NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The
USA TODAY Sports Media Group and
digital sports media company, PERFORM, today announced a
partnership that will bring the best in American professional and
collegiate sports to more than 100 of Gannett's local media
organizations and the owned and operated sites within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties through
PERFORM's ePlayer sports video on demand (VOD) broadcast
platform.
PERFORM is an official provider of sports news and highlights
from the NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA Tour, MLS, WTA, ATP, UFC, SEC, Pac-12,
Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC conferences to the world's leading local
online media organizations. Through this partnership with
USA TODAY Sports, ePlayer will now
bring sports fans across the U.S. the most timely and relevant
sports highlights and news content.
"This partnership allows us to continue to deliver on our
mission to provide sports fans throughout the U.S. with the best
content in the world, regardless of format," said Tom Beusse, president of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. "PERFORM has
revolutionized the way sports video is delivered across digital
platforms, and this partnership aligns perfectly with our
mission."
As part of this agreement, PERFORM and USA TODAY Sports Media Group will produce new
and original collegiate sports programming for distribution across
more than 100 USA TODAY Sports organizations. Additionally,
USA TODAY Sports will create a
branded channel within ePlayer which will allow it to stream the
sports video content it is currently producing.
"USA TODAY Sports Media Group
is one of the most influential, diverse and wide-reaching networks
of sports properties, and we're looking forward to joining forces
to bring our premium pro and college sports video programming to
their millions of engaged sports fans," said Juan Delgado, Managing Director of PERFORM
Americas. "This partnership demonstrates our ability to deliver
premium sports video, produce original programming for digital
audiences – and solidifies our strong position in the U.S. digital
sports market."
Since its launch in February 2011,
ePlayer has become one of the top three sports video destinations
in the U.S. According to comScore's August Video Metrix Report,
PERFORM is the 2nd largest sports video network, ahead
of Yahoo but just behind ESPN.
About the USA TODAY Sports
Media Group
The USA TODAY Sports Media
Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY Sports
and Gannett's more than 100 well-known local media brands. It also
includes the sports photography service U.S. Presswire, USA TODAY
High School Sports and the hundreds of sites within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties such as
thebiglead.com and mixed martial arts site MMAjunkie.com,
among others. USA TODAY is
owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).
About PERFORM Group PLC
PERFORM is a market leader in the commercialization of
multimedia sports content across internet-enabled digital
platforms. Through production, technical and commercial solutions,
PERFORM powers digital channels that distribute content in a number
of forms - video, editorial, audio and data – across multiple
platforms, to millions of sport fans around the world. In
April 2011, PERFORM floated on the
London Stock Exchange.
About ePlayer
ePlayer is one of the world's largest premium sport VOD
broadcasters with 1000+ publishers in over20 territories offering
advertisers the ability to reach and engage a global audience in
excess of 120 million every month. The power of ePlayer is
driven by the synergy between premium content, embeddable video
technology and a distribution model which, when combined, provides
opportunities for global advertisers. ePlayer is owned and operated
by digital sports specialists PERFORM and marketed and sold in the
US by SEASON
SOURCE USA TODAY Sports Media
Group