All Articles

Rogers Media announces acquisition of PoolExpert


    TORONTO, Aug. 5 /CNW/ - Rogers Media today announced that it has acquired
PoolExpert Inc., one of Canada's leading fantasy sports providers. Also known
as a rotisserie, roto, or fairy-tale sport, a fantasy sport is a game where
fantasy owners build a team that competes against other fantasy owners based
on the statistics generated by individual players or teams of a professional
sport.
    "This is a growing business with excellent prospects for success," said
Tony Viner, President and CEO, Rogers Media Inc. "As the owner and operator of
some of the country's leading sports and entertainment websites, we're excited
about bringing a unique experience to our digital audiences."
    "Canadians will soon have access to the latest and most innovative
commission-style fantasy sports pools when they visit sites such as
Sportsnet.ca and fan590.com," said Patrice Boissonneault, the founder of
PoolExpert. Boissonneault will continue to oversee the fantasy sports
technology at Rogers Media in the newly created position of Lead Programmer,
Rogers Digital Media.
    Launched in September of 1999, PoolExpert is Canada's largest bilingual
provider of online fantasy sports pool management software, draft kits and
real time stats. Currently PoolExpert provides league management for Hockey,
Baseball, and Formula One (F1). PoolExpert provides an online service for pool
managers to manage the stats and rosters for their pools. The company has
hundreds-of-thousands of registered members and active game players. The
number of those registered members is also rapidly growing.

    About Rogers Media:

    Rogers Media Inc., a division of Rogers Communications Inc., (TSX: RCI;
NYSE: RCI), operates Rogers Broadcasting and Rogers Publishing. Rogers
Broadcasting has 52 AM and FM radio stations across Canada. Television
properties include 5 Citytv stations as well as the OMNI multicultural
television stations. Rogers Sportsnet, Canada's live event leader, offers
viewers four channels and Sportsnet HD and the Shopping Channel is a televised
and Internet shopping service. Rogers Publishing produces many well-known
consumer magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine, Flare, L'actualité and
Canadian Business, and is the leading publisher of a number of industry,
medical and financial publications. All media properties are integrated with
their own popular web sites. Rogers Media also owns The Toronto Blue Jays
Baseball Club and Rogers Centre, a year-round sports and entertainment
facility.