Ringier Sports Media Group Launches Digital Sports Media Platform Sportal.gr

The Ringier Sports Media Group (RSMG) has launched sportal.gr, a digital sports platform offering sports fans in Greece video-first based news, commentary, analysis, interviews, statistics and live results, bundled in a state-of-the art product experience.

The content focus of sportal.gr will stretch beyond football and basketball to tennis, volleyball, athletics, motorsports and more. The digital platform is based on the strategic expertise and technical solution of RSMG, which since its incorporation in May 2022 includes Sportal Media Group in Bulgaria with sportal.bg and Sportal365, Gazeta Sporturilor (GSP.ro) in Romania, sportal.rs in Serbia, sportal.hu in Hungary, sport.sk in Slovakia and Pulse Sport in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as a strategic partnership with the globally leading LiveScore Group. The RSMG’s mid-term goal is to build sportal.gr into a leading media player in the Greek sports market.

Sportal.gr will be technically based on the internationally leading content management system Sportal365 and will be adapted in terms of design and user experience to the successful sports platforms GSP.ro, sportal.rs and sportal.hu.

Stilian Shishkov, Senior Partner of RSMG and CEO of Sportal Media Group: “I am very pleased that RSMG is today further expanding the presence of its media brand sportal beyond CEE and Africa, in Greece with the launch of sportal.gr. We will offer Greek sports fans very rich sports content combined with powerful customization and loyalty tools, all powered by our Sportal365 content management system.”

Christos Christou, former General Manager of the leading Greek sports platform Sportdog, will build up the ambitious project from scratch as Managing Director of sportal.gr. Together with well-known editorial leaders and a highly motivated young team of around 25 journalists, he will position the sportal.gr brand in the top tier of the Greek sports media market.

Christos Christou said: “I am excited that the RSMG joins the Greek market with a strategic vision for sports media in general and for sportal.gr in particular. The RSMG combines high quality sports journalism and media knowledge with tech-driven publishing solutions. This, combined with our experience in Greek sports media, will transform sportal.gr into a leading digital brand for all the sports fans in Greece and a valuable partner for the sports segment advertisers. Greece has an excellent sports culture and a large, passionate fan base. We are highly motivated to establish sportal.gr as a new brand in a highly competitive environment and to reach a top position among sports media in the country. Sportal.gr will offer novel and creative marketing and advertising solutions for various customer groups and companies – also in conjunction with the other eight sports platforms belonging to the RSMG.”

Robin Lingg, Chairman of the Board of Directors of RSMG, said: “From a global perspective, sports media are increasingly a kind of melting pot for sport-savvy audiences, sports gamers and advertisers. Swiss-based Ringier AG is investing in this highly attractive segment and wants to become a top player globally by uniting leading digital sports media brands under the umbrella of the RSMG. Today, these are Sportal Media Group in Bulgaria with sportal.bg and Sportal365, Gazeta Sporturilor in Romania, sportal.rs in Serbia, sportal.hu in Hungary, sport.sk in Slovakia and Pulse Sport in Africa. Our investment in the British LiveScore Group at the end of 2022 was a decisive step to develop innovative products based on common technologies in the future and to benefit from the exchange of know-how. We believe in a growing sports media market in Greece. I am very much looking forward to seeing sportal.gr grow.”