Soccer titles shrug off new tabloid threat

The launch of weekly football supplements by The Sun and the Daily Mirror will not dent the chances of a new wave of soccer magazine titles, according to publishers.

But The Sun’s Football Football, and the Mirror’s Football Mania, included in this week’s Monday editions, will add to the problems of Sport First launching next month as a six-days-a-week sports newspaper, say magazine rivals.

Terry Pratt, publishing director of EMAP sports titles which plans to launch teen soccer mag Sported in the near future, claims improved soccer coverage in the national press will not undermine the growing demand for soccer magazines.

Pratt says: “All national newspapers have improved sports coverage in recent years, but that has not stopped sports titles becoming one of the fastest growing sectors in consumer magazines.”

However, he adds that the tactical strengthening of the major tabloids’ soccer coverage could make life tougher for Sport First. The paper’s twice delayed launch is scheduled for September.