Sportal.com.au to rebrand as Sporting News and become part of new ‘global network’
Perform is set to create a global sports news network by rebranding its Australian website Sportal to Sporting News, linking it to the US site.
Perform will take the existing Sportal product and add on new features including greater access to global sports news and more in-depth coverage of Australian sport.
Alex Peebles, general manager of Perform Australia and New Zealand, told Mumbrella: “Sportal has been great for us, it’s been an independent voice for Australian and global sports in the Australian market, however we’ve seen a significant opportunity for us to increase our presence in Australia by transitioning to Sporting News.“We see huge opportunity here. We think the timing is right. The plan around the world is to transition lots of Perform’s properties into Sporting News. We’re doing Australia first.”
Sporting News will go live across mobile, desktop and tablet from December with two unnamed brands signed on as advertising partners. It targets 16-45 sport fans.
For advertisers, Sporting News will be part of Perform’s portfolio of publications, which includes Goal.com.
“We’re very flexible in how we package that, depending on what category and what audience they want to reach. We can create something that will suit all investors and brands,” said Peebles.
Peebles
Peebles declined to reveal the SportingNews.com’s Australian audience targets, however said the plan is to grow the current 7m unique visitors to Perform’s network of Australian sites.
While AFL and NRL will lie at the heart of Sporting News’ content, the site will also have access to range of expertise in other sports, including US-based sports, due to Sporting News’ global network of offices.
“What it does give us is access to over 100 journalists around the world who write for Sporting News currently. What it’s going to allow us to do is underpin our offering with world class American sports coverage but also overpin that with a local look and feel covering local sports,” said Peebles.
Sporting News will be home to weekly live and free NBA matches, along with basketball coverage focused on Australian players such as Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova.
Ben Coles, executive editor of Perform’s Portals, who is leading the Sporting News editorial team said he is already working with his editorial counterpart in the US on content.
Coles
“Editorially, I liken it to to an information superhighway. I can know when we’re on shift and operating in the CMS we can see what’s happening in America,” he said.
Editorial teams in the US and UK will update the Australian site overnight, giving the network 24-hour coverage of world sporting news.
“When we sign off for the day we have a handover for the UK, which in turn goes onto the US, so in theory if 4am a big story breaks, someone in the world has it covered,” he said.
Miranda Ward
Linkedin
Sporting News free streaming of the occasional NBA is laughable as per yesterdays attempt to stream the Warriors vs Lakers game. ‘We are encountering streaming problems and will advise shortly”. The game had finished by then.
User ID not verified.