Sportal rises from the ashes - Leading sports sites team up to offer best of the Web.

London,
5th March, 2002

    Sportal, the leading online sports brand, has risen from the ashes and will launch again today as an interactive sports website - www.sportal.com. The site, which was originally launched in 1998 and recently acquired by ukbetting plc, will be re-launched with new content and a new design. 

    Sportal will run in conjunction with sister site, www.sportinglife.com, to deliver the fastest and most in-depth sports content available anywhere on the net. The two sites will however differ in terms of content and style with Sportal focusing on a more fun and interactive approach with an emphasis on live news, covering all the major sports. Sportal's radio service will provide users with sports news on the hour and interviews and comment from leading figures in the sports world.

    There will be a particular emphasis on football coverage, which will include news from domestic leagues and the main European nations, as well as the major European and World competitions. The front page of Sportal will include live news from all current UK league games and major European competitions.

    David Annat, managing director of Sportal and Sportinglife, said, "Sportal is a great brand and we have developed first-class content and design to make it a leading sports site to match the calibre of Sportinglife.com. As a fun and interactive site, we will attract younger sports fans, but with the two sites combined, we believe that we can dominate the online sports space in the UK, as no-one else can deliver the same depth and quality of coverage.

    "The Sportinglife group of sites now offers sports fans the perfect online service, providing everything they need from live results and in-depth features to betting, expert tips and live odds," added Annat.  

    The new Sportal will be a fun and interactive site and will feature polls, quizzes, message boards and competitions for fans to enter. The site will also include sports diaries for events that day, week or year and a television guide, allowing sports fans to get the most out of their viewing time. 

    Sportal features links to the betting arms, www.totalbet.com and www.ukbetting.com, to allow sports fans to place a bet as they watch all the action unfold.
 

About Sportal
Sportal was originally launched in 1998. The UK site and brand were acquired by ukbetting plc group in November 2001 and now form part of its sports content division with www.sportinglife.com and the www.bettingzone.co.uk
 

For further information contact:
Jon Wayth
Firefly Communications
Tel: 020 7386 4840
jon.wayth@fireflycomms.com