TheScore.ie was just fine, right? Why are you changing the name?
We recently celebrated our fourth birthday at Journal Media — hey, they grow up so fast.
As well as having some cake, we’ve been looking at where we came from — four or five people in the corner of an office to a team of 45 — and where we’re going.
We have huge plans for our sports site, hitting new audiences and expanding our borders. TheScore is a name that is pretty generic and is used in lots of other countries.
We wanted to have a name that had a meaning for us, told something about what we are now and will be unique to us. TheScore isn’t that if we want to get bigger and reach more people so we’ve decided to wave goodbye.
Regardless, of what we’re called the content is what defines us. We’ll continue to talk about sports with our hugely engaged and knowledgeable readers; that’s what matters really.
The new name’s The42.ie? What’s that about?
When we started TheScore in 2010, we were determined to give the modern Irish sports fan what you wanted.
We have always been focused on the digitally-savvy reader. That meant creating content for mobile, delivering the news when readers wanted it and engaging properly with comments.
As well as that we realised that the Irish sports fan of today is passionate about rugby, soccer, hurling and Gaelic football. But wants more too.
We’re on the Hill for the All-Ireland, in Cardiff for the Six Nations and on the couch for Sunday Night NFL. The watershed moment for this generation of modern Irish sports fan was the relaxation of Rule 42 to open up Croke Park to soccer and rugby. We chose The42 as a hat-tip to this new breed of Irish sports supporter, who are online, well-informed and want to be at the heart of the social conversation.
The42 marks the start of something new.
Will the site change at all?
We’re always striving to get even better and this is a massive opportunity for us to push on again. We have big plans for the next few years.
But first, some things won’t change. We’ll still bring you the best mix of sports journalism every day. We have, as you know, some of the best journalists in the country covering Irish rugby, soccer and GAA in a different way.
We have plans to double our workforce — with the emphasis on editorial staff — so expect a lot more of what we do especially around the competitions you care most about like the Rugby World Cup next year, Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualification campaign and the GAA championships. We’ll be front and centre at the events that matter.
The scorecentre will be overhauled, improved and be even quicker while the app will have personalisation functions and notifications.
We want more fitness content, MMA and long features – you’ll notice changes throughout the year.
So it’ll change, but just for the better.
When will this name come into effect?
You may notice some changes to the look and feel of your app and the desktop over the next couple of weeks with the new The42 era starting in January.
Do I have to download a new app?
No, your much-used TheScore app will update over the next few months automatically. We got this.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below
