SAN FRANCISCO, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- LoopNet, Inc. LOOP, which operates the most heavily trafficked commercial real estate marketplace online, today announced LoopNet's 2012 Bracket Challenge, an online contest open to all commercial real estate professionals across the U.S.

The challenge brings the excitement and competition of college basketball right to your desktop, laptop, iPad or smartphone.  Commercial real estate professionals can fill out a free bracket to enter and then follow along while the tournament unfolds.

LoopNet's 2012 Bracket Challenge is easy: just pick which team you think will win each of the match-ups.  Fans can pre-register beginning today and begin to fill out their brackets on Sunday, March 11, 2012.  All brackets must be completed by March 15 at 12:30 p.m. EST.  Visit http://www.LoopNet.com/BracketChallenge to review the official rules and to enter the 2012 Bracket Challenge. 

No purchase necessary. It's free to enter!  Challenge is open to all LoopNet members.  

Prizes include:|

• Grand Prize Pack:             70-inch high-def TV  

  Title rights: "2012 Commercial Real Estate MVP"

  Coveted "HoopNet" trophy and picture in LoopNews

  Lunch for your local office on LoopNet

• Elite 8 Prizes:                     iPad

• Sweet 16 Prizes:                $100 AMEX gift card

• 1st and 2nd round Prizes:  Gift cards and free LoopNet products

"Many of our members are rabid about LoopNet, and equally rabid about college basketball's biggest season event," said Mike Manning, Vice President of Marketing for LoopNet.  "The contest offers an opportunity for our members to have some fun, win prizes and score publicity on LoopNet for themselves and their offices.  Let the games begin!"

About LoopNet

LoopNet, available at http://www.LoopNet.com, operates the most heavily trafficked commercial real estate marketplace online with more than five million registered members and 2.8 million unique monthly visitors as reported by Google Analytics.  LoopNet also now offers one of the largest commercial property databases with more than 25 million commercial property records.  

The LoopNet marketplace covers all commercial property categories, including office, industrial, retail, multifamily (apartment properties for sale), hotel, land, specialty properties, investment properties and businesses for sale.  As of December 31, 2011, the LoopNet marketplace featured more than $440 billion of property available for sale and 6.7 billion square feet of space for lease.

LoopNet customers include virtually all of the top commercial real estate firms in the U.S., including Apartment Realty Advisors, Avison Young, Cassidy Turley, CB Richard Ellis, Coldwell Banker Commercial, Colliers International, Cushman & Wakefield, Jones Lang LaSalle, Lee & Associates, Lincoln Property Company, NAI Global, Newmark Knight Frank, The Shopping Center Group and Sperry Van Ness.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the anticipated benefits of LoopNet's efforts to differentiate our online commercial marketplace, deliver increasing value to our customers, and the exposure for available properties listed on our marketplace.  These statements are based on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Actual events or results might differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement due to various factors, including, but not limited to, the value and functionality of our new products, ongoing volatility in the commercial real estate market, whether increased traffic will lead to new registered members, and our ability to convert them into Premium Members and retain them, our ability to continue to attract unique visitors to our website, our ability to obtain or retain listings from commercial real estate brokers, agents and property owners, competition from current or future companies, seasonality, our ability to manage our growth and the impact of our pending merger with CoStar, including the possibility that the merger does not close, disruption caused by the merger or that LoopNet products and offerings are modified following the merger.  Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement is contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Copies of filings made by us with the SEC are available on the SEC's website or at http://investor.LoopNet.com/sec.cfm.  LoopNet does not intend to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release that are based on information available to us as of the date of this release.

SOURCE LoopNet, Inc.