Kooora’s operations will be relocated to Footballco’s regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia, bringing the brand closer with GOAL’s regional operation.
Digital soccer media company Footballco has signed an agreement to buy Dubai-based platform Kooora, in a mid-eight-figure all-cash deal.
Kooora, the Dubai-based online sports publisher, has dominated online sports news and data in the Middle East since its launch in Bahrain in 2002 by founder Khalid Aldoseri.
Published in Arabic and English and reaching an average of 25m users monthly in addition to over 7m followers on its social media and covering more than 42 different sports, 85% of which is about football, Kooora has been known for its immediacy, promptness, consistency, credibility, and integrity in covering sports news.
The acquisition will complement Footballco’s current footprint in the Middle East which is served by seven local editions of GOAL, published in both English and Arabic and more than doubles Footballco’s audience in the region and increases its monthly global reach to 640m fans.
The acquisition comes at a time when fans across the world are looking ahead to the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East.
Speaking about the acquisition, Khalid Aldoseri said: “I’m proud to have founded Kooora and to have taken it to this level and I’m excited to see how far it can grow as part of Footballco. Since the day it was launched, we have worked hard to build and maintain the pioneering position of Kooora.com at all levels. Setting standards and sustaining them is one challenge that was not subject to any compromise. We look forward to kooora.com growing and expanding onto higher realms as part of Footballco, striving always to serve a valuable and precious Arabic-speaking user base of sports fans.”
Mustafa Mohamed COO of Karmic Consultancy, the management company of Kooora.com added: “It is all about the solidarity, synchrony, harmony and hard work that have always been common elements within Kooora’s work environment. The family and team spirit brought us to this point. Thanks to each member in the team and look forward to achieving more great results with the massive global value Footballco would bring to the formula”.
Juan Delgado, CEO of Footballco, stated: “Kooora supercharges our global and Middle East footprint at a time when more eyes will be on the sport and the region. As a core market for Footballco, being the number one football platform in the Middle East is a must, allowing us to serve its young, growing and football-mad population. It is an affluent digital market, which allows us to continue to populate our map with leading local publishing brands alongside GOAL’s global scale.”
To further expand Footballco’s presence in the Middle East, the company will be moving its regional headquarters to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, integrating both Kooora and GOAL’s operations in the region.
Source: https://www.broadcastprome.com/news/footballco-acquires-middle-east-digital-sports-publisher-kooora/