MCLD - McLeod USA, Inc. (MCLD)

[sdhollen]

Sports-Related Persons Added to Board of Cedar Rapids, Iowa-Based McLeodUSA
By George C. Ford, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Feb. 26--CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and David Checketts, the former president of Madison Square Garden, have been elected to the McLeodUSA Inc. board of directors.

Staubach is chairman and chief executive officer of The Staubach Co., a global, full-service real estate advisory firm. Checketts is chairman of Sports Capital Partners, a consulting and investment capital firm.

Staubach and Checketts join two other sports-related executives on the 17-member board of directors of the Cedar Rapids-based telecommunications provider.

Dan Snyder is the owner and chairman of the board of The Washington Redskins. Peter Ueberroth, former baseball commissioner and U.S. Olympics president, is the managing director of The Contrarian Group and owner and co-chairman of Pebble Beach Co.

Chris A. Davis, McLeodUSA chairwoman and CEO, said the company is pleased to have Checketts and Staubach join its board.

"This is another example of Ted Forstmann's commitment to attracting world-class leadership to the McLeodUSA board," Davis said. "Both Dave and Roger have extensive business experience and broad executive relationships, which will be valuable to McLeodUSA as we continue to execute on our focused business strategy to provide a world-class customer experience and profitably grow revenue in our 25-state footprint."

Forstmann is chairman of McLeodUSA's executive committee and senior partner of Forstmann Little & Co., majority owner of McLeodUSA. McLeodUSA's board includes 11 current or former chief executives.

McLeodUSA recently signed a two-year promotional agreement with Vijay Singh, the top PGA money winner in 2003.

-----

To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com

(c) 2004, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. MCLD