Digital magazine publishers Future has partners with the Press Association (PA) and EA Sports to launch a new weekly international iPad magazine for fans of the English Premier League.
Due to launch next month, Football Week will preview every EPL game with full editorial pieces, team news, head-to-head info, player data and the latest stats. Over the weekend, these will update with the addition of text commentary, in-game stats and post-match analysis.
Future say the title will be “a truly interactive digital football magazine with the up-to-the-second flexibility of a website but the design and packaging of a digital edition.”
It has been built with the firm’s own app creation software, FutureFolio, which has seen further development to allow Football Week to be the company’s first iPad magazine to enhance editorial content with live content feeds.
As well as full game previews, a dedicated Future editorial team will provide a wealth of player interviews, think pieces and expert editorial about the wider issues of the modern game.
Expert ‘datatorial’ pieces will use the PA’s market-leading football statistics whilst leading football writer Jonathan Wilson (The Guardian, Goal, World Soccer) will also be supplying an exclusive column on modern EPL tactics.
The tie-up with EA Sports will allow the title to offer a weekly dedicated gaming section including tips, tactics and competitions around the studio’s FIFA 13 game.
EA Sports will also promote Football Week to its extensive social media audiences.
Up-to-the-minute injury news will be provided by PhysioRoom.com, the world’s leading resource for football injury data. As well as a regular presence in each addition of Football Week, PhysioRoom.com will feature heavily on the accompanying Football Week blog (www.thefootballweek.net).
Mark Cantwell, Football Week Publisher, says: “We truly believe this is the ultimate accompaniment to the weekend’s Premier League action. We have focussed on filling the gaps that traditional media like TV, Magazines and Websites leave behind, to put the consumer at the heart of everything we do and complete their weekend football experience. We are particularly proud of The Match Hub – it’s as live as it is possible to get and custom designed for the iPad.”
Mark Wood, Future CEO, says: “Football Week is a unique iPad product and a genuine first for Future. We are moving rapidly outside the boundaries of our traditional business and fusing the best aspects of print and web media together for the tablet. The Press Association has been the best partner possible for this new type of product and although their infrastructure and content are important it is their ambition and willingness to innovate with us that has been key.”
Tony Watson, Managing Director of the Press Association, added: “PA is working with Future because of its excellent publishing credentials on Newsstand. With our market leading content fuelling Football Week, together PA and Future can create new products for new markets at the cutting edge of digital publishing.”