Chicago newspapers engage football fans with online initiative

Shaw Media, Daily Herald and Chicago Sun-Times have partnered to create www.ChicagoFootball.com, a multichannel niche product available online, in print, television and radio. Chicago Football is a new agile and innovative take on how to bring content to readers and viewers, a responsive website that, on gameday, transforms to a smartphone social media destination.

J. Tom Shaw, Chief Digital Officer at Shaw Media

Chicago Football is a good example of how different media channels can be combined, over time, to enhance the overall reader experience and engagement. And in doing so, creating a very attractive platform also for advertisers.

Chicago Football is a multi-channel niche product available online, in print, television, and radio. In order to successfully launch the brand, Shaw Media partnered with Daily Herald and Chicago Sun-Times for content, sales and marketing as part of our effort to expand and better serve audience and advertisers. The website www.ChicagoFootball.com, powered by Roxen, continues to grow audience and generate incremental advertising revenue. On gameday, the website converts into a social media destination that allows fans to enhance their game-viewing experience via smartphone. This brand has created new, unique marketing opportunities that create value for our business partners across multiple platforms. Now we can provide these solutions outside of our traditional print footprint, says J. Tom Shaw, Chief Digital Officer, Shaw Media

Shaw Media, that was chartered with the realization of the project, is a long time user of Roxens technology for lean editorial production and publishing in online as well as in print.

Many media companies, particularly those with a local profile, are ideally positioned to engage their audience in a number of areas, sports being one of these, but you need to be able to move fast, also with a limited budget. With an innovative and agile approach, these areas can be exploited and add to the overall relevance and profitability of any size media company. Chicago Football is a great example of media companies successfully pursuing a business opportunity like this. We are proud and happy to help facilitate this with our technology, Per Östlund, CEO Roxen, concludes.

For more information, contact:

Johan Hansson, SVP Americas, Roxen Inc.
e-mail: johan hansson@roxen.com
phone: +1 (917) 582-0753

Per Östlund, CEO, Roxen AB
e-mail: per.ostlund@roxen.com
phone: +46 732 303013

J. Tom Shaw, CDO, Shaw Media
e-mail: jtshaw@shawmedia.com
Phone: +1 (630) 368-1100

About Roxen
Roxen develops web-based editorial and content management tools for multi-channel publishing, i.e. publishing online, in print, to tablets, smartphones and other devices. Customers include Metro USA, Shaw Media, Macari-Healey Publishing  as well as Princeton University and Verizon.

Roxen was established in 1994. The head office and development center is located in Linköping, Sweden. Roxen also has offices in Stockholm, Amsterdam and New York. For more information, visit www.roxen.com.

Roxen is named one of Europe’s most innovative technology ventures and was awarded the Red Herring Top 100 Europe Award in 2012.