ESPN.com, coming to a metro near you...

They give the joints away free at first, but that's just to get you hooked.

 

A lot of it is obviously perception. Because it's ESPN, casual browsers will think it's better than their local web site. It's just like when the big daily up the road picks up on a story I did a week or so earlier, but essentially has no new information but fresher quotes. There's at least one person calling and wondering why we hadn't done anything with this yet. "Uh, yes I did, last Thursday ... do you even subscribe to the newspaper? Ma'am ... ma'am?"

 

Smart move by ESPN. They've got the brand name, the technology exists to do it, and they're doing what anyone would do when potential competitors are hurting: Swoop in and take advantage of it.

I know it's in fashion to bash ESPN. Some of it's justified. I can hardly watch SportsCenter anymore. That show with Skip Bayless might be the worst on television. The boosterism of some of their "analysts,'' particularly in college basketball, is embarrassing. Like most news organizations, they too often worship the NFL instead of reporting on it. And I wish someone would rise up and challenge them, much like there's competition between Fox News and CNN and MSNBC.

But at the same time, there's plenty of good programming, "Outside the Lines'' is terrific and I think this idea of the local websites has some merit. Let's face it, the future of newspapers isn't good with or without it.

On an unrelated note: I'll be interested to see if newspapers in cities like Chicago and Boston continue to allow their reporters on ESPN programs. That truly is your competition now. Sort of would be cutting your own throat, wouldn't it??

 

wouldn't it be kind of stupid not let your reporters on espn programming. the only reason they're on there in the first place is to promote your newspaper. so if they pull them off, what does that accomplish if you're trying to add readers?

 

Antoher difference between ESPN and your local newspaper is ESPN's relentless promotion machine. ESPN can hit you on TV, radio and the Web, just in its own programming. A newspaper can't (and not just because of rules preventing newspapers from owning TV stations in the same markets, and vice versa). The most valuable thing a newspaper has is its brand name, but if it won't (or can't) compete against ESPN for its talent, then even that gets devalued.

It's a brilliant move by ESPN. It knows most sports fans are intensely loyal to their local teams and areas, so with newspapers cutting back, it moves in. ESPN isn't killing newspapers. Newspapers created the opportunity for ESPN to compete.

 

I see this as a good thing. Maybe I'm being naive (probably), but I'm seeing a day when ESPN essentially creates its own sports section in every major market and has a beat writer on every pro and team and major D1 school. That means jobs for a lot of people.

Yes, in some cases it may hasten a local newspaper's decision to abandon certain beats, but I think that was going to happen anyway. The fringy pro beats were already being dumped and the big ones are never going to be dumped, so the ESPN impact might mean a very small percentage of the 'tweener beats might be lost at newspapers. I don't think that's enough of a negative to counteract the positive of ESPN hiring people to cover all these teams for them.

 

Double-edged sword, it would seem to me. I see your point and don't necessarily disagree, but I would make darn sure my reporters and columnists weren't breaking news while they were on there.

 

For those wondering, ESPN Dallas just made a bunch of hires in the last couple days. Vigoda apparently raided the DMN. Writer Richard Durrett, blