FOX Sports Digital and Sporting News Media Join Forces to Create Top Digital Sports Media Property for Fans and Marketers

NEW YORK, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading digital sports brands, FOX Sports Digital and Sporting News Media, a PERFORM Group company, have announced a cross-platform content, distribution, and media partnership that will bolster each company's ability to offer the most comprehensive digital sports video and editorial coverage across the web.  The partnership's projected reach is expected to be an estimated 55 million plus digital sports fans (1 in every 3) in the US every month.

As part of the long-term agreement, the two companies will share content and traffic across its top sports properties, including FOXSports.com, SportingNews.com and Goal.com, to build a massive, premium digital sports experience for fans and marketers.  The new comScore entity will be called "FOX Sports Digital – Sporting News Media." 

Additionally, the partners will develop joint digital video programming and editorial content, joint sales offerings, as well as expand upon each party's native advertising executions.  FOX Sports Digital will also distribute FOXSports.com and FOX Sports 1 video content via the Sporting News ePlayer platform, extending the reach of FOX Sports Digital's exclusive off-network video opportunities. 

The deal seizes upon an industry-wide trend of audiences increasingly complementing their live game broadcast and shoulder programming consumption with digital video across platforms and devices.

Pete Vlastelica, Executive Vice President, Digital, FOX Sports said: "FOX Sports is focused on developing audiences of sports fans across multiple video platforms, including FOXSports.com, YouTube, Facebook, Yardbarker, and now the SN ePlayer platform. This partnership extends our multi-platform reach and reinforces our leadership as a supplier of high quality, engaging video inventory for brand advertisers."

Juan Delgado, CEO, Sporting News Media commented: "TV viewers are turning more and more to digital devices before, during and after watching their favorite teams play – they want to see game action they may have missed, get expert insight on what's happening on-and-off the field, and to engage with their friends and fellow sports fans on social media. This partnership capitalizes on this seismic shift and will allow us to continue leading the digital evolution in the sports industry."

About FOX Sports Digital:
FOX Sports Digital is the umbrella entity representing 21st Century Fox's wide array of digital US-based sports assets. FOX Sports Digital includes FOXSports.com, FOX Sports GO, Yardbarker.com, WhatifSports.com, and the digital extensions of FOX's cable networks including the 22 regional sports networks and FOX Deportes.

About Sporting News Media
Sporting News Media is a PERFORM Group company and a market leader in the creation, distribution and monetization of premium sports media content for digital audiences in the US and Canada, reaching an audience in excess of 30 million sports fans each month.

Sporting News Media owns and operates SportingNews.com, the US and Canadian editions of Goal.com and the Sporting News (SN) ePlayer, which syndicates professional and collegiate digital video from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, WTA, ATP, UFC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12 conferences across 300 leading national and local publisher sites in North America.

Sporting News Media is ranked number one in digital sports video viewership in the US (comScore Video Metrix, May 2014).

About PERFORM
PERFORM Group PLC is a FTSE 250 listed business and the world's leading digital sports content group. Through unrivalled global content collection, production and distribution capabilities PERFORM creates digital products that drive traffic, engagement and revenues for over 2,600 of the world's leading media and betting companies and enable brands to engage with over 180 million sports fans every month.
www.performgroup.com

SOURCE Sporting News Media