Highbury In A Spin With New Cricket Title
Magazine publisher Highbury House has announced the creation of a new cricket magazine, dubbed Spin, to cater for the modern cricketer with what it claims is a fresh, dynamic and inclusive editorial style.
The title will be published through Highbury’s Lifestyle Publishing division, with the company claiming it will “do for cricket magazines what Channel 4 and Sky have done for cricket on TV”. The title aims to provide readers with entertaining, sharp and authoritative coverage of the game at the highest level, covering international competition and capitalising on the sport’s growing popularity.
Highbury is targeting readers of all cultures and ages with the title, and claims that a growing number of younger fans and women are enjoying the sport’s resurgence.
Commenting on the launch, David Nizol, Highbury’s chief operating officer said: “Spin is an exciting addition to the Group’s stable of sports titles which includes Procycling, the Official Tour de France Guide, golf titles The Open and The Masters and our South African magazines SA Cricket and SA Rugby.”
He added: “With our reputation for bold, cutting-edge editorial and great design, it will be an attractive option for the 12 million people who enjoy cricket in the UK, as well as the advertisers who want to reach them.”
The new title will compete with existing cricket titles, All Out Cricket published by PCA/Costcutters Supermarket Group/Tri North, which covers the Professional Cricketers Association and the England Team, and Wisden Cricketer Publishing’s Wisden Cricketer, which covers cricket around the world.
Spin will be edited by renowned sports journalist, Duncan Steer, with a roster of contributors to be unveiled ahead of its launch in February. Explaining the decision to create the title, Steer said: “2005 is a very exciting time to be launching a new cricket title. Enthusiasm for the game is at a new high, with England playing Australia for the Ashes this summer, the Twenty20 Cup going from strength to strength and the excitement of India taking on Pakistan again.”
The title’s launch will be backed by an extensive promotional campaign in the new year. Earlier this year Highbury House announced that it will fail to meet expectations this year despite seeing a 24% jump in revenue during the first half of 2004. The group, which predicted a 27% year-on-year growth in profits from January to June 2004, admitted in September that the first six months of this year had proved to be challenging, with consumer markets more difficult than had been anticipated s(see Highbury House Unable To Meet Full-Year Expectations).
Highbury House Communications: www.hhc.co.uk
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