National World acquires football and video publishers Scoop Dragon and News Chain

The purchases comprise a network of football news sites and a video-first publisher.

By Bron Maher

National World has bought football and video publishers Scoop Dragon and News Chain.

Scoop Dragon is a digital football publisher that operates 50 club-focused websites. News Chain is a video-first publisher that also owns the website World of Women’s Sport.

National World, which in 2022 announced it was seeking acquisition opportunities and recently floated, then abandoned, a purchase of publishing giant Reach, said the Scoopdragon acquisition “enables a significant change in reach, (increasing the company’s page views by over 10%) and content, and forms part of National World’s ongoing strategy of scaling audiences in key verticals via organic development and strategic acquisitions”.

It said the News Chain purchase “supports National World’s goal of meeting increased customer demand for content in a video format… National World will grow News Chain’s platform through the addition of content resources and gaining access to a wider customer network with strong overlap in areas of interest.”

National World strategy director Alan Renwick said: “With the founders of the businesses continuing to work with National World to help develop and integrate the sites, this also supports the company strategy to develop a more entrepreneurial, fast paced and innovative digital culture.”