XLMedia delves into college football coverage with $23m acquisition
Jersey-headquartered affiliate spends big on Saturday Football and associated sites to improve its sports betting content across South and Midwest states
XLMedia has reinforced its US sports betting asset portfolio with the $23m (£16.8m) acquisition of Saturday Football.
Founded in 2014, Saturday Football operates two leading college football media sites in saturdaydownsouth.com and saturdaytradition.com, which cover the Southeastern Conference and Big 10 college sports conferences.
XLMedia said the sites generate a combined audience of approximately 10 million visits per month.
The Jersey-headquartered firm will pay an upfront consideration of $11m in cash plus an additional $12m payable over the next three years, all funded from existing cash reserves.
The founders of Saturday Football – Josh Gates, Kevin Duffey and Jonathan Cooper – will remain with the business and will receive $1m in long-term incentive shares in XLMedia.
Saturday Football employs approximately 10 full-time employees and 55 contractors and generated estimated revenue of $2.5m over the 12 months to 31 July 2021.
XLMedia said the purchase would complement its existing US assets in Sports Betting Dime and CBWG Sports and provide significant reach for the firm across the South and Midwest states, including in markets that are yet to legalise sports betting.
Saturday Football has worked alongside XLMedia as an agency partner since December 2020.
XLMedia CEO Stuart Simms said: “We are delighted to be acquiring Saturday Football, cementing an already extremely productive working relationship.
“Over the last 12 months, we have got to know the business very well and have been hugely impressed with their team, their systems and most importantly their market reach.
“This transaction provides additional operations depth and reach to our sports footprint which we believe is fast becoming a significant growth driver for our business.
“With the forthcoming US college football season about to commence, the timing of this transaction couldn’t be better,” he added.
XLMedia’s share price climbed by more than 3% in early trading on the London Stock Exchange.