INTERNET


ESPN’s New PR Blog: Valuable Voice Or Spin Control?

Posted by Seth in INTERNET, TELEVISION on 03-09-11    No Comments


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If you give ESPN credit for nothing else, give them this: These guys know how to promote themselves. When you get down to it, that’s really the only way to look at a new venture the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader is launching later this month called ESPNFrontRow.com.

Based on a Media Bistro report it almost sounds like the site will serve as an ombudsman, except the Poynter Institute now officially fills that role for ESPN. Sheldon Spencer, who is a former editor at ESPN.com, will post on the site three times a week, and will be joined by ESPN executives.

In all likelihood it will be less about discussing the ins and outs of decision-making in ESPN’s news operation and more about giving people an inside-baseball look what goes on in Bristol. In other words, it’s just another avenue they’ll use to promote ESPN content and personalities. In fact, according to Media Bistro, it’s going to be run by the public relations department, which will be an interesting intersection between what is news and what is spin.

But balancing the news/spin thing has always been ESPN’s great strength. The brand does a fabulous job of managing the conversation about sports. Look at how these guys do it: Your buddy hears Mike and Mike on the morning radio show going off on the latest bumbling by the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” — most likely joined by opinions from one of ESPN’s in-house ex-jocks or ex-coaches or reporters. Then your buddy sees those same experts on ESPN.com, and then again at night on SportsCenter. By the next day, your buddy is sitting with you at lunch regurgitating that same message that’s been reinforced across multiple platforms. It’s brilliant.

Sometimes it’s brilliantly effective — even useful for the average fan. But in some cases it actually hurts the company. Bristol no question stubbed its toe with the LeBron James “Decision” last year. The company fanned the flames of James’ free agency to drive buzz and ratings for its televised event, and was roundly criticized for it by fans and media types.

The interesting thing will be seeing where ESPNFrontRow fits here. Gut instinct says it’s meant to control the message that is spun out into the blogosphere. There’s a lost generation of  25-and-younger non-media consumers who get their “information” from their online “friends.” In this environment, being able to keep a watch on thousands of sports sites becomes important for a place like ESPN. If ESPNFrontRow takes on a critical voice as part of this Web 2.0 spin control, it’ll be worth reading. I love the idea of getting an inside look at ESPN’s decision-making process, as opposed to the Poynter Institute’s stuffy view from the sideline.

But if it’s just another way of advancing ESPN’s canned message du jour, the web’s ultra-sensitive BS meter will fire, and ESPN will lose the audience it is trying to serve.




Amar’e, Carmello And Now … KnicksNow: Knicks Get Cool New Website

Posted by Jonathan in INTERNET on 03-08-11    No Comments


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Knicks Now Could the New York Knicks actually be getting a handle on this online thing?

Like all New Yorkers I am a complete fraud when it comes to the Knicks. Having not watched a game since the Marcus Camby era, suddenly I am tuning in for must-watch TV like Knicks vs. Hornets.

There’s no question the new Knicks are exciting, and that buzz is carrying over to the Web. The team recently redid its website, and Knicksnow is not bad. It’s got a cool mix of social content.

Of course, what is more remarkable about it is that the Knicks show yet again the power of sports in the new media world. The Knicks are keeping the social media traffic in a spot where they control it, and out of the hands of the Facebook or Twitter. Smart move.




Fun Fantasy Soccer App On MLSSoccer.com

Posted by Dan in INTERNET on 03-08-11    No Comments


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mls pro picksIf you’re like me and are eagerly awaiting the beginning of the Major League Soccer season, you can somewhat satiate you soccer jones with a game called Pro Soccer Picks on MLSSoccer.com. It is an interesting fantasy soccer contest that asks you questions about pro soccer around the world, and the more you get right, the more prizes you could possibly win.

