Re Agreement

Sportech PLC 21 August 2001 21 August 2001 LITTLEWOODS LEISURE TO SPONSOR ITV's INTERACTIVE FOOTBALL COVERAGE Sportech plc ('Sportech' or 'the Company') has signed an exclusive deal that will see Littlewoods Leisure ('Littlewoods') become the exclusive sponsor of ITV's interactive football coverage. Carlton Active has created the interactive service to support ITV's domestic football programming, for digital terrestrial viewers. Littlewoods will offer ITV Digital's 1.2 million households the opportunity to predict match statistics during the live football games broadcast on digital terrestrial television. ITV will also promote Littlewoods own gaming products focused around Littlewoods £2 million a week football pools game, but also including BetDirect's sports betting and Prizebuster Lotteries. This unique interactive package will bring an enhanced viewing experience to ITV Digital's customers. At the same time, Sportech will be able to drive increased revenues on Littlewoods products and to expand their established customer base of over 1.6 million households. The opportunity to participate in Littlewoods-sponsored interactive gaming on ITV's Digital channel, including the new ITV Sport Channel, will be promoted throughout ITV's domestic football coverage during this season. ITV will be screening over 2000 hours of live domestic football and football discussion shows. This will include their new Saturday night Premiership football programme, hosted by Des Lynam ('The Premiership'). The agreement further progresses Sportech's strategy of making all their gaming products truly multi-channel, with particular concentration on providing home based gaming opportunities to their ever-expanding customer base. Digital television is a key channel to the advancement of the Company's strategy and this latest interactive offering will complement its existing distribution channels, which range from the internet to Littlewoods' famous door-to-door collector network. As well as the enhanced brand awareness that the deal will bring to Littlewoods' games, the interactive nature of the digital television is enabling Sportech to develop new games and betting products, further increasing the range and diversity of products they offer. Sportech's and ITV's similar customer profile and strong football focus highlights the synergies between the two companies' brands and the benefits that they will both enjoy from this relationship. Colin McGill, Managing Director, Sportech plc, said: 'We believe that the exposure that this sponsorship agreement will bring to our brand will drive significant business to our continually expanding portfolio of betting and gaming products. There is a tremendous brand fit between Littlewoods, which already has a 70 year association with Saturday football fixtures, and ITV, which is just embarking on its own exciting association with Premiership football viewing. 'This partnership has the potential to bring an attractive and innovative approach to digital television, which will be well beyond what consumers have previously been offered. We hope this agreement will be the start of a long and exciting relationship between our two companies.' Jolie Powell, ITV's Head of Business Development said: 'Interactive TV services have proven to be an enormous asset to our programming. Last season, 80% of ITV Digital sports fans used our enhanced UEFA Champions League service. ITV viewers love using the service and ITV's football offering simply would not be complete unless we provided our audience with this extremely effective means of enhancing their viewing. We are delighted to have signed this agreement with Littlewoods who, like ourselves, are committed to delivering high quality entertainment into the home. We believe the relationship is a strong indication of our desire to increase the ITV viewing experience with a range of different services.' Carlton Active's Chairman, Martin Bowley, comments: 'This deal is a major milestone for the interactive TV industry. It proves that advertisers understand and value the significant benefits that interactivity can bring to their brand. Last season ITV viewers accessed the enhanced UEFA service on average 15 minutes during each match. For Littlewoods to have that reach, over multiple programmes, across the entire season is monumental. This deal also sets the foundation for a long-term, fulfilling relationship with Littlewoods.' Commenting on the deal, David Henderson, Gaming Industry Consultant at KPMG Consulting, independent advisors to the deal, said: 'Gaming and gambling has been one of the few interactive television services to have generated significant revenues to date. There has been an increased emphasis for gaming operators to secure access to strong content, and the partnership between ITV and Sportech is significant in this regard. The interactive television gaming market in the UK is forecast to be worth around £2 billion by 2005.' Enquiries Sportech plc 0151 288 3006 Colin McGill, Managing Director / Peter Cuffe, Director of e-Gaming Bell Pottinger Financial 020 7353 9203 Rebecca Fox / Oliver Jones ITV 020 7843 8092 Nicola Howson Notes to Editors: Sportech PLC: * Sportech plc is the holding company for Littlewoods Leisure, the UK gaming company, acquired in a reverse take-over completed in September 2000. Sportech is developing the Littlewoods gaming and leisure business, utilising new channels of distribution to bring more games to more players, capitalising on the strength of the Littlewoods brand, namely its association with the values of trust and integrity. * Littlewoods Leisure is one of UK's oldest established gaming companies, providing football pools, sports betting and lotteries. Founded in 1923 as Littlewoods Pools, the company has a regular playing customer base covering 1.6 million households. * Littlewoods Leisure have had a long establish relationship with football in the UK, not only through their organisation of the largest and longest running football pools competition but also through being the first sponsorship of the FA Cup between 1994 and 1999. Through its links to football, including ongoing contributions to the Football Foundation, Littlewoods Pools alone has given back over £400 million to the UK's national game. * Littlewoods Leisure's multi-product offering across Pools, online and telephone sports betting and soft gaming (lotteries, scratchcards) is complemented by its multi-channel distribution network including mail, telephone, the Internet, 15,000 retail stores and 13,000 door-to-door collectors. * Bet Direct, the telephone and on line betting arm of Littlewoods Leisure, has been one of the fastest growing sports betting services in the UK and now has over 200,000 registered account holders. Bet Direct offers a full range of fixed odds betting and prides itself on delivering innovative betting incentives for its customers through daily 'Best Bets'. Bet calls are free and there is a free £5 bet for all new customers. * PrizeBuster is the UK first internet and interactive TV lottery, it is available through Littlewoods' website bet247 and through Telewest's digital network. The game involves customer matching either 3 or 4 numbers between 1 and 49, based on the National Lottery Draw, the average prize money for 3 numbers is £800 rising to £7,000 for 4 numbers. * For more information on Sportech, please visit our website at www.sportech-plc.co.uk Carlton Active: * Carlton Active is a one-stop iTV production house, which creates and implements interactive programmes and advertising across all three digital TV platforms - digital terrestrial, digital satellite and digital cable. * Since launching in 1999, Carlton Active has become a pioneer of interactive TV in the UK, building up a wealth of experience. In addition to creating the first interactive commercial to air on ITV, it has already created iTV ads for major advertisers such as the AA, Proctor & Gamble, Roche and Unilever. * Carlton Active's interactive ITV Sport service equips ITV's viewers with enough facts and figures to satisfy even the most ardent fan, all accessed by using their digital television remote control. Live match results, team sheets, goal information, football news, league tables and fixtures are just some of the information available while they continue to watch television. * Carlton Active has also created a number of interactive TV services to support ITV's programmes, including the UEFA Champions League, The BRIT Awards, The General Election and Survivor.

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