Axel Springer plans to launch Germany's first daily sports newspaper next month, focusing on football "as it seeks to offset a decline in sales at its established print business," according to Lauer & ten Wolde of REUTERS. Bild Deputy Editor in Chief Matthias Bruegelmann said, "We believe that the time is ripe for a soccer paper." He added that high TV viewing figures and big attendances in stadiums "underline strong interest in the sport." He did not believe the new paper, which will be called Fussball Bild and cost €1 ($1.06) at newsstands across Germany, "would take away readers from its existing publications such as the tabloid Bild and weekly Sport Bild." He said, "Our test runs did not show any relevant cannibalization." Fussball Bild will be Germany's first sports daily. Spain has a football-focused daily called Marca, "which is published by Unidad Editorial and is the country's largest daily newspaper with 2.24 million copies." Italy's 120-year old La Gazzetta dello Sport "sells about 215,000 copies a day, its publisher RCS Media Group wrote in its third-quarter report." France "also has a sports daily in the form of L'Equipe" (REUTERS, 12/8).
