National World acquires Athletics Weekly Limited – AW

New ownership for AW as the brand heads into an Olympic summer of track and field athletics

National World, the British multi-media company, has bought Athletics Weekly Limited as part of its strategy to focus on higher-value, specialist content.

Previously owned by 21six Investments Limited, Athletics Weekly is the leading global content platform for athletics with content ranging from the sport’s grassroots through to the elite professional level.

AW publishes online, via social media platforms, newsletters and a monthly print magazine. The acquisition extends National World’s sports coverage beyond football focused content and brings with it the authoritative voice of respected writers and commentators across the sport of athletics.

Commenting on the acquisition, the Group’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Hollinshead, said: “The addition of Athletics Weekly continues our strategy to focus on unique specialist content with higher-yielding advertising and multimedia brand partnership potential.

“We’re delighted to welcome AW’s publisher, Wendy Sly, an Olympic medallist in her own right, to our sports coverage line-up. AW will sit alongside our growing stable of sports vertical platforms, which includes 3addedminutes.com and totallysnookered.com.

“The acquisition creates an opportunity for us to extend this world-famous market-leading brand into new media channels, including video, events and podcasts.

“With the Paris Olympics upon us and with athletics as the number one Olympic sport, we look forward to a successful summer of sport recorded through the eyes of AW.”