Press Release: Smart Button Database Surpasses 2.5 Million Fans

Newark, DE
05/2004

Venture capital funding propels growth of low-cost loyalty marketing platform

Smart Button Associates, a provider of low-cost loyalty marketing software, today announced that over 2.5 million fans have enrolled in loyalty programs using its SportTrak database. Smart Button enables sports, leisure, and entertainment companies to proactively target fans and drive increased consumer loyalty through valuable incentives. Growth funding provided by Murex Investments I, L.P. will provide capital to further develop the company's go-to-market strategy and enable it to build a higher-capacity data center to support additional growth.

Marketing has become increasingly difficult in a world crowded by advertising, blast emails and direct mail, and attracting consumer attention is a challenge in the best of conditions. Loyalty marketing is a growth industry which enables consumers to opt-in to marketing initiatives by companies that they patronize regularly, enabling vendors to rise above the noise level and provide incentives which consumer actually want to receive.

Smart Button has grown significantly since its founding in 1998, propelled by increasing demand for loyalty marketing solutions. While traditional solutions are expensive and complex to implement, Smart Button's web-based SportTrak software is cost-effective and user friendly. In addition, with features that enable targeted marketing, detailed feedback, and results tracking, customers can easily measure the effectiveness of their marketing investment. Today, loyalty marketing programs based on the SportTrak database are operational in over 500 facilities nationwide, including 60% of the pari-mutuel venues in North America.

Philip Sugar, Chief Executive Officer of Smart Button, says, "The momentum we've achieved in a short period of time has been astounding. Today, we serve a world-class customer base including the Arizona Diamondbacks, Barbary Coast Casino, Belmont Park, Churchill Downs, George Mason University, Magna Entertainment, New Jersey Sports and Entertainment Authority, New Orleans Casino, Palms Casino & Resort, Saratoga Race Course, and Philadelphia Park– the home of Triple Crown contender Smarty Jones – to increase attendance at events. These customers, and many others, are driving revenue growth and profits by identifying fan preferences and providing them with incentives that bring them to the venue."

The Arizona Diamondbacks have implemented a far-reaching loyalty program to attract fans to Bank One Ballpark for Diamondbacks home games. Known as the DiamondBackers Frequent FangProgram, fans receive 10 points for each game they attend by swiping their DiamondBackers card at kiosks around the ballpark. Rewards are accumulated for as few as 20 points, but premium prizes, such as the opportunity to serve as a bat boy or to attend a game from a luxury suite, are available for fans who frequently attend the team's home games.

The Philadelphia Park Player Rewards Program provides points every time a patron places a bet, and offers reward premiums such as food, gifts, and wagering vouchers. Likewise, the Churchill Downs Twin Spires Club provides free admission, VIP room seating, and other premiums to frequent attendees at events at its 14 tracks nationwide.

In the casino gaming industry, SportTrak has enabled casino operators to develop close personal ties to its patrons. Sugar continues, "in the past, casino loyalty programs were based on personal relationships: if the pit boss knew you, he could provide a free room or other "comps". The increasing scale and scope of the world's casinos have in many cases made those close personal relationships difficult to establish. Today, a well-designed loyalty program, along with the superior technology provided by SportTrak, can help casinos to maintain those close ties and bring customers back for more."

While Smart Button has been profitable since its inception, the company recently received $400,000 of growth financing from Murex Investments, a Philadelphia, PA-based venture capital fund. Proceeds from the funding will be used for an additional investment in sales and marketing initiatives, as well as for technology enhancements to the company's data center.

Tami Fratis, Managing General Partner of Murex Investments, says, "We are excited to support Smart Button's growth opportunities. The company's business model fits our investment objectives perfectly. We are strong believers in companies that are using low-cost technology platforms to dramatically change the cost structure of their market niches, and we believe that Smart Button's low cost web-based platform will significantly change the competitive balance in the loyalty marketing arena."

About Smart Button
Smart Button Associates is a leader in the development of transactional customer relationship management systems in the sports, entertainment and leisure industries. The company is recognized as an innovator in providing high-value, quality direct marketing software solutions to customers. Smart Button builds comprehensive marketing-driven fan loyalty and rewards programs that produce measurable results and improve business performance. With its origination in the horseracing industry, the company has already proven its effectiveness and positioned itself as a leading provider of comprehensive loyalty software solutions. Smart Button's software is currently utilized in 50% of the North American horseracing venues and several Las Vegas casinos. Smart Button Associates is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

About Murex Investments Murex Investments is a private equity firm that invests in cheap revolution companies, those with groundbreaking new technologies, outstanding management teams, fresh and unique vision, and business models that will fundamentally change their markets through sensible low cost execution. Our mission is to invest in companies that are located in, or are willing to relocate to economic development zones, which provide tax benefits and low cost public assistance financing. The Murex Funds create companies that simultaneously generate wealth and opportunity, while building the communities in which they are located.