Moonbug, the highly-funded digital kids’ content startup, has made its inaugural push into sports today with the acquisition of children’s animated soccer brand Supa Strikas. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Supa Strikas hails from South Africa, and comprises both a video series and a monthly comic that Moonbug says is one of the world’s most widely circulated. In the series, which was created in 2009 and has since resulted in six 13-episode seasons, a fictional soccer team journeys to outer space in a quest to win the so-called ‘Super League’ trophy. Supa Strikas is available in 27 languages and over 100 countries. It counts roughly 1.5 million subscribers across all of its multilingual channels on YouTube, and is also distributed on linear television in various regions through deals with Disney, Nickelodeon, and Turner.
In the wake of the acquisition, Moonbug will continue to collaborate with the Supa Strikas creative team to develop new episodes — set to bow in 2020 — as well as other soccer-based spin-off series to be distributed internationally. Supa Strikas is particularly popular in the U.K., Italy, South Africa, Eastern Europe, and Israel, according to Moonbug.
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You can check out the most-viewed English-language episode to date below:
“Soccer is the most beloved sport around the world, but there is a major white space in terms of fictional soccer content for kids on traditional media,” Andy Yeatman, a former Netflix exec who was named Moonbug’s head of the Americas last January, said in a statement. “Supa Strikas presents a cast of diverse personalities that resonate and connect with a global audience.”
“While the brand began as an admired comic book, we see our future in digital, which is why Moonbug is the perfect home for Supa Strikas,” added the franchise’s co-founder Richard Morgan-Greenville. “Moonbug understands the significance of the property’s global track record and we look forward to marrying the brilliance of the show with the world’s passion and demand for all things soccer.”
Los Angeles- and London-headquartered Moonbug owns 15 total kids’ content brands, which count a collective 55 million subscribers and garner over 1 billion views per month, including Little Baby Bum, Go Buster!, KiiYii, My Magic Pet Morphle, Glove and Boots, Gecko’s Garage, and Dr. Poppy’s Pet Rescue.
