Viacom-backed SportsLine.com plans to exit the Internet
media business in Europe, announcing Monday plans to shed its 30 percent
stake in Sports.com.
The Fort Lauderdale-based SportsLine said the Sports.com subsidiary was
placed into administration in the United Kingdom, paving the way for a
court-appointed trustee to decide whether the company should be reorganized,
sold or liquidated.
Sports.com subsidiaries in Italy, France, Germany and Spain are not included
in the administration process but are also up for sale.
SportsLine.com, which is partly owned by Viacom (through its CBS
subsidiary), said the Sports.com sale would not have any
material effects on its financial condition or the business operations.
“SportsLine.com’s focus has been on our core domestic business and this
action will have no effect on how we operate or on our financial condition
as we deconsolidated Sports.com’s operating results last year,” said
SportsLine CEO Michael Levy. “We and the other shareholders were unwilling
to provide additional capital to fund Sports.com’s operations and we support
the decision by the Sports.com Board of Directors to place the company in
administration in order to protect the creditors.”
“SportsLine.com owns and licenses the sports.com domain to Sports.com
Limited under the terms of an inter-company agreement. In the event of a
sale of Sports.com Limited, SportsLine.com will carefully evaluate the terms
of the inter-company agreement to determine how it will be affected,
including the right of any purchaser to continue to use the sports.com
domain,” it added.
With the soccer World Cup in full gear, SportsLine said it would run the
site through the end of the wildly popular tournament and find a buyer for
the Sports.com site. Bruce Mackay and Colin Haig of London Accounting firm
Baker Tilly are acting as the administrators for Sports.com.
SportsLine currently operates the CBS
SportsLine Web site, which competes with ESPN.com in the online sports
media sector. The company has high-profile deals to create officials sites
for the PGA Tour and the NFL.
