This is turning out to be a very interesting race, probably more interesting than the reality series these two firms are developing: reality TV impresario Mark Burnett and AOL announced a new online reality series..they are jointly developing a treasure-hunt game show called “Gold Rush.” Slated to debut online this year, the show would award $1.6 million in gold to Web surfers who can decipher the given clues and find the booty stashed in 13 locations across the country.

Meanwhile, down the road in Santa Monica, Yahoo has spent months developing its own scavenger hunt game: “Treasure Hunt.” This project has an even bigger-name producer tentatively attached: Steven Spielberg.

Burnett is already working with Yahoo on another Web offering in development, “The Runner”, but couldn’t get the company to agree to working with him on the new show, LAT says, though Burnett disputes that.

Burnett said he approached his Internet deals the same way he did his TV shows, several of which have become hits. In TV, he said, it’s not unusual to do business with two networks at the same time.

Variety: AOL will finance the program, with support from media partners.