Sportgenic(TM) Announces New Vertical Advertising Channel Dedicated To Mixed Martial Arts

Courtesy of Sportgenic:

Addition of Popular Publishers Puts Marketers in Front of Rapidly Growing, Premium Audience

SAN FRANCISCO--(June 12, 2008)--Sportgenic™ (formerly Active Athlete), a digital media and technology company dedicated to connecting marketers with sport enthusiasts, today announced it has launched a new vertical advertising channel dedicated to ‘mixed martial arts’ (MMA). Building on its existing presence in this fast-growing category, Sportgenic has grown its publisher network to include nearly 25 MMA websites representing up to three million unique visitors per month. Sportgenic now hosts advertising on some of the most popular sites featuring the sport, including mmaweekly.com, mmaringreport.com, mmajunkie.com and Huntington Beach’s Bad Boy Tito Ortiz’s website, titoortiz.com.

“As a company dedicated to sport enthusiasts, Sportgenic already has an established presence in MMA,” said Robert Tas, CEO of Sportgenic. “Yet with MMA’s continual dramatic growth, we found that more and more advertisers are looking to reach this specific audience. So, we aggregated our MMA sites into a single highly targeted buy that draws some of the highest rankings in the coveted male audience.”

Through its collection of highly engaging social- and community-based websites, Sportgenic offers unsurpassed value to both MMA site publishers, as well as advertisers. In addition to a network that reaches six other various sport categories, the new MMA channel grants advertisers specific access and more targeted reach to a premium audience of MMA fans around the world. At the same time, MMA site publishers benefit from more relevant advertising around their users’ passion.

Advertisers interested in MMA range from video games to soft and sports drinks, tire and beer companies, as well as car companies and sporting goods.

Added Tas: “The advertisers’ common link is they understand the value of this loyal audience, which not only captures the young males but has also evolved to comprise upper-end demographics such as 35+ men.”

MMA’s Explosive Growth

Mixed Martial Arts has risen from a no-holds-barred brawl to a mainstream spectator sport, nearly surpassing boxing in just a short time. Originally only available on Pay-Per-View, Dana White and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) crossed over to network TV with the hit reality program The Ultimate Fighter, which airs on Spike TV, followed by the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) on the Versus Network. Today a number of additional organizations have emerged, and the major networks have taken notice: on June 1st CBS aired EliteXC: PRIMETIME - the first prime time MMA event on a major network television - drawing more than 6.5 million viewers. NBC, Showtime, and Mark Cuban's HDNet have all jumped into the MMA ring.

“We joined Sportgenic’s exclusive network of MMA sites to connect our community with advertisers dedicated to their passion,” said MMAWeekly CEO and Co-Founder Scott Petersen. “It’s important for us to enhance our visitors’ online experience. We’re not just throwing ads on our site. We’re working with Sportgenic because they work with the brands that understand our audience and are looking to reach them. Our ads make sense to our community, and that matters.”

About Sportgenic

Sportgenic™ represents the buying power of millions of sport enthusiasts looking for people, products and information online. The company represents a network of highly engaging medium and long tail websites, including specialty sites, training resources, social networks, and enthusiast content sites. Sportgenic connects marketers with engaged and passionate consumers via proprietary technology, ad targeting and deep domain expertise.

Sportgenic has consistently been listed amongst the top 10 sports networks on comScore in sports since November 2007. (comScore Media Metrix Sports category media sets with duplication.) The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

For more information call 415-983-2301 or visit www.sportgenic.com.

Sportgenic is a registered trademark of Sportgenic, Inc.

Contact:
Lyman Public Relations
Carm Lyman, 707-256-3834
carm@Lymanpr.com