SportsDirect Inc, publishers of Covers.com, announce acquisition of Wagerline.com:
Wagerline.com is one of the most popular sites on the Internet with millions of visitors annually. The purchase of the site expands the reach of SportsDirect Inc.
January 5, 2005HALIFAX, Canada
SportsDirect Inc, publishers of Covers.com, today announced the acquisition of Wagerline.com, the leading sports contest and office pools site online. SportsDirect will acquire all of the intellectual property, customers and traffic from Wagerline.com in a $1.2-million deal. With this acquisition, SportsDirect will become the largest publisher of sports gaming information properties in North America.
Wagerline.com was launched in 1995 and has grown to be the one of the most popular sports sites in North America, with millions of customer visits annually. Wagerline.com was founded in Denver, Colorado and has developed a strong customer and advertiser base over the last ten years. SportsDirect will continue to operate the site as a separate property but will move the management and operation of the site to its Halifax, Canada headquarters.
"We have been looking for growth opportunities that complement our existing products and services," said Paul Lavers, founder and CEO of SportsDirect. "Wagerline.com is a perfect match - consumers love the product and the traffic is excellent. This purchase adds something to our roster of sites that would have been very difficult to build from scratch and instantly gives us the growth we're looking for."
The acquisition of Wagerline.com is part of SportsDirect's continual growth. In the last two years the company has doubled its workforce to 80 employees and opened offices in Galway, Ireland and Las Vegas, Nevada.
About SportsDirect Inc:
Founded in 1995, SportsDirect Inc. provides comprehensive sports content and services to small, medium and large companies including USA Today, MSNBC, Newsday and Sirius Satellite Radio. The innovative SportsDirect "Customer First" approach, along with a rapidly expanding breadth and depth of coverage, is easily integrated and quick to deploy.SportsDirect content includes a five-part offering consisting of real-time scores and statistics for all sports, a suite of fantasy sports contests, sport news feeds, sport photos and professional services including application development and marketing optimization. For more information please visit http://www.sportsdirectinc.com.
Media Contact For SportsDirect Inc:
Walter Lis
1-708-586-9754
wlis@sportsdirectinc.com
