Time Inc.?s acquisition of FanSided, a sports, entertainment and lifestyle digital content network of more than 300 Web sites with 15 million unique visitors per month consolidates the media company?s two-year-old partnership with the network ahead of the personalization and customization of the traditional media company's Sports Illustrated magazine. 

The acquisition, for undisclosed terms and including FanSided?s mobile application, personalized digital newsletter and popularity among millennial sports and entertainment fans, will deepen Sports Illustrated?s local sports coverage and add weight to the customization program, set to launch this summer. Time also plans to further leverage FanSided?s entertainment and lifestyle coverage across its brand portfolio, which includes Entertainment Weekly.

?They have a very mobile audience and a younger audience so in part this is about extending our reach,? said Scott Havens, senior vice president of digital for Time Inc., New York. ?We believe in the future of mobile and for marketers. And a lot of dollars were shifted in that direction. 

?We need to have more scale and as we roll out more ad products for mobile we want to be able to use that scale.

?This is really about the multi-platform traffic and bringing the FanSided content and network underneath the sports group,? he said. ?But the fact it?s younger and mobile plays exactly to the areas of growth for us.?

The acquisition builds on the Time-FanSided partnership. FanSided founders Adam and Zach Best, along with partner Matt Blake, will join Time and oversee FanSided as a division of the Sports Illustrated Group, working closely with SI group publisher Brendan Ripp, editor Paul Fichtenbaum and Mr. Havens.

The FanSided business is an investment in a modern content strategy plus deeply engaged and passionate audiences, Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp was quoted in a release. 

Since becoming an independent public company in 2014, Time has been extending its brands, content and audiences into new revenue streams through investment and acquisition. 

Its acquisitions include Cozi, a technology company, and UK Cycling Events. Time also is an equity investor in 120 Sports, an over-the-top network created by multiple leagues and content companies.

Time also launched www.mimichatter.com, a stream of social chatter, beauty content and video, as well as The Snug, a DIY social aggregation website targeting millennials.

The acquisition also aligns with SI?s expansion into men?s lifestyle categories, such as fitness, adventure sports and the global sneaker community.

The key to the deal was SI?s need to have mobile content for all sports teams. 

?So if I?m a Chiefs fan or a Lightning fan, there?s enough content to fill it up,? Mr. Havens said. ?It?s always better if you host that content.? 

?FanSided provides that nice compliment to what we consider Sports Illustrated?s more horizontal sports content,? he said.

With mobile raising expectations that any desire can be gratified immediately, marketers need to apply approaches that show awareness of the fan?s day-long engagement with sports-related content.

Marketers also need to figure out when is the right time to try to engage the sports fan and what is the best way to deliver on his or her needs in that moment.

The FanSided deal fits Time?s content needs.

?FanSided already has an established following in terms of mobile audience and, even more importantly, has a wide-ranging voice via all its content contributors,? said Chuck Martin, CEO of the Mobile Future Institute, Boston. 

?In this case, it is far easier to acquire such assets rather than trying to create them from ground zero, a long-range process, at best.? 

The acquisition also aims to sync up Time?s entertainment and lifestyle brands with FanSided?s content exploration in the entertainment and lifestyle space. 

?It was more of a marketing and ad representation relationship in the past,? Mr. Havens said. ?There was some content back and forth. 

?But this brings us much closer together and content flowing back and forth,? he said.