GIG was founded in March of 2000 by partners, which included the now insolvent German media conglomerate, The Kirch Group, as the controlling shareholder. ISWI and GIG entered into agreements which gave GIG an exclusive worldwide license for the distribution of the SportXction^® System. During the course of 2000 and 2001, GIG built a team of professionals from the areas of new media, technology, interactive TV and sports marketing in order to develop a business model and sales strategy to market a “play-by-play” or “in-run” betting service in the UK. As a consequence of Kirch’s insolvency, ISWI decided to acquire GIG, which it accomplished in July 2002.