Two major online publishers, America Online and CBS, will promote the National Football League and its teams on the Web through a $325 million cross-promotional agreement.

According to the multi-year deal, the two companies will facilitate a massive online media push from the NFL, in return for limited use of the NFL brand and promotions in NFL content. Other financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed by the companies, although a source familiar with the negotations confirmed the deal's $325 million value. Through the arrangement, the NFL Internet Network -- which includes NFL.com and the 32 team sites -- will be promoted extensively through the America Online service, including mentions on its welcome page and in its Sports, Kids and Teen content channels. NFL ads and promotions will also run on other America Online-owned Web sites and services, including Netscape, ICQ and CompuServe. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based SportsLine.com, in which CBS owns a large stake, will produce and host NFL.com, in addition to hosting the individual teams' sites. The deal is something of a blow to ESPN.com -- a unit of Disney-owned ABC -- which had hosted the site, through a three year-old agreement with the NFL. NFL spokespeople did not return requests for comments on the shift, although earlier reports from internetnews.com suggest that the NFL declined to renew ESPN's contract. The NFL-SportsLine arrangement is markedly similar to the earlier agreement with ESPN, in that the cable network promised TV, radio and print (via ESPN Magazine) promotional support for NFL.com. But unlike the earlier arrangement, SportsLine will handle and sell ad space on the sites and in NFL streaming video. And Wednesday's deal is also well above the $10 million ESPN is believed to have originally paid the NFL in 1998.