The Turner International division of US media company Time Warner has made an equity investment in London-based digital media sports firm Bigballs Media (BBM), parent company of football-focused digital video platform Copa90.
The agreement marks the first investment for Turner International’s Digital Ventures & Innovation Group and will be used to aid BBM’s international expansion, content production and distribution, and enhance its data capabilities. The two parties said the deal aims to fully establish Copa90 as the “definitive” football youth media brand.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Turner is the largest provider of funding for the Series B investment round and the main strategic investor. In parallel, Turner and BBM have signed a commercial agreement which expands on an existing relationship with digital sports brand Bleacher Report, a division of Turner.
The cross-platform commercial agreement includes strategic co-branded content production, the development of third-party branded content and sponsorship opportunities, and content creation for Turner’s own channels. It also facilitates BBM’s close collaboration across the wider Turner portfolio, including Brazilian sports broadcaster Esporte Interativo, Turner Sports and CNN.
Additionally, Aksel van der Wal, head of digital ventures and innovation at Turner International, will take a seat on BBM’s board of directors, and Alex Vargas, chief operating officer of Bleacher Report, becomes a board observer.
Van der Wal said: “We see really exciting opportunities to work with BBM in developing creative ways to engage new audiences, in particular expanding our growing touchpoints with millennials while also offering innovative new platforms for advertisers. It is exactly the kind of forward-looking partnership we hope to establish more of.”
Tom Thirlwall, chief executive of BBM, added: “Our ambition is to be the world’s most influential football media business by the time the 2018 (Fifa) World Cup kicks off and this investment and partnership with Turner is a decisive step towards making that a reality.
“We had significant interest in our round but Turner was by far and away the most compelling because of their team, vision and the strategic opportunities for both our businesses. The investment will enable us to accelerate our growth in our core markets, build our data and distribution capabilities and expand our commercial teams in Europe and the US and of course continue to make the best fan culture football content.”
The investment in BBM is the latest in a series of investments by Turner in the digital space and the first with a company headquartered outside of the US.