Sportinglife.com head David Annat said that online gambling would be a major feature of the network, the component sites of which were acquired by UKBetting last year.
The sites will take different approaches to sport – Sportinglife targeting the sports enthusiast, Sportal carrying more light-hearted content, and The Betting Zone catering to online gamblers – and users will be encouraged to move between the three.
Plans are also afoot for the launch of a dedicated World Cup site to capitalise on betting generated by this year’s soccer World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Internet gambling operator UKBetting purchased Sportinglife.com, half of a joint venture between Trinity Mirror and the Press Association (PA), for a nominal amount late last year. The new network will continue a content deal with PA.
Despite positive early signs, Sportal also fell victim to consolidation, bought by UKBetting last November even after securing over £7m ($10m/EUR11.4m) of funding a few months earlier. The Sportal.com and Sportal.co.uk brands were bought for only a £1.
