JR Calvert, owner of Spheragon Publishing and the publisher of InsidePOOL Magazine, created InsidePOOL.com in 2001.  “After putting my heart into our magazine and then continuing with the creation of its o­nline component, it¹s a wonderful feeling to know that I can leverage this sale to take the magazine to the next level,” said JR.  "With the proceeds of the sale, we will be able to drastically expand our circulation, which has been a large goal of ours since the beginning.  The millions of pool players in the United States simply weren't being served by the pre-existing magazines."

Sterling and Spheragon had been discussing the advantages of the proposed transfer of the o­nline asset for over six months.  “It was hard to make the decision to grow the magazine at the expense of the site; however, after reflecting o­n the opportunity, it was definitely the best route to take to keep with my original mission,” JR replied when asked about his motives.

Fellow industry members not related to either party have been very supportive of the purchase.  Employees of both companies as well as customers and suppliers are happy that Sterling is the new owner of InsidePOOL.com.  Matt Carter, general manager for Sterling Gaming, has been very involved with the Internet marketing arm of the company.  He said, "I'm incredibly excited to be involved in a process that will allow us to continue to be an innovator in this industry.  Never before has a distributor worked with a publisher to bring forth a combination of content and product that stand to grow the overall exposure of the game of pool."

The new official website for InsidePOOL Magazine will reside at www.insidepoolmag.com and will be launched in late April 2005.

About Sterling Gaming, Inc.
Although a relatively new company, Sterling Gaming, Inc., has grown to become o­ne of the largest distributors in the world of billiards supplies.  Sterling is the North American distributor of Fury Cues, voted the favorite pool cue of players o­n a recent Internet poll.  Sterling increases the public awareness of their products by sponsoring professional players, professional tournaments, and amateur tours.  They are the supplier of over 1,500 poolrooms and billiard supply stores and more than 50 o­nline retailers.

About Spheragon Publishing
InsidePOOL Magazine is recognized as the billiards magazine preferred by pool players.  Since their first issue in December 2001, it has gained a large fan base resulting from their excellent coverage of professional and amateur events, instructional columns by top-ranked players Allison Fisher and Johnny Archer, and a groundbreaking format.

For more information, contact Scott Taylor with Sterling Gaming, Inc., at (877) 283-7444 or JR Calvert with Spheragon Publishing at (724) 543-3700.