Open Sports Network receives Fox injection

Fox Broadcasting Company, part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, has taken a 20 per cent stake in the Open Sports Network fantasy games website.

The Open Sports Network produces several next generation social-powered sports experiences, combing social media, community tools and traditional sports content with best-of-breed fantasy sports games.

The media partnership will consist of Fox providing US$20 million worth of televised and online promotion for Open Sports and its products across FoxSports.com on MSN, FoxSports.com, the Fox Sports Network (FSN) and FSN's owned-and-operated regional sports networks.

A revenue sharing element to the deal will see Fox support the Open Sports Network's own in-house sales team and take a cut on sales of all new fantasy games.

Open Sports Network chairman and chief executive Mike Levy revealed that "a suite of products" will be unveiled as a result of the new partnership with Fox.

Furthermore, Fox Sports chairman David Hill now has a new seat on the Open Sports Network's board of directors.

The partnership is another piece of good news for the Open Sports Network. The company has also tied down a US$4 million venture-capital investment from its original private equity investors.