News Corp searches for new audiences with launch of subscription sports platform
News Corp Australia will this week launch a digital publication aimed at delivering daily in-depth sports coverage from around the world.
The media organisation said the new website and app, called Code, will be subscriber-based with prices from A$8.99 a month.
Tennis star Ash Barty, former Australian cricket captain Steve Smith and NBA star and Australian Boomer Patty Mills have been appointed brand ambassadors and will be regular contributors.
Code will be led by sports journalist Alex Brown, a former national head of sport at News Corp. He has also held senior roles at Fox Sports Australia and was most recently head of communication at Cricket Australia.
The site will have its own team of journalists with content also taken News Corp’s publishing and broadcast assets, including The Times and The Wall Street Journal.
News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said Coe was part of its strategy to attract new audiences through the launch of new brands.
“Code combines our journalistic talents in storytelling with our technology expertise to provide the kind of primal emotional connection that sport delivers,” Miller said.
“We branded it Code because sports lovers are always trying to get inside. Whether it’s inside the moment, inside the minds, or inside the reason why. Code unlocks the stories that take them there.”
He said research confirmed a gap existed for a “competitively priced digital sports story proposition”.
“Where the fan consumes the game and wants the result, the sports lover immerses themselves in the stories of the game and players, and searches for the meaning,” he said. “While the stories of sport enjoy huge appeal amongst Australians, these are stories that will appeal to all lovers of great stories, not just sports lovers.”
Brown said the aim was to build a ‘thriving and engaged community’.
“Code’s mission is simple: to tell amazing, insightful stories about the sports Australians love and the people who make them happen,” he said.
