Australian Community Media (ACM) has broadened its partnership with Play HQ to deliver detailed local scores and stats to sports fans in regional Australia.

The collaboration aims to fuel the regional Australians' appetite for sport, with ACM's Chief Technology Officer, Bruce Levine, emphasising the crucial role of club footy in connecting communities.

"You’ll only have to pass by a local footy oval on any given Saturday morning over the next 6 months to see the important role club footy plays in connecting communities. And that’s what’s exciting about this partnership with Play HQ; from grassroots to first grade we will present scores, tables and topscorers side-by-side with leading coverage from our local journalists," Levine said.

The partnership with Play HQ will deliver detailed updates on local Aussie rules footy including full fixtures, results, ladders, and game stats. The relevant Play HQ data will be featured in the sports section of ACM’s network of regional digital subscription brands.

Play HQ Chief Customer Officer, Neil Mackay, said: "Our partnership with ACM has enabled us to extend our local sports results to passionate Australians across regional cities, immediately expanding our audience. We are excited to see local sport grow with the help of ACM's extensive network," Mackay said.

Last year, ACM partnered with Champion Data to provide live scores, ladders and match content for the national AFL, NRL and A-League competitions. ACM's engagement with the sports section has grown by 17% in less than 12 months.

"ACM is well on the way to becoming the number one choice for local sport in each of the markets we cover," ACM National Sales Director, Sam Westaway, said. "Our strategic investment in sport and diverse array of digital products has opened up conversations with big brands. They’re seeing the growth in our sports audience, which is more than 3.1 million online, and value in our local content."

ACM is Australia's largest independent media company, reaching over 2.4 million in print and 3.9 million online each month. Play HQ provides registration, payment, competition, venue and incident management and live scoring for 4 of the top 5 sports in Australia and has also expanded into New Zealand.