The Roar (website)
The Roar is an Australian sports opinion website. It was established by brothers Zac and Zolton Zavos in late 2006.[1] Initially, The Roar was a blog to host writing from their father, Spiro Zavos who was a rugby columnist with Fairfax Media at the time. It quickly developed into a site which combines expert sports opinion articles with edited fan articles.
Type of site | Sports news, opinion, conversation, and engagement |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Key people | Daniel Jeffrey & Benjamin Conkey (editors), Josh Elliott (weekend editor) |
| URL | www |
| Launched | 2007 |
| Current status | Active |
| ISSN | 2201-5639 |
History
In 2007, Zac Zavos formed the company Conversant Media Pty Ltd, which published The Roar as well as the culture site, Lost At E Minor - a site the brothers had been publishing since 2005.
In December 2010, Network Ten[2] became a minority investor.
The business was run from Newcastle, Australia during its formative years of 2008 to 2015, and was an early recipient of the Renew Newcastle[3] office space program.
In June 2016, The Roar had 156 expert commentators. Each month The Roar publishes about 1,000 articles from experts and fans. The main sports covered by The Roar are rugby union, rugby league, AFL, cricket, football, Olympic Games, horse racing, motor sports, tennis and cycling. The website has over 1.1 million unique visitors a month and over 50,000 comments.[2]
It runs tipping competitions and accepts advertising. It also has a Twitter feed and Facebook site.
In 2016, Conversant Media was acquired in full by HT&E[3] for $11.6m. The Roar continued to grow under the new corporate ownership, with Zac Zavos becoming the CEO[4] of Conversant Media.
References
- McGowan, Michael (8 August 2014). "Zac Zavos: From minor to roaring success". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- Stafford, Patrick. "Ten Network makes another digital investment in sports community The Roar". Smart Company. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- Green, Penelope (26 October 2016). "Renew Newcastle graduate Conversant Media is acquired by APN Media for $11.6m". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- Mediaweek (27 November 2017). "Conversant Media's long journey from hobby project to a vital part of HT&E group". Mediaweek. Retrieved 7 February 2018.