Daily sports paper to kick off in June

Sport First, Britain’s first daily newspaper dedicated to sport, will launch on June 6 to coincide with the start of Euro 96.

It will publish six days a week, concentrating on football – although all sports will be covered, as will betting.

The broadsheet will be published by an associate company of Parliamentary Communications, Sport First. Parliamentary also publishes House Magazine, Church of England Newspaper and The Public Ledger, which is understood to have raised 3m so far for the launch.

The paper will be edited by Bob Harris – former executive sports editor of the Sunday Mirror. Sales will be headed by Mike Harrington, advertising director of House Magazine for the past two years.

Sport First will target a predominantly male, ABC1C2 readership with a daily sales target of 100,000. Cover price will be 50p.

Haymarket Magazines is to launch a new sports title following the success of its football monthly, FourFourTwo. Meanwhile, EMAP specialist division EMAP Pursuit is recruiting staff to launch a new sports title.