The Sportsman Finally Shuts

The Sportsman newspaper, which launched in March of this year, has finally closed after talks regarding refinancing the title broke down.

The daily betting newspaper, which cut its Sunday edition in August (see Sportsman Newspaper To Cut Sunday Edition), went into administration in July (see The Sportsman Goes Into Administration) and was seeking multi-millions of pounds to save the title (see The Sportsman Could Announce Rescue Bid).

The troubled paper was not around long enough to gain NRS figures and did not submit ABCs for July (see Sportsman Not Submitting ABC Circulations). Its rival, Trinity Mirror’s Racing Post, was never challenged by The Sportsman‘s existence, with the Post recording an ABC of 76,009 for August. The Sportsman‘s circulation figures were modest, and in May dropped to just 12,762.

Chairman Jeremy Deedes said: “Ironically, our last recorded sale of 21,000 was not only our best day’s sale since the launch period, but also corresponded to the figure set out as the breakeven under the new business plan.

“To be shutting on a rising sale is somehow more heartbreaking than if we had been in steady decline.”