We understand that being a fantasy player and sports fan is not just about passion and the thrill of the game. It’s also about being social – with friends, family, and of course any rival-team supporters. Around this time each year, Yahoo! Sports becomes home on the web for fantasy football, providing fans with innovative features, the most reliable games, and expert advice. With that in mind, we’re excited to announce our Yahoo! Fantasy Football lineup for 2010:

• #1 Free Fantasy Football Game – With free live scoring, auction drafts, mock drafts, and killer mobile apps, it’s no wonder more Fantasy Football fans play on Yahoo! every year than on any other site. For the 2010 season (our lucky 13^th), we’ve made former Plus features like Draft Kit and Dues Tracking free, and added a new live auction draft app so team owners can stay organized and create winning teams.

• Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football: Wherever, Whenever – Building on our highly successful mobile website and iPhone app from last season, we’ve expanded our mobile lineup and made a lot of improvements based on your feedback. Most notably, we’ve launched our first-ever Fantasy Football app for Android. And, as always, if you have any other mobile device, direct your mobile browser to m.yahoo.com/fantasyfootball.  It’ll be faster than the Jets defense during Monday Night Football.

• “Like” Your League – Just in time for kick-off, Citizen Sports is launching a new feature that offers a uniquely social way to stay in touch with your leagues and teams. While playing either Yahoo! Fantasy Football or Citizen Sports Fantasy Football this season, people can “like” their own Fantasy Team or League and receive personalized updates about players, injuries, lineup reminders, and more directly on their Facebook news feed and through Yahoo! Updates.

• Advice from the Experts – Each week, Yahoo! Sports fantasy football experts Brandon Funston and Brad Evans host Fantasy Football Live, the first interactive Fantasy Football pregame show. Fantasy Football Live begins its fifth season on September 12 at Noon ET/ 9am PT, the advice you need to win the league.

Millions of you depend on Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports to fuel your fantasy football passion. Our loyal, highly engaged fans have made Yahoo! Fantasy Football the #1 game in the industry*. So whether you need to manage your roster from the stadium, boast to your social network about an awesome trade, or get expert advice and tips, we’ve got you covered!

So cheer on, fans, and good luck this season!

Kyle Laughlin

Yahoo! Sports

* comScore, July 2010

And now, Yahoo! is announcing that it has entered an agreement to acquire Citizen Sports, a leading social media company.  Home to the #1 fantasy football app on Facebook, Citizen Sports engages and unites fans across the globe around their favorite sports and teams.

As Yahoo! pursues our social strategy of enriching, aggregating and distributing social content from across the Web, Citizen Sports will strengthen how we go about doing this in the Sports category and beyond.  The combination of these two powerhouses will make the Yahoo! experience more personally relevant, create new opportunities for users and advertisers across Yahoo!, mobile and social networks and thrill sports fans everywhere.

Yahoo! Sports’ best in class news and information will be integrated into Citizen Sports’ range of products and applications for football, hockey, soccer, baseball, racing, rugby, hockey and cricket.  In addition, Yahoo! Sports users will be able to broadcast their allegiances, create or join a conversation with friends and fans and cheer for their teams through Citizen Sports’ applications.

So…what are you waiting for?  The race is on.  Go get your March Madness on with the Bracket Challenge by Citizen Sports app and Yahoo!’s Tourney Pick ‘Em!

– Jeff Kinder, SVP, Media Products & Solutions