LA JOLLA, Calif. – October 11, 2000 – Active.com, the leading online registration company for participatory sports and recreational activities, has signed a definitive agreement to merge with Sierra Digital Inc. (SDI), developer of RecWare, a recreation management software product used by more than 1,000 park districts, college and university sports departments and military installations nationwide.
The merger will significantly broaden Active.com’s customer base, enabling the company to offer online registration capabilities to SDI’s existing customers. Through an integrated Active.com/RecWare product, park and recreation professionals across the country will be able to easily provide online registration functionality as a seamless extension of their existing management software. The two companies will also target the service to the millions of park visitors who participate in park and recreation activities nationwide each year.
“This merger is a logical step for us," explained Dave Alberga, president and chief executive officer, Active.com. “We’re continually looking for ways to bring the convenience of online registration to anyone who wants to sign up for events, leagues and recreational activities. By joining forces with Sierra Digital, we seamlessly Web-enable activity and event registration for the largest installed customer base in the park and recreation software market while also extending this service to the nation’s 200 million annual park visitors."
Now, rather than driving to a local park or recreation facility and standing in line hoping for a swim lesson slot or other activity, the public will be able to register online through the recreation facility’s Web site or at www.active.com.
Active.com leads the market for online event registration – the company provides online registration for over 15,000 events. And a strong commitment to park and recreation through its partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) has yielded another 2,000 league organizations signed to use Active.com’s online registration service. Through its relationship with NRPA, the company developed ActiveParks.org (www.activeparks.org). ActiveParks.org is a free, online service-based initiative uniting park and recreation professionals through a Web resource that will provide a database of local, county and state park and recreation facilities. The database will also eventually allow the public to get online at www.active.com and search and register for facilities and programs at parks across the country.
As the established market leader for recreation management software, SDI complements Active.com’s offering. SDI is the developer of RecWare Pro, the industry’s most popular recreation management software. SDI also offers RecWare Safari, its new flagship product which delivers the industry’s most technologically-advanced software with all functionality integrated into a single, highly flexible software application.
“We’ve always had a solid focus on superior technology and now we have the opportunity to leverage Active.com’s sales and marketing horsepower, online registration expertise and established industry relationships to deliver the most comprehensive software solution ever seen in parks and recreation," said Duane Harlan, SDI founder and president.
SDI will retain its office and staff in Sacramento, Calif., continuing its focus on the RecWare product line. Harlan will continue to guide the RecWare product line’s development and strategy, in tandem with Active.com’s management team.
The merger continues a concentrated period of merger activity and integration for Active.com. In November 1999, La Jolla-based RaceGate.com merged with Miami-based ActiveUSA.com – at the time, the industry leaders in event registration – to form Active.com. Shortly after this, Alberga, formerly chief operating officer at Ticketmaster-Online City Search, joined the company to lead and build the organization. In January 2000, a subsequent merger with LeagueLink, a Web-based league management services provider in Westminster, Colo., rounded out the company’s offering with team and league management tools.
About Sierra Digital, Inc.
Sacramento-based Sierra Digital, Inc. (SDI) develops easy-to-use, specialized software for parks and recreation departments and agencies. Through the company’s software products, RecWare Pro and RecWare Safari, SDI meets the needs of any sized agency, providing activity registration, facility reservation, point of sale, league scheduling, financial management, and more. With the largest installed customer base in the industry, the company has partnerships and affiliations with major software producers, electronic transaction processing software companies and I.D. systems manufacturers. For more information, visit www.recware.com or call 888-RECWARE (888-732-9273).
About Active.com
As the leading online registration company for participatory sports and recreational activities, La Jolla-based Active.com (www.active.com) solves a perennial problem for event, league and park administrators by moving their inefficient, paper-based registration processes to the Web. Through the company’s powerful set of data management tools, Active.com is saving event, league and park administrators time and money while improving their communications with participants. For participants, Active.com provides the most comprehensive worldwide database to find, learn about and register for sports and recreational activities online. The company has exclusive partnerships with sports national governing bodies and major Internet and media outlets. For more information, visit www.active.com or call (888) 309-1322.