SEATTLE, Aug 7, 2001 -- International online retailer Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (http://www.mlb.com), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, today launched the Seattle Mariners Store on Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.com's Japanese Web site. The store, found at www.amazon.co.jp/mariners, features the broadest selection available in Japan of official Seattle Mariners products, from team T-shirts and caps to Ichiro and Sasaki name and number jerseys. Most products in the store have 24-hour availability, and Amazon.co.jp provides free shipping for any orders of (Y)5,000 or more.
Utilizing all aspects of Amazon.com's proven e-commerce platform, the Mariners Store features Japanese product descriptions and editorial content, product images and a U.S./Japan sizing comparison chart. All pricing is in Japanese yen, and customer service and fulfillment are handled within Japan by Amazon. Beyond Mariners products, the store includes books, CDs, videos and DVDs related to the Mariners, Ichiro and baseball in general.
"This is truly a win-win-win for Major League Baseball, for Amazon.com and for our customers and fans, who will be able to get their favorite Mariners merchandise at competitive prices, with fast delivery times and from a retailer that truly understands ease-of-use and superior technology," said Bob Bowman, CEO, MLB Advanced Media, which operates MLB.com, the official league site, as well as the 30 individual club sites.
"I want to congratulate Ichiro and Sasaki and the entire Mariners team for a stunning season," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, Amazon.com, which is headquartered in Seattle. "We are thrilled to be working with Major League Baseball Advanced Media and the Seattle Mariners to offer our first ever sports store to our hundreds of thousands of customers and all the Mariners fans in Japan."
The Seattle Mariners Store will be featured on Amazon.co.jp through this baseball season, with the potential for extension. Special hyperlinks to the Japanese store are located on MLB.com's shopping page, the Seattle Mariners Web site and the Seattle Mariners Japanese Web site. Amazon.co.jp is also providing a link to MLB.com's subscription page for live Japanese audio of the Seattle Mariners games, which is also being launched with tonight's game.
About MLB Advanced Media (http://www.mlb.com)
Established in June 2000 following a unanimous vote by the 30 Major League Baseball club owners to centralize all of Baseball's Internet operations. MLB Advanced Media LP (MLBAM) is the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball. MLBAM manages the official league site, www.MLB.com, and each of the 30 individual Club sites to create the most comprehensive Major League Baseball resource on the Internet. MLB.com offers fans the most complete baseball information on the Web, including up-to-date statistics, game summaries, extensive historical information, and exclusive features about Major League Baseball events and programs, including on-line ticket sales, baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and collectibles, fantasy games, radio broadcast of games, pitch-by-pitch enactment of games, and video highlights.
About Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)
Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com and sellers list millions of unique new and used items in categories such as electronics, kitchen and housewares, books, music, DVDs, videos, camera and photo items, toys, software, computer and video games, cell phones and service, tools and hardware, and outdoor living products. Through Amazon Marketplace, zShops and Auctions, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's over 35 million cumulative customer accounts, and with Amazon Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments.
Amazon.com operates four international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr and www.amazon.co.jp. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 275,000 movies and entertainment titles and 1 million cast and crewmembers dating from the birth of film. Amazon Anywhere is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing access to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and through handheld wireless Internet devices.
About Amazon.co.jp (http://www.amazon.co.jp)
Launched November 1, 2000, Amazon.co.jp is the Japanese language site of Amazon.com, the global online retailer. Offering more than 2.2 million Japanese and foreign language books, CDs, videos, and DVDs, Amazon.co.jp is the No. 1 Japanese online bookstore and the No. 2 Japanese e-commerce site, based on Media Metrix data measuring the number of unique visitors and reach. Amazon.co.jp has marketing alliances with several major Japanese Internet portals, including Yahoo Japan (www.yahoo.co.jp), Goo (www.goo.ne.jp), BIGLOBE (www.biglobe.ne.jp), and Excite Japan (www.excite.co.jp).
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, strategic alliances, strategic partnerships and business combinations, seasonality, potential fluctuations in operating results and rate of growth, management of potential growth, risks of system interruption, international expansion, consumer trends, risk of fulfillment center optimization, inventory risks, limited operating history, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, and all subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.