Sport And New Media

Andrew Croker of Perform says odds are stacked against success of Murdoch's paywall.
 

Executive Chairman of Perform, Andrew Croker, has said that if he was a betting man, he’d say the odds were stacked against the success of the proposed Murdoch paywall, believing users will simply migrate to sites with free content.
 
The online sports broadcaster, with Kentaro, made history in late 2009 when together they successfully delivered the England vs Ukraine World Cup qualifier online. Croker was asked about his thoughts on the Murdoch paywall while presenting this case study at the SportBusiness Sport & New Media conference in Manchester yesterday (21 April). He stated that while it could work for specialist titles like the Wall Street Journal, it was unlikely to work for general news sites thanks to the vast array of other options available to consumers.
 
Perform has never stated their viewership numbers for England vs Ukraine, but yesterday exclusively revealed it was the largest ever audience for an online sporting event, with 500,000 football fans streaming the game live on their PCs.
 
- Rachel Froggatt, Braben Sport