Yahoo!’s 2009 Fantasy Football Season Kicks Off with Mayors from 11 Major U.S. Cities Competing on its Gridiron

*Inaugural Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Nation Mayoral Face-off, will include Mayor Luke Ravenstahl from Pittsburgh competing against mayors from around the country, including San Francisco, Green Bay and Buffalo for a chance to win up to $30,000 for a local Pittsburgh charity.

Sunnyvale, Calif., August 12, 2009 – Yahoo! Sports, the web’s leading sports site and home of the #1 fantasy football game, will kick off its 12th fantasy football season by fostering some friendly competition among mayors from big football cities across the nation.

The Yahoo! Sports Mayoral Face-off competition matches mayors head-to-head each week of the fantasy football season, which kicks off on September 10 and concludes on December 28.

The winning mayor takes home $15,000 for the local non-profit sports program of his or her choice. And in a battle for civic pride, a second $15,000 donation will be awarded to the city with the most votes from fantasy fans.

Mayors who are putting their football prowess on the line for this competition include:

o Byron Brown (Buffalo, NY)

o Jim Schmitt (Green Bay, WI)

o Mark Funkhouser (Kansas City, MO)

o R.T. Rybak (Minneapolis)

o Ron Dellums (Oakland, CA)

o Mick Cornett (Oklahoma City, OK)

o Buddy Dyer (Orlando, FL)

o Kevin Johnson (Sacramento, CA)

o Gavin Newsom (San Francisco, CA)

o Pam Iorio (Tampa Bay, FL)

There’s no telling if the Greatest City in America has what it takes to overtake Titletown, or if Oaktown will step it up and beat The City across the Bay. Maybe this is the year that Cigar City gets smoked by O.K.C., or the City of Fountains drowns out The City of Good Neighbors’ chances.

There’s also a chance that the City of Bridges leaves an indelible mark on the City Beautiful. No matter what happens, the inaugural Yahoo! Sports Mayoral Face-off promises to be exciting for all.

During the season fans can check out the mayors’ starting line-ups and team roster changes at http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/mayoral_faceoff09.

Starting on Thursday, August 13 fans can also help their favorite city score the second $15,000 donation by voting at http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f2/mayoral-faceoff. The winning city with the most passionate fantasy football fans will be announced on September 11, 2009. The ultimate prize of the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football Mayoral Face-off title will be announced on January 11, 2010.