Less than five years ago, it seemed like every athlete had their own official Web site. It was there that they would post exclusive news and generate massive revenue by selling exclusive items.

Or so they thought. Those days are long over, thanks to the dot-com bust. Not only are official athlete Web sites rarely making any money, but the number of sites have significantly dwindled. Athlete Direct, which operated more than 250 official athlete sites, closed in February 2001 after burning through tens of millions of dollars.

Anna Kournikova's official Web site, Kournikova.com, has minimal advertising and no paid subscribers, despite its nearly 300,000 registered users. The only mention of advertisers on TigerWoods.com are on the sponsor page. In that environment, what other athlete would think that their Web site could be profitable?

How about LeBron James?

Despite the fact that the No. 1 overall draft pick has yet to play in an official NBA game, James has already racked up more than $100 million in endorsements from Nike, Coca-Cola and Upper Deck. And when his Web site, www.LeBronJames.com relaunches on Wednesday, it will boast a multimillion-dollar sponsorship.

Winner International, parent company of The Club steering wheel lock, has entered a three-year deal to promote its new brand of rechargeable batteries on the Web site. As part of the deal, Juice Batteries will be available online on the Web site exclusively for the next three years and limited edition packaging will have the Web site's logo on it.

James, for his part, will receive a healthy check and a portion of battery sales.

But will Winner win?

"If the numbers surrounding this deal are accurate, I'm confident in saying that nothing of this magnitude has ever happened for an athlete's Web site," said Ben Sturner, who oversees Kournikova.com.

"It's hard to believe that many athlete Web sites can be profitable, given the overall lack of success in recent years," said Steve Rosner, a partner in 16W Marketing, which represents retired athletes including Howie Long, Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason. "And I don't think an athlete's performance on the field or court will do much to change that."

James is already drawing plenty of attention and selling plenty of product. Fans of his have already purchased almost 225,000 Cavaliers jerseys with his name and number, according to Neil Schwartz of SportsScanINFO, a sports retail tracking firm.

"These are Jordan-like numbers and the guy hasn't even dribbled a basketball in an official game yet," Schwartz said.

The hype surrounding LeBron made the investment worth it, said Brent Meikle, president of Winner International.

"The excitement and anticipation surrounding LeBron for the past few years is, to say the least, unprecedented," Meikle said. "In a sense, we felt this was breaking down barriers as to how an athlete's Web site could add real value to the mix."

Winner will take an even bigger step by using James in the commercial debuting the Juice campaign, on Thursday night's broadcast of MTV's Video Music Awards.

"We were looking for a major sponsor to help boost the Web site," James' agent Aaron Goodwin said. "The people involved with Juice came to us and this made a lot sense."

"The deal is great for LeBron, but I'd have a hard time believing that any athlete's Web site is going to be among the top 25 most hit Web sites," said Bob Dorfman, sports analyst for Pickett Advertising. "Everyone can be talking about him, but what's going to make you have to go to the site if you are a fan and then what's going to make you look at the banner?"

Winner International will sponsor the site's 3-point shootout game, trying to get visitors more hooked into the brand.

The alliance of a basketball star with a battery brand is not unprecedented. Michael Jordan endorsed Rayovac from 1995 through 2002.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn3.com.