After Raleigh-based Total Sports withdrew its plan for
an IPO and dismissed 20% of its staff, company Chair & CEO
Frank Daniels explained that "most of the fired employees
were working on long-term projects" that would have been
funded by the IPO, according to USA TODAY's Chris Jenkins.
Daniels, on the company's decision not to go public: "We're
excited about the fact that we're getting focused. (But)
we're all a little bit nervous. A few months ago, we were
looking at sports content companies that were worth three to
four times what they are today." Jenkins reports that Total
Sports "will continue to syndicate original content" such as
its "TotalCast" live game Webcasts. But "gone for now are
ambitious plans to make" totalsports.com a competitor to
ESPN.com or SportsLine.com. Daniels: "We're willing to cede
that to those guys at this point" (USA TODAY, 5/17).
DEAL BREAKER: In London, Benjamin Wootliff reported
that UK-based sports Internet company Sportal "has ended ...
talks" to be acquired by French-based media company Canal
for US$400M (ELECTRONIC TELEGRAPH, 5/16).
