The Dallas Cowboys Launch New Fan Loyalty Applications with The Network Companies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      The Network Companies Contact: Mike Jaconi (202) 552-5835
Tuesday, September 16, 2008                                                         Dallas Cowboys Contact: Derek Eagleton (972) 556-9326

The Network Companies LLC announced the launch of the Dallas Cowboys Toolbar and Social Network Applications today. These applications, developed by The Network Companies and their partner company FreeCause, Inc., will serve as dynamic communication, engagement and branding platforms for the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys Toolbar and Social Network Applications will keep fans engaged every time they visit the internet by providing premium content, fan loyalty prizes, and up to the minute news, scores, and video messages from Cowboys players and staff.

"With people averaging six to eight hours per day on the internet, having the Dallas Cowboys’ brand in front of users for that amount of time is worth millions of dollars in advertising. We offer these applications as a cost-effective solution for increasing brand awareness, driving traffic to our clients’ websites, and increasing online sales and advertising revenue," said John Weaver, Senior Partner at The Network Companies. "Few organizations take as much pride in their marketing ability as the Dallas Cowboys, so it is a real honor for us to manage these efforts for the team."

The Cowboys Social Network Applications also serve as valuable communication and engagement tools. The Cowboys, seeking to expand their already robust online presence, hired The Network to further expand the Cowboys’ footprint on the increasingly important social networks.

"With Facebook and MySpace having over 200 million members combined, these applications will provide fans the opportunity to publicize their support for the Cowboys on the most popular websites on the internet," said Jerry Jones, Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of the Dallas Cowboys. "We’re especially proud to be the first NFL team to have official platforms within the major social networking sites and to be working with The Network Companies expanding our brand loyalty."

The Cowboys Toolbar will keep fans up to date with streaming news and content from the Cowboys’ website, a real-time scoreboard for Cowboys’ games, and it will engage users with an online fan loyalty rewards program – True Blue Rewards. By downloading the toolbar, fans will automatically be entered to win daily raffle prizes that include tickets, visits to a Cowboys’ practice, and merchandise from the Cowboys’ Official Online Pro Shop.

The toolbar raises True Blue Rewards Points every time a fan searches the Internet through the Yahoo! powered search feed. Additionally, whenever fans make a purchase at one of thousands of participating e-commerce websites, such as Amazon and eBay, a percentage of the sale amount is translated into True Blue Rewards. These points will automatically be redeemed for raffle tickets, and the more points you earn, the better chance you have to win.

The toolbar is also a powerful communications tool, providing an always-on connection between the Cowboys and each of its fans. The toolbar’s communication features include auto-updatable RSS and news feeds, links to pages on the Cowboys’ website, all the components offered by the Google and Yahoo! toolbars such as the weather and email checker, and the most powerful feature – the messaging component. In conjunction with the Cowboys Fan Loyalty Applications, The Network Companies also launched Toolbar and Social Network Application with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. The Network Companies is one of Washington’s premier marketing and multiservice firms, and FreeCause is an industry leading software development firm based in Boston, MA.

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