Footballco, digital football content and media business, acquired Kooora, digital sports publisher in the Middle East.

Kooora, Dubai-based online sports publisher, has dominated online sports news and data in the Middle East since its launch in Bahrain in 2002 by founder Khalid Aldoseri. It publishes in both Arabic and English and reached an average of 25 million unique users monthly in addition to over seven million followers on its social media and covering more than 42 different sports.

The acquisition will complement Footballco’s current footprint in the Middle East which is served by seven local editions of GOAL, published in both English and Arabic and more than doubles Footballco’s audience in the region and increases its monthly global reach to 640 million fans.

The acquisition comes at a time when fans across the world are looking ahead to the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East.

“Kooora supercharges our global and Middle East footprint at a time when more eyes will be on the sport and the region. As a core market for Footballco, being the number one football platform in the Middle East is a must, allowing us to serve its young, growing and football-mad population. It is an affluent digital market, which allows us to continue to populate our map with leading local publishing brands alongside GOAL’s global scale,” Juan Delgado, Footballco CEO, said.

To further expand Footballco’s presence in the Middle East, the company will be moving its regional headquarters to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, integrating both Kooora and GOAL’s operations in the region.