The Arbiter.net and Referee Magazine/NASO Team Up to Launch MyReferee

(FRANKSVILLE, WI) — Sports officials throughout the country will soon have an opportunity to view customized officiating content thanks to a new agreement between Advanced Business Technology, Inc. (ABT), developers of TheArbiter.net, officiating assignment software, and Referee Enterprises, Inc. (REI), publishers of Referee magazine and managers of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO). The exclusive site will debut at the 24th Annual NASO Sports Officiating Summit July 30-Aug. 01, 2006, in Memphis, Tenn.

Reid Evans, President of ABT, anticipates an overwhelming response to MyReferee. “We’ve long admired what Referee magazine and NASO have done over the years to educate and train sports officials and couldn’t be more pleased to be working with them,” he said. “It’s exciting to see our state of the art technology help deliver the industry’s best officiating content to sports officials throughout the world. It will change the way sports officials educate and train themselves.”

Barry Mano, REI president, is pleased with the exclusive agreement.

“We’ve been talking with ABT about working together for the past two and a half years and felt confident they were the technology partner we wanted to work with,” said Mano. “TheArbiter.net is the most recognized assigning software in the sports officiating industry and that was very important to us because we wanted to work with an organization that has standing in this industry, with a proven record of performance and end-user support.”

“Officials will be able to fill out a personalized profile that will define the content they want to receive. When completed, MyReferee will also include a searchable database containing much of Referee’s publishing content,” said Bill Topp, REI Vice President of Publishing and Management Services. He added, “We’ve spent the last 30 years building the most prolific database of officiating content in existence today and we wanted sports officials to have access to it — free of charge.”

Together ABT and Referee/NASO will develop and enhance the basic web-based platform that comes into existence with the launch this summer. The two companies expect the MyReferee site to evolve quickly into a vital web tool for sports officials. “More and more officials are receiving their assignments via the web and the TheArbiter.net is without peer in that environment. Coupled with no-cost, sports specific content based upon each official’s profile, TheArbiter.net/MyReferee users will now have a communication, assignment and educational platform at their fingertips,” said Mano.

ABT also plans to develop association management tools that will help officiating leaders better communicate with their officials. Said Evans, “In addition to TheArbiter.net assigning software, association leaders will soon have tools that will allow them to mass communicate, administer tests and quizzes, survey members and more.”

Added Mano, “There are high expectations when two industry leaders work together, and without a doubt, this will be one of the most revolutionizing and beneficial efforts the officiating industry has ever seen.”

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The following individuals are available for more information: