Specialist sports daily seeks launch agency

Sport First, Britain’s first daily newspaper dedicated to sport, is looking for an agency to handle its 1m launch and subsequent campaigns.

The paper launches in the first week of June to coincide with the start of the Euro 96 football tournament (MW April 19).

It is published by an associate company of Parliamentary Communications – Sport First – which aims to appoint an agency quickly.

It is understood pitches are due to take place both this week and next.

Sport First is aimed at a predominantly male, ABC1/C2 readership with a daily sales target of 100,000. Cover price will be 50p.

Initial launch spend is understood to be 250,000, while a further 750,000 will be spent in August.

Parliamentary Communications, which also publishes House Magazine and the Church of England newspaper, is understood to have raised 3m for the launch.

The paper will be edited by Bob Harris, the former executive sports editor of the Sunday Mirror, while the sales operation will be headed by Mike Harrington, who has been advertising director of House Magazine for the past two years.