Press release: 2000-03-23 Sega Sports Announces Exclusive Deal With San Francisco Giants for Pacific Bell Park

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: The Free Library

Sega Sports Announces Exclusive Deal With San Francisco Giants for Pacific Bell Park; Sega Dreamcast to Share S.F. Giants' New Home with ''Sega Sports at Center Field''

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2000

Sega(R) of America, Inc. announced today that it has signed an exclusive agreement with the San Francisco Giants which allows Sega Sports(TM), Sega's sports software brand, to construct an interactive gaming complex inside of Pacific Bell Park.

Scoring big with prime real estate -- right behind centerfield at Seals Plaza -- "Sega Sports at Centerfield" will boast five 7- to 15-foot gaming towers, housing 20 Sega Dreamcasts(TM), Sega's 128-bit, Internet-ready gaming console. "Sega Sports at Centerfield" will be up and running beginning April 28, and be open during all home games throughout the season and participation is free.

Fans will be able to compete on all of Sega Sports' latest titles in the complex, including a preview of "Sega Sports(TM) World Series(R) Baseball 2K1," scheduled to hit retail shelves early this summer. All of the brand's blockbusters to date, such as "Sega Sports NFL 2K" and "Sega Sports NBA 2K" will be featured. The exhibit also includes a 5' x 5' closed circuit screen in one tower that will air live Giants game coverage.

"Sega Sports at Centerfield' is a powerful vehicle for us to communicate the Sega Sports brand message to the public," says Martha Hill, Sega of America's director of sports marketing. "The opportunity to showcase our entire sports line in an authentic sports environment speaks volumes about the brand and the direction we're headed. Pacific Bell Park is one of the city's crown jewels and sits right in our back yard. We felt it was natural to be a part of the fabric of the city and of our home team."

For a sneak preview of "Sega Sports at Centerfield," visit the World Wide Web site at ftp://ftp.accesspr.com/public/sega/Sega_Events_folder/Booth/booth.jpg.

About Sega Dreamcast

Sega Dreamcast is available in the US with a built in 56K modem, allowing for full Internet functionality through the Sega Dreamcast Network, including chat, e-mail, web browsing and online gaming. Content for the Sega Dreamcast Network is provided by Sega, Excite@Home and IGN. The system's preferred Internet service provider is AT&T WorldNet Services, the quickest and easiest way to take the system online. Sega Dreamcast currently has more than 50 titles available. Third-party titles currently in the works will bring the total Sega Dreamcast game library count to more than 200 in the year 2000.

Sega Dreamcast's advanced 128-bit architecture makes it the first console with evolutionary capabilities, allowing it to grow and change to match advances in technology and the needs and desires of the consumer. Sega Dreamcast is also the most powerful video game console ever created. It is 15 times more powerful than a Sony PlayStation(TM), ten times more powerful than a Nintendo(R) 64 and has four times the graphics processing power of the fastest Pentium II processor.

In the first 24 hours of availability, Sega Dreamcast netted over $97 million at retail, more than tripling the past entertainment industry record set by Star Wars: The Phantom Menace at $28 million on its first day. In its initial four days, Sega sold a total of 372,000 Sega Dreamcast systems, easily surpassing the previous industry record holder, Nintendo 64, which took six days to hit 350,000 when it launched in 1996. In the first 13 days at retail, Sega Dreamcast sold more than 514,000 units. Since it launched, Sega Dreamcast has sold more than 1.5 million units, beating sales milestones set by other high-profile consumer and electronics products such as Tickle Me Elmo(TM) and Apple's iMac. Sega estimates that the company will sell 2 million units by the end of March 2000.

About Pacific Bell Park

Located in San Francisco's China Basin area, Pacific Bell Park is the first privately-financed ballpark to be built in more than 30 years. The 40,800-seat facility combines the traditional style and old-time feel of older ballparks with all the modern amenities of new facilities. The park features the shortest right field in all of baseball (307 feet) with homeruns landing into San Francisco Bay, breathtaking views of the Bay and the downtown skyline from inside the ballpark, "knot holes" in the right field wall that allow fans standing outside, along the portwalk, the ability to view the game for free.

About Sega

Sega of America Dreamcast, Inc. is the arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Sega Enterprises, Ltd. responsible for the development, marketing and distribution of Sega videogame systems and videogames in the Americas. Sega Enterprises, Ltd. is a nearly $2.5 billion company recognized as the industry leader in interactive digital entertainment media, offering interactive entertainment experiences both inside and outside the home. Sega of America's World Wide Web site is located at www.sega.com.
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