Re Agreement
365 Corporation PLC
29 November 2000
365 SIGNS EXCLUSIVE 12 MONTH SPREAD BETTING DEAL
WITH SPORTING INDEX
365 Corporation plc ('365'), the leading digital media and communications
company, announces a major spread betting deal with Sporting Index. The
12-month deal commencing next month, means Sporting Index will become the
exclusive spread betting provider to users on the 365 network allowing access
to sports and financial spread betting content and services.
Under the terms of the deal, 365 will receive a guaranteed fee every quarter
with additional revenues dependent upon new accounts and ongoing betting
activity. Sporting Index and 365 will also continue to work together on joint
marketing and content opportunities, taking advantage of the synergies in
their respective products and users.
Through a co-branded site, 365's users will be able to sign up for a spread
betting account, receive special marketing offers and promotions exclusive to
365 users, look at dedicated content designed to help increase the enjoyment
of betting and get advice on how and what to bet on. There will also be an
exclusive telephone number set up for 365 users to place their bets.
Sporting Index will promote their spread betting services to 365's 2.4 million
users, through a co-branded site. Sporting Index will also market 365's sites
to their existing customer base of 25,000. In return, 365 will receive a fixed
fee for every new 365-user opening an account, a percentage of stakes placed,
as well as a fixed fee every quarter. Sporting Index and 365 will also work
together using 365's unique content to create new betting markets.
The deal is the next stage in 365's betting strategy to deliver a full range
of betting services and content to its 2.4 million users, predominately
through partnerships with market leading betting and gaming companies. Deals
already announced include an exclusive fixed-odds tie up with Sportingbet.com
on 365's football products, including Football365.
365 Corporation Chief Executive Officer, Dan Thompson said:
'Sporting Index is a leader in the spread betting market. The integration of
their services and our content ensures the development of a significant online
betting proposition, as well as establishing new audiences to both parties.'
Sporting Index Director, Lindsay McNeile said:
'Our new relationship with 365 Corporation is a major step for us in our
programme of building alliances with leading international new media
companies. We believe our products are a natural enhancement to the rich
content of the 365 sites and we are confident that this will be a lasting and
successful venture.'
For Further Information Please Contact:
Dan Thompson, Chief Executive Officer
365 Corporation plc 020 7505 7800
Fiona Meiklejohn, Ben Atwell
Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113
Lindsay McNeile, Director 020 7960 6324
Sporting Index
Julian Barkes, Marketing Manager 020 7960 6877
NOTES FOR EDITORS
365 Corporation plc (www.365corp.com)
Consumer Division
365's consumer division provides high quality digital content across three
different categories - lifestyle, sport and entertainment. Each of these in
turn, have several different content services, which are accessible to
consumers on a multi platform basis (Internet, mobile phone, fixed line, TV,
PDA etc).
* Sport
Football - www.football365.com (English), www.futbol365.com (Spanish),
www.football365.fr (French). www.soccer365.com (North American soccer biased
content), international.football365.com - a dedicated service, covering
international football.
Cricket - www.cricketline.com (a leading site for International cricket),
www.cricinfo365.com (daily e-mail publication in joint venture with CricInfo)
Rugby - www.planet-rugby.com, a market leading online rugby resource including
breaking news and unique statistics, www.rugby365.com (produced in four
language versions - English, French, Spanish, Afrikaans), www.rugbyrugby.com
(North American rugby website).
Racetips - www.racetips365.com, a site dedicated to Horse Racing giving the
inside track on news, form and the horses to follow).
Motorsports - www.planet-f1.com (English) www.francais planet-f1.com (French),
www.deutsch.planet-f1.com (Dutch), www.espanol.planet-f1.com,
(Spanish),italiano.planet-f1.com (Italian), website featuring news, features
and a searchable archive of every race in F1 history. Rally365.com (English),
site that covers news from the world rally championships, and other domestic
rally events.
Sports Overview - www.sportszine.co.uk - complete guide to sport on the
Internet through a searchable database of over 40,000 individually reviewed
websites, www.sportonair.com - UK's first dedicated sports audio website with
hourly news, features and interviews, www.livesport.com - multi-sport website.
www.olympics.livesport365.com - dedicated service, covering all the events at
Sydney 2000
* Entertainment
Music - www.music365.com (English), www.music365.fr (French).- reviews of
albums and singles, interviews with artists and personalities and topical
stories, on-line chat forum, on-line shopping facilities for concert tickets,
CDs and videos.
Competitions - www.win365.co.uk - a cross-platform competition based product.
Games - www.trivia365.com - a network of live, multiplayer trivia games where
users can compete in real time against anyone else in the world on a variety
of topics including television, education, history, entertainment and sport
and win prizes.
365Television - www365television.com, the first production, a documentary on
boxer Mike Tyson's UK fight, was commissioned by BBC Choice and recently aired
on BBC Choice and BBC2.
Broadband365 - a standalone unit producing a number of programs using audio,
video and other 'interactive' products for broadband digital productions.
These productions will be available through a number of different mediums,
such as websites, and interactive TV platforms.
* Lifestyle
Companionship - www.personals365.com, an on-line companionship product,
www.theswitch.co.uk, a multi-platform product using the web and telephone for
chat.
Future - www.future365.com - a site dedicated to covering the past, present
and future
Gardening - www.gardening365.com
Gay - www.gay365.com
Advisory services - telephone-based services to users. 365 provides telephone
lines and systems and Infogenie procures the advisory services, currently for
legal services and veterinary services.
Business Division (www.symphony.com)
365 acquired its Business Division as part of the purchase of Symphony
Telecommunications plc (Symphony Telecom) in February 1999. Its focus is to
act as a 'one-stop-shop' and single point of contact for all of its customers'
communications requirements. Increasingly, this includes the provision of
internet-related applications and solutions. With its head offices in Hemel
Hempstead, England, it continues to trade under the Symphony brand.
www.business365.co.uk - designed to give SME's within the UK quick and easy
access to the facts and communication services they need to help run their
business. Business365 draws on Symphony's resources to provide independent,
interactive business solutions.
Telephone systems - 365 sells and maintains a range of telephone systems and
related solutions.
Fixed-line resale - 365 provides branded fixed line telecommunications
services and chooses to route traffic over a selection of blue chip carriers
including Energis and Viatel. It also provides non-geographic numbers
(premium, national and local rates) and routes ISDN traffic
Mobiles - 365 sells mobile handsets, airtime and ongoing support to SME's via
the Cellnet or Vodafone mobile networks.
Internet services - 365's internet products include network access devices,
ISDN-2-dial-up, web hosting and web design services