Does anyone else think ESPN’s new city-specific sites (ESPNBoston.com, etc.) sound like a really great Internet concept… from 1997 or so?
Does anyone else think ESPN’s new city-specific sites (ESPNBoston.com, etc.) sound like a really great Internet concept… from 1997 or so?
Maybe . . . but I actually think this could work. What, with newspapers (and their sports pages) going down in flames, the timing here might be right, whereas in 1997, the newspapers did a better job covering the local scene, and a national sports site starting up a local site would be seen as outsiders who don’t have a clue then are now seen as “COVERAGE! WE NEED PEOPLE TO COVER OUR SPORTS!”
Can’t wait for ESPN Omaha, ESPN Las Cruces and ESPN Massillon.
It will work so long as the people ESPN (Your Locale Here) hires have day jobs or sugar spouses. From what I’ve been told, all the hires so far are freelance and/or contract work, so no benefits or stable income. Journalism is rewarding, but I don’t know if it’s rewarding enough to be a full-time freelancer in Boston, Chicago, LA, etc.
It’s nice if it gives those laid off in the recent cuts a chance to work again, but in no way should an ESPN bureau be able to supplant local newspaper coverage.
I’d love to see a Buffalo one down the line, actually. And they would be able to totally supplant the local coverage, as the Buffalo News has a sports department that clearly hates the local teams and insults the fans.
If they only hit up certain key markets with enough interest to support it i could see it working, New York, L.A., Chicago, Boston are the big four I could see. Beyond that it starts getting fuzzy.
I actually think the opposite, David. The big markets have plenty of sports coverage already. I agree with Matt: it’s the Buffalos of the world, with crappy, understaffed local newspapers and limited journalistic resources otherwise, that might be able to really use this. Of course, there are also just fewer people there — that’s why they’re smaller markets! But I think the dying Rust Belt cities like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, etc., with their passionate fan bases, might be a decent target for this sort of thing. New York? New York has the Post, the Daily News, Newsday, the Times, a ton of TV stations, a ton of radio stations. What do they need ESPN New York for?
Senile commentary from Lou Holtz?
Seriously, dude couldn’t remember what school Jahvid Best played for during the Helmet Sticker section on the Gameday Wrapup on Saturday. Mind you this was while he was holding a Cal helmet. Later in that same segment while still holding the helmet he refered to them as Oregon.
LOL!
P.S. Louuuuuuu.
Hey, don’t lump Pittsburgh in with the other decaying Rust Belt cities! Its got the G20!
Also, its sports pages are pretty good. The Steelers beat writer on the Post-Gazette is great, and their Penguins blogger pretty much makes it like I’m in Pittsburgh, able to follow every game either during or at least just after it happens.
I’m not sure how the Post-Gazette is doing financially, though. The city is currently supporting two papers, which is punching above its weight class just a bit. I have no clue how they are doing that.
But I think that this ESPN thingy would be most helpful in small markets, but is likely to take off in bigger ones. Chi-town and Boston are good fits, because from what I gather, their papers are in decline, especially considering their sizes.