ESPN acquires Scrum.com

England's Matt Stevens (C, front) tries to grab the ball flanked by team mate Tom Rees (7) at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille August 18, 2007. France faces England in a World Cup warm-up match before the September 2007 Rugby World Cup. Walt Disney Co.'s sports network ESPN said on Tuesday it had bought Scrum.com, a leading rugby news Web site, as part of its bid to move beyond American sports and attract fans around the world.

LONDON (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s sports network ESPN said on Tuesday it had bought Scrum.com, a leading rugby news Web site, as part of its bid to move beyond American sports and attract fans around the world.

ESPN recently acquired Cricinfo.com, the world's largest specialist cricket Web site, and has launched French, German, Spanish and Italian versions of ESPNsoccernet.com.

It is already the exclusive broadcaster of the Heineken Cup to the end of the 2010 season in certain regions including Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.

It also has the rights to show previous World Cup Rugby matches on ESPN Classic.

"We now offer sports fans world class online coverage of the top three sports in many of our markets," Lynne Frank, Managing Director of ESPN, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said in a statement.

"We are particularly delighted that scrum.com joins ESPN prior to this year's Rugby World Cup," she said, referring to the tournament which starts on September 7.

Scrum.com was launched in 1997 and attracts around 500,000 readers each month at the height of the rugby season.