Rogers Media is plunging into the pool business. The media giant announced yesterday that it has purchased PoolExpert, a Toronto-based company that manages online fantasy sports leagues. A purchase price was not disclosed.
Launched in 1999, PoolExpert provides pool management software, draft kits and real-time statistics for fantasy sports leagues. It currently boasts 230,000 registered users, plus another 120,000 users who access the platform through so-called “white label” pools offered by partners including Sympatico, Telus, the Globe and Mail and TQS.
While NHL pool management constitutes the bulk of its business (about 95% according to former co-owner Steve Hulford), PoolExpert also offers Major League Baseball and Formula 1 auto racing pools.
According to Hulford, PoolExpert.com averages 350,000 unique visitors, 1.5 million visits and 13.2 million page views a month during the NHL season.
“This is a growing business with excellent prospects for success,” said Rogers Media president and CEO Tony Viner in a release.
Louise Clements, vice-president of digital properties with Rogers Media, said PoolExpert is a “wonderful fit” with Rogers sports properties, which include the specialty channel Sportsnet (and its online component Sportsnet.ca) and the sports radio network The Fan. “What we’re talking about is an opportunity that promotes our core sports brands,” she said.
While PoolExpert derives the bulk of its revenues from subscriptions, Clements said that Rogers will work to increase ad revenue for the business. “We have the means to develop that corporately,” she said. “We will bring an expertise to the advertising sales component that a small stand-alone company simply can’t provide.”
PoolExpert founder Patrice Boissonneault is also joining Rogers in the newly created position of lead programmer, Rogers Digital Media.
Rogers has been bolstering its Internet portfolio through strategic acquisitions including SweetSpot.ca and CanadianParents.com.
“We are a Canadian media company making investments in the Canadian digital space to grow content and advertising opportunities,” said Clements. The goal, she added, is to “leverage areas that we have offline strengths in to try to maintain leadership and provide world-class quality.”
