Fox Sports has struck a large-scale digital content and sales partnership with SI, pooling the entities together with existing Fox Sports partner Sporting News to create what will be one of the largest entities in U.S. digital sports media. The multiyear deal calls for Fox Sports and SI to collaborate on a series of sales and content initiatives, share content from each other’s sites, and jointly sell into a bundle of assets now including FoxSports.com, Yardbarker, SI.com, the FanSided Network and SportingNews.com. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the combined entities are projecting to reach roughly 70 million unique visitors in monthly comScore multiplatform rankings. “Scale still matters in this business, but some ways to create scale are not as valuable as others. This was a situation where we found we were very compatible together, and it was much more than just scale for scale’s sake,” said Fox Sports Exec VP/Digital Pete Vlastelica. Fox Sports struck a similar deal with Perform-owned Sporting News two years ago, but the SI deal involves an even greater level of joint content and sales ventures. The two entities will work together on tentpole events such as SI’s annual Swimsuit issue and coverage of key Fox Sports events. There is not any contemplation of incorporating SI personalities on Fox Sports’ TV properties. Key principals in the deal included Vlastelica, SI Group VP & GM/Digital Patty Hirsch and Time Inc. President of Entertainment & Sports Group and Video Rich Battista. The deal follows a pivot by Fox Sports to shift its FS1 cable network and digital properties away from more traditional news coverage and highlights.
COMBINED COMSCORE ENTITY COMING: A combined comScore entity will likely begin with rankings for the month of October. “We’ve been looking at key partnerships like this that can not only extend our reach, but create compelling new content,” Hirsch said. The role of SI media reporter Richard Deitsch, who has been critical of some Fox programming and talent, will remain unchanged. “We’re an independent news organization and not beholden to anyone,” Hirsch said. “Does that mean Fox will take every piece of content we produce? Perhaps not, but we will maintain our independent voice.”