Now, these questions are not like soccer trivia, they are more like Vegas prop bets — questions like, “What will be the time of the first goal in the Blackpool/Chelsea Match in the EPL?” You are then given a few choices.  There are two ways to win: longest streak during a fantasy season or most correct in a given month.  It is sort of like ESPN’s “Streak for the Cash,” but for soccer fans.  Check it out, it’s free.




MySynergySports Gives You TMI, But In A Good Way

Posted by Dan in BUSINESS, INTERNET on 03-07-11    No Comments


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logo_synergyCreated by a former employee of the Phoenix Suns, MySynergy is a website that gives the average Joe sports fan eerily accurate statistical breakdowns.  We’re not talking about just run-of-the-mill stuff like “LeBron James shoots a lot of 3-pointers from the top of the key.” No, this stuff is some extreme due diligence.

For instance on offense, when LeBron was the ball handler in a pick & roll situation, he scored 47.8 percent of the time —  that’s 133 for 278.  The stats go just as deep on defense. When defending against isolation plays, opponents were only successful 18.6 percent of the time against LeBron. You can also search the site for in-depth team comparisons and even player comparisons. You can get access to the site for $29.95 a month and it ties into NBA League Pass for video clips of games.

If you are a big basketball nerd — or just want to dominate your fantasy league — this is the site for you.  Check the demo it lets you search for a few key players and teams for free. Not bad.




MIT Sports Analytics Confab News: 6 Degrees Of Basketball Separation

Posted by Jonathan in INTERNET on 03-06-11    No Comments


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via hcs.harvard.edu/pallas/

A couple of bright guys over at the Harvard Sports Analytics Collective have dreamed up a neat little app: 6 Degrees of  Separation for the NBA. Just enter two players, and you will find how they are connected, NBA-wise.

Not bad.




Son Of March Madness: PC Richard & Son Hoops Bracket Signals End Of Online Sports

Posted by Jonathan in INTERNET on 03-04-11    No Comments


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Buckle up online sports fans: The salad days of the online sports content buffet are about to come to an end.

This week, Northeast-based appliance store P.C. Richard & Son began a big marketing push for its NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket website.  While the P.C. Richard package is certainly not awful, it can’t compete with the bracket games at the big sports sites like ESPN, CBSSports and Yahoo.

But it may not matter.

What’s happening here is far more insidious.  I have no idea what the deal is between Samsung and P.C. Richard, but whatever you make of it, they are getting into the media business. They are trying to offer an experience that helps them sell electronics, not create great content. That means they book the cost of offering this service as a marketing expense to acquire new customers. Their cost to operate this media offering is zero. Samsung and P.C. Richard can afford to lose money — a lot of it — on this site. And that’s something most sports brands can’t handle.

Their traffic may suck this year, but next year it won’t, as the service is built out more heavily and improved. And at that point it becomes the latest example of sports content suddenly feeling the same dangerous commoditization that is destroying the rest of the Internet.

Clearly, the leagues themselves and the major sports powers like ESPN and CBSSports will be immune to this wave. They own live game content. But the smaller sports services are now not only chasing after sponsorship from advertisers, they also must compete with their clients  for eyeballs.

Think I am overstating this? Assuming that this P.C. Richards site shows even a little success, which it probably will, what will happen when Walmart offers a fantasy football league of its own?

As Gimli said in Lord of the Rings: “Certainty of death, small chance of success. What are we waiting for?”




Tweting Comes To The Cosmopolitan

Posted by Jonathan in INTERNET on 03-04-11    No Comments


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via cantor gaming

Looks like this Tweting thing is taking off: Las Vegas casino The Cosmopolitan announced that it will be installing Cantor Gaming’s new In-Running wagering technology, so says The Las Vegas Review Journal. The wireless hand-held gadget allows for bets to be placed not only wandering around the casino floor, but during the game itself, effectively opening up gambling to single plays .

Me, being a wise-ass, took the concept to the next possible level and came up with the term “Tweting,” as in Twitter betting. But clearly it will be some time before Tweting gets widespread.  Gambling on the Internet is complex, and flatly illegal. But the fact is people looooove the concept.

