Business Unit News
FOX Sports Interactive Media Acquires Yardbarker
World’s Largest Sports Blog Network in FOX Sports Fold
Los Angeles, Oct. 19, 2010 – FOX Sports Interactive Media
(FSIM), the digital production and distribution arm of the FOX Sports
Media Group, and home to FOXSports.com on MSN, the world’s
second-most-visited sports Web site (26.2 monthly users, Aug. 2010),
announced today that it has acquired Yardbarker, the largest network of
sports blogs on the Web. The purchase was announced today by Jeff Husvar,
Executive Vice President & General Manager of FSIM and Yardbarker CEO
Peter Vlastelica. The Yardbarker operation remains in its current San
Francisco location, and continues to operate on a standalone basis.
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
FSIM and Yardbarker already had a working relationship prior to closing
the purchase yesterday. In Oct. 2009, the entities reached a multiyear
sales and content arrangement that expanded a pre-existing content
partnership.
Yardbarker, with its 7.5 million average monthly users and strong
management team, joins FOXSports.com, Scout.com, whatifsports.com and
several sites belonging to FOX’s owned-and-operated regional sports
networks. Yardbarker delivers an array of unique and diverse voices
through independent blog content and athlete blogs, which complements
FOXSports.com’s big event coverage and the niches serviced by Scout.com
and whatifsports.com, while expanding the comprehensive local content
provided by FOX’s regional sports networks.
“Yardbarker brings unique content and a younger demographic to FSIM’s
existing offerings, deepening our reach editorially,” said Husvar.
“Blogging has changed the landscape of sports coverage on the Web, and
Yardbarker is the best sports blogging network operating today. We need
to have these bloggers and citizen journalists contributing to the
discussion right alongside Jay Glazer, Mark Kriegel, Ken Rosenthal and
Jason Whitlock, some of the most renowned sports columnists in the
world.”
“We are thrilled to be officially joining the FOX Sports family, one of
the best known brands in sports media,” said Vlastelica. “Sports
commentary is shifting toward conversation and authenticity, and the
talented bloggers in the Yardbarker Network, who number in the hundreds,
deserve to have their voices heard by the masses — which clearly this
acquisition ensures.”
About Yardbarker
Yardbarker is the largest network of sports and athlete blogs on the
Web, reaching 15 million men 18-34 every month through a unique model
that combines the scalability of an advertising network with the
original content and brand loyalty of a vertical media company.
Yardbarker was born out of relationships between Yardbarker.com and the
hundreds of independent sports publishers who “hung out” on the site to
promote their content. What started as an informal affiliation of sites
with like-minded audiences has evolved into a rapidly growing media
company that serves advertisers, publishers and celebrities in
completely unique ways. Yardbarker affiliate sites – which cover all
categories of popular sports -- are diligently screened for content
quality and consistency, and each publisher agrees to editorial
guidelines that ensure an advertisers' high-value campaigns will be run
in safe, "well lit" environments. Yardbarker is based in San Francisco.
About FOX Sports Media Group
FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) is the umbrella entity representing News
Corporation’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets under
Chairman and CEO David Hill. Built with brands that are capable of
reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FSMG
includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital
and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites,
joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships. FSMG now
includes FOX Sports, the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting
Company; Fox’s 19 regional sports networks, their affiliated regional
web sites and FSN national programming; SPEED and SPEED2; Fox Soccer
Channel and Fox Soccer Plus; FUEL TV; and Fox College Sports. In
addition, FSMG also includes FOX Sports Interactive Media, which
comprises FOXSports.com on MSN, whatifsports.com and scout.com, reaching
over 20 million unique visitors monthly. Also included are Fox’s
interests in joint-venture businesses FOX Deportes, Big Ten Network and
STATS, LLC, as well as licensing agreements that establish the FOX
Sports Radio Network, FOX Sports Skybox restaurants and FOX Sports
Grills.
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Contact:
Lou D’Ermilio
212/556-2573