Goal.com Partners with Handmark to Kick Off Free Mobile Application for Soccer Fans

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just in time for the FIFA World Cup Draw, Goal.com, the world’s #1 source for global soccer news, and Handmark®, the leading creator and distributor of mobile applications and services, today announced the launch of Goal.com Mobile for BlackBerry smartphones.

The new mobile application delivers instant, real-time access to breaking Goal.com soccer news, including the most extensive coverage of the FIFA World Cup Draw. The application features easy-to-navigate tabs, including:

• Breaking News
• World Cup 2010
• Champions League
• England
• Italy
• Spain
• Transfer Zone

Articles from Goal.com Mobile can be shared or saved via social bookmarking, email and social networking sites. The application also features a customizable “My Feeds” tab where users can access their own favorite news feeds or team-specific information.

Goal.com is known for its colorful, in-depth editorial content and breaking news, covering all the major international soccer leagues including The World Cup, Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and the Major Soccer League (MLS). Its team of live, on location reporters publishes up to 125 articles per day in more than 17 languages around the world, including English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.

“Our loyal fans around the world want to have round-the-clock instant access to the latest soccer news and updates, especially during the World Cup season,” said Joan Blaas, VP of Mobile for Goal.com. “Handmark was able to help us deliver a simple, easy to navigate, easy to read application that helps us deliver on the wants and needs of our fans by making our content available wherever, whenever.”

Goal.com Mobile is powered by the Handmark Mobile Publishing Platform (MPP), which enables newspapers, magazines and other content providers around the world to launch their own branded, always-on personalized mobile applications quickly and easily. In addition to the development of the applications, Handmark is the only provider to support distribution, monetization and maintenance of its partners’ mobile applications. Goal.com Mobile is the latest addition to more than 30 mobile applications powered by the Handmark MPP.

“As a huge soccer fan myself, I love having instant access to the latest news and updates,” said Evan Conway, EVP of Marketing at Handmark. “We are excited to bring the leading provider of soccer information to a new mobile audience.”

Handmark and Goal.com plan to release Goal.com Mobile in multiple languages and additional platforms, including iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and J2ME-based devices, in the coming months.

To download Goal.com Mobile now, visit www.handmark.com or http://m.goal.com/app directly from your mobile browser. More information about the Handmark Mobile Publishing Platform is available at www.handmarkmobileapps.com.

About Handmark

Handmark is the world-leading creator and distributor of mobile applications and services. The company delivers an engaging, customized experience for your mobile phone with the industry's best applications covering news and information, games, lifestyle and travel, reference and productivity, personalization and more. As one of the leading distributors of mobile content and storefronts for 10 years, Handmark has established itself as the premier mobile content partner.

About Goal.com

Goal.com has the largest most consistent global online football fan base with over 12.5 million unique monthly visitors online and over 2 million unique per month on mobile. Goal.com’s global footprint includes 23 editions in 17 languages and users in more than 210 countries. Goal.com is a New Media company that operates on the internet and mobile platforms.

Goal.com produces all the content in house. Currently there are over 450 editors globally that write about football on a local, national, regional and global basis. This unique content-generating network guarantees real time coverage of the life and the passion of the game, bringing together the world's diverse football content to the global football community.

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