News Corp. and the AP have formed a joint venture named STATS LLC that will produce sports data and content.
STATS Inc. is a sports information and statistical analysis company owned by News Corp. It now merges with AP's multimedia sports service MegaSports. The two parent companies each will own half.
Gary Walrath, CEO of STATS Inc., will serve as president and CEO. The company keeps its Chicago-area headquarters and offices in L.A.
The entity will seek to provide sports info to various markets including teams, wire services, the Internet and game developers.
Packaging and sales of sports information for AP members will remain at AP.