The Sportsman to withhold June ABC circulation figures

by Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 10-Jul-06, 15:30

LONDON - New sports betting newspaper The Sportsman is to withhold its official ABC circulation figures this month on the grounds of inconsistencies occurring after it changed distributor.

The bettings newspaper, which launched in March, has yet to establish itself as a major competitor to Trinity Mirror's Racing Post, but maintains its decision to withdraw its ABC figure stemmed from an inconsistency that occurred when it switched distributors six weeks ago.

The Sportsman changed from Telegraph Group to Associated Newspaper's Advantage, creating what it described as a discrepancy in the circulation reports for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after the two companies posted different figures.

A spokesperson at The Sportsman said: "Due to inconsistencies between the figures, we didn't feel we could accurately post an ABC figure."

However, the title said it expected its daily circulation, including discounted sales, for June to hover around 23,500, marginally increasing on its May figure of 22,333.

Jeremy Deedes, chairman of The Sportsman, said: "This is another small stepping stone in our evolution and whilst it's a small tick up, it is disappointing that we are not able to post a higher figure."

Although May's figure of 22,333 was a 2.36% increase on April, the Racing Post was still way out in front with 75,671, albeit sliding 6.84%.

According to media reports, The Sportsman increased its daily sales by 20% during Royal Ascot, but did not capitalise on the presence of the World Cup despite a wave of gambling amongst football fans.

Deedes added: "We are only just over 100 editions old and that familiarity takes time to achieve - slowly but surely we are getting The Sportsman to the right audience."

The official ABC figures for June are released on Friday.

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