We got plenty of traffic from our Tweting stories. And I even did some radio interviews about it this week on 95.7 The Blaze.

I guess the world is ready for a new show called “You Twet Your Life.”




Read All About It: The Daily Circuit Debuts!

Posted by Jonathan in INTERNET on 03-04-11    No Comments


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via paper.li/sportscircuit

via paper.li/sportscircuit

Hey, now my mother can be proud. We now have a legit daily newspaper around here.

Welcome to our premier edition of The Daily Circuit. Which is like The Daily, but without all the fancy staff, graphics or cool iPads.

International Twitter aggregator paper.li basically is ingests out Twitter follows and organizes them into a reasonable layout that actually makes for not-awful reading.

Obviously, I will hone this over time, but still, it is remarkable how clueless the sports world is about technology.




The Numbers Don’t Add Up: Reporting Discrepancies Muddy NFL Labor Picture

Posted by Jonathan in INTERNET on 03-03-11    No Comments


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via Forbes.com

via Forbes.com

The NFL and the NFLPA are hosting what is turning out to be the world’s greatest spin class.

As much as the NFL and its players’ association like to bitch moan that no real financial data exists, if you know which data dark alley to look down, there is plenty of good info out there.

My two favorites are the USA Today Salaries Database and the Forbes.com NFL Team Valuations.  The USA Today data sums up all player salaries as announced by the players and the teams. And the Forbes.com data assembles aggregate team financial information from many sources, including ownership.

What is the biggest story ?  There is a whole lot of spinning going on.

Just take a look at the Green Bay Packers.  Forbes.com says that in 2009, Green Bay paid $121 million in players’ expenses. That include bonuses and benefits. Problem is, if you go to the USA Today data you will see that for the same year, the sum of the players’ salaries was just $114 million. There’s a 6 percent gap.

So maybe the team paid $7 million in benefits, or for protective tape or whatever. Who cares?

Well, take a look at other years. In 2008, Forbes.com says the Packers paid $125 million in gross player expenses. But the sum of individual player salaries and bonuses from USA Today was just $94 million. That’s a 33 percent gap. And in  2007, Forbes said the Miami Dolphins paid $133 million in total player expenses, while USA Today summed up those  salaries  to just $92.5 million. That’s a 43 percent gap, for those scoring at home.

And that is real money.

The sad fact is that if you can so easily find this kind of fuzzy thinking in these numbers, you have to wonder if the whole labor battle is some weird spin on some ancient grudge.

With numbers like this, who knows what is actually going on?




MLB Wants You To Live The Dream

Posted by Seth in INTERNET on 02-25-11    No Comments


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Major League Baseball wants to make someone out there an Internet sensation.They’re asking for applications for something they’re calling the MLB Dreamjob, which sounds like it would be cool as hell for the right person, though there are a few important details missing from the information about it on MLB.com.

They want someone who loves baseball and has something — a lot of things — to say about it. MLB.com is going to pick someone to blog non-stop about the 2011 baseball season from Opening Day through the World Series. The lucky SOB who lands this gig will move to New York City and watch the entire season from a location that MLB will choose. We assume that means they’re going to set someone up in a big loft and turn it into the ultimate baseball war room, complete with 15 screens so Mr. or Ms. Baseball 2011 will be able to see everything that’s happening. They want written blogs, video blogs, media appearances — they’re going to make someone into a star.

Of course, nowhere does it say that they’re going to pay this person. And we suppose that’s about right. What, you hadn’t heard that content is free in the Internet age? Hopefully there’s a decent compensation package in the works here, considering they’re having someone drop everything in their life, relocate to New York and then work non-stop for seven months. Seriously, this person will be living in New York, yet have no life because they’ll spend the entire time watching baseball. We hope the job comes with a bottomless supply of 5-Hour Energy.

The application process looks like a college exam, complete with essay questions. They also ask for a photo, which means they want someone who looks good on camera. Hopefully whoever ends up with this gig will have substance to go along with their style.