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08/04/2005
AP,
News Corporation form sports information joint venture named
STATS, LLC
NEW
YORK News Corporation and The Associated Press announced
today that they have formed a joint venture named STATS, LLC
to produce sports data and content.
The
joint venture will combine STATS Inc., the country's leading
sports information and statistical analysis company, owned
by News Corporation, and MegaSports, AP's multimedia sports
service. Under the new agreement, News Corporation and AP
will each own half of the joint venture.
This
partnership joins the two organizations with the biggest stake
and deepest content in sports news and information, said
Tom Curley, president and CEO of The Associated Press. This
venture is designed to assure AP and its customers and members
of an independent, accurate and complete source of sports
data across media platforms.
Tony
Vinciquerra, President and CEO of Fox Networks Group, said,
The combination of AP MegaSports and STATS will create a
one-stop shopping destination for organizations interested
in providing the best and most comprehensive sports information
and context to their consumers. We are thrilled to be in partnership
with the AP.
It's
a privilege and an exciting opportunity to combine forces
with the award-winning sports journalism team at the AP,
said Gary Walrath, CEO of STATS, Inc. With the editorial
content of MegaSports and the research data of STATS, we can
offer superior sports coverage to our clients in the U.S.
and accelerate our rollout into international markets, including
Asia , Australia and the UK .
Walrath
will serve as president and CEO of the new joint venture.
He will report to a board equally comprising representatives
from News Corporation and AP. The company will retain STATS'
current headquarters in the Chicago area and its offices in
Los Angeles .
The
integration will offer STATS, LLC clients unrivaled customer
service, technical proficiency and event coverage. The agreement
leverages news produced by AP sports writers and photographers
with STATS, Inc.'s in-depth statistics and historical databases
to produce a complete package of sports information for new
markets, both in the United States and internationally.
STATS,
LLC will be the most prolific sports information source for
several key business segments: professional teams; sports
agents; sports broadcast production, cable and satellite networks;
interactive television; broadband, wireless and internet;
game developers and fantasy sports providers; print media
and wire services. Packaging and sales of sports information
for AP members will continue to be done at AP.
STATS,
Inc. is a leading provider of sports statistics for individual
consumers and commercial clients, supplying real-time and
historical sports data to professional teams, print and broadcast
media, software developers and service providers.
AP MegaSports
is an online digital product that includes stories from the
AP sports wire, AP sports photos, audio clips and schedules
and standings. It currently is sold to both AP members as
well as commercial Web sites. Under the new agreement, the
MegaSports product will not change. The agreement does not
affect AP's regular coverage of professional and amateur sports.
ABOUT NEWS CORPORATION
News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS,
NWSLV) had total assets as of March 31, 2005 of approximately
US$56 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$23
billion. News Corporation is a diversified international media
and entertainment company with operations in eight industry
segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network
programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines
and inserts; newspapers; book publishing; and other. The activities
of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United
States , Continental Europe, the United Kingdom , Australia
, Asia and the Pacific Basin.
http://www.newscorp.com/
ABOUT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The
Associated Press is the world's oldest and largest newsgathering
organization, providing content to more than 15,000 news outlets
with a daily reach of 1 billion people. AP's multimedia services
are distributed by satellite and internet to more than 120
countries.
http://www.ap.org/
For
more information contact Jack Stokes, at The Associated Press,
at 212.621.1730 or Nick Stamm, at STATS, Inc., 847.583.2110.
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