby, Automated drafts and offline drafts.
- Online Draft Kit –includes complete rankings, projections and profiles for more than 850 players, rankings for the top 100 prospects for 2009, cheat sheets and dollar values for mixed, AL- and NL-only leagues, updated average draft and auction results, draft and auction strategies, mock drafts, in-depth analysis and a look at the most pressing questions for all 30 major league teams.
- Mobile Alerts – players can keep up with their team while away, with the ability to get breaking news and scoring alerts sent directly to wireless devices (all carriers).
- Draft Pick Trading – players have the option to trade draft picks in league with a fixed draft order.
- Player Cards 2.0 – embedded player information cards allow players to see recent news, analysis and game-by-game stats without leaving the page.
- Keeper Options – League Managers can transfer keeper settings by entering keepers prior to their draft.
- Customizable Rules and Scoring
- League Message Boards, Chat and Polls– players can discuss news, create their own polls and even chat online – all from right within their ESPN.com league.
ESPN will again provide the most useful and comprehensive information, analysis and insights in the industry with an unmatched roster of writers, analysts and media personalities. The ESPN Fantasy Baseball team includes Berry, Eric Karabell, Christopher Harris, Jason Grey, Tristan Cockcroft, Brendan Roberts, James Quintong, AJ Mass, Nate Ravitz and injury analyst Stephania Bell.
Fans will also find baseball news and insights from leading pro baseball Insiders, including ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Keith Law, Jayson Stark, Rob Neyer, Jerry Crasnick, ESPN The Magazine’s Amy Nelson and ESPN’s Peter Gammons, Steve Phillips and Tim Kurkjian.
Mobile
Players will be able to get alerts across all major carriers, and will have exclusive team management via ESPN MVP on Verizon Wireless. Additionally, fantasy baseball-related video content is available on ESPN Mobile TV (via the MediaFlo and MobiTV platforms).
Fantasy Baseball On ESPN TV and Radio
This season, ESPN will continue to bring fans fantasy baseball insights, information and analysis on its television and radio networks.
Baseball Tonight Fantasy Baseball Draft Special: On March 25 at 2:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2 will televise a 60-minute “Baseball Tonight Fantasy Baseball Draft Special.” The program, hosted by Ravech and with Olney and Berry, will break down each position, potential sleepers and busts, draft strategies, rookies and more.
ESPNEWS, Baseball Tonight, First Take and The Bottom Line: ESPN’s signature news, information and analysis programs will feature fantasy baseball content integration, with additional in-depth attention to fantasy baseball in late March. ESPNEWS will air live segments Monday through Friday and taped segments airing every Tuesday through Saturday beginning at midnight, as well as live news-reaction reports from Berry and Bell on Baseball Tonight. First Take will also feature fantasy baseball content, while The Bottom Line will integrate custom fantasy content with Baseball Tonight and live games.
ESPN Radio: Beginning March 2, ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com will devote attention to fantasy baseball in its popular programs Mike and Mike in the Morning, The Herd with Colin Cowherd and SportsNation. Fantasy Baseball Special with ESPN Radio’s John Seibel and special guest Berry will also air this Friday, March 20 and next Friday, March 27 from 8-10 p.m. ET.
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