Football365
| Owner | BSkyB |
|---|---|
| Revenue | undisclosed |
| Website |
www |
| Launched | 1997 |
| Current status | Active |
Football365.com, or simply F365, is a website which is operated by 365 Media Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of BSkyB, from its base in Leeds.
The website primarily covers the Premier League, as well as other European leagues and cups. It takes an informal and humorous approach to dealing with the latest football news and often includes running jokes about individuals connected with the sport. F365 has been noted for the comprehensive coverage it provides, as well as its statistics and comment features.[1]
The site was founded in 1997 by Arsenal fan and Internet pioneer David Tabizel,[2] who then teamed up with journalist Danny Kelly, along with Dan Thompson (founder of computer game company Renegade Software) and Simon Morris, a former Marketing Director of BSkyB and ex-footballer & TV presenter Andy Gray, who also wrote a regular column.[3] In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2012, Tabizel stated that the website was named after a phrase oft used by his mother, Sandy, who would lambast him with "Its football 365 (days per year) with you!" In 1999, the height of the dot-com bubble, the sites' parent company 365 Corporation floated on the London Stock Exchange, peaking at a value of £500 million shortly after launch.[4]
Regular features
- F365 Mailbox: A twice-daily collection of e-mails sent in by readers from Monday to Friday, some of which are not related to football.
- F365 Forum: The website provides the F365 Forum for readers to discuss the sport.
- Mediawatch: A satirical daily review of recent stories and articles from various national newspapers and football websites. The column frequently includes ‘A Slight Difference Of Opinion’, 'Non-football story of the day' and an update on Mark Lawrenson’s skill as a predictor.
- The Premier League Winners And Losers: A review of the weekend’s action that frequently provokes accusations of bias.
- It's Going To Be A Big Weekend For…: A preview feature for the coming weekends games.
- The Cheeky Punt: An offbeat betting preview feature.
- F365 Opinion: Writers and contributors to the website give their opinions on recent footballing news, including in-house writers Sarah Winterburn, Nick Miller and Matthew Stanger, in addition to columnists Philip Cornwall, John Nicholson, Tim Stannard, Rob McNichol, Alan Tyers and Daniel Storey.
- The F365 Transfer Blog: A live update of transfer gossip and commentary featuring F365 contributors and public comments.
- Story Time: A hour of each day which is dedicated to Daniel Story and his dramatic tales.
Internet TV channel
The website also has an internet TV channel, F365 TV. Among the programmes broadcast are The Paper Round and The Dugout Podcast - an irreverent fortnightly football show that is available from Thursdays to Mondays on Football365, Teamtalk and iTunes. Presenters include Don Dealio, Ed Draper, Kait Borsay and Lynsey Hooper.
Regional variants
France
Founded in 1998 by Axel Dreyfus and Pierre Sivel under the name C Sport, and bought in 1999 by 365 Corp, then in 2001 by the Groupe Sporever group, Football365.fr is a site entirely dedicated to football news. Live news, match reports, interviews, live footage: the site has both a large number of videos, a blog service, and the option for readers to provide feedback.
The staff consists of six permanent journalists, helped by the staff of Sport365.fr. Nicolas Puiravau, editor in chief of the site since June 2004, has recently stated in Sport Strategy that the Football365 site gets more than 2 million unique visitors and 65 million page views per month.
Footnotes
- ↑ "Good Web Guide review of Football365". Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ↑ http://d5capital.com/david-tabizel.asp
- ↑ "365 ways to success". Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2006.
- ↑ "Net site 365 soars on debut". BBC News. 2 December 1999. Retrieved 2 November 2006.