±±¾©Èü³µpk10

The National Magazine Company is the latest publisher to produce a

sports supplement with the launch next week of Esquire Sports

Quarterly.

ESQ, a 64-page volume walleted on to the cover of the magazine’s June

issue, comes hot on the heels of Observer Sports Monthly, which was

delivered free with the newspaper last weekend. It will also compete

with Wallpaper’s new sports title, Line.

Esquire’s editor, Peter Howarth, who also heads ESQ, said the

publication would be different from fitness-oriented consumer magazines

such as GQ Active, Men’s Fitness and NatMags’ now-defunct ZM.

He said: ’That 90s gym culture isn’t interesting to our readers. Our

research shows that Esquire readers are sports fans whose interest is

even higher than the national average. They want to be able to read the

kind of lifestyle coverage of sports that they can’t get from the back

pages.’

Howarth said that ESQ could develop into a standalone title, a

development that is already planned for Line and OSM.

’We’ll see how it is received in the first year and what impact it has

on sales,’ he said. ’This is virgin territory and we want to see how it

goes.’

ESQ’s first cover features a black and white image of David Beckham,

with the Manchester United star also appearing on the cover of the

accompanying issue of Esquire.

’It’s a great way to show the two faces of Esquire because he’s a

sportsman with different sides to his life,’ Howarth said. ’The Esquire

feature will talk about Mr Posh Spice while the ESQ article will talk

about his relationship with Alex Ferguson and his crossing technique.’