The Evening Standard has doubled the size of its online sports team off the back of the site’s “hugely successful” World Cup coverage.
Seven online sports writers have joined the Evening Standard’s digital team, including three full-time journalists posted in major football cities outside London – Manchester, Liverpool and Madrid.
Four London-based hires will enable enhanced live match coverage of Premier League action and newly-introduced coverage of Spain’s La Liga division, the title said.
The increase in staff comes after the site attracted an audience of almost 5m for its coverage of this summer’s World Cup, which it said had been “hugely successful”.
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Richard Parry, digital sports editor at the Evening Standard, said: “We are very excited to be starting the new season with a bigger team and dedicated reporters in three new football mad cities.
“Our aim is to take the very best of an established and trusted brand and extend it to our over-growing national and international audience.”
The three new journalists posted outside London are James Robson, who has covered Manchester City and Manchester United for 11 years and is a “well-respected face” on the football scene in the North West, David Lynch, who previously worked on Liverpool FC’s own website, and Ben Hayward, who has more than 15 years’ experience covering football in Spain.
The Evening Standard is also adding new features to its online coverage, including longer build-ups to games, regular push notification updates, and increased video coverage on site and across social media platforms.
The website is also offering adverts for commercial partners within live match coverage for the first time.
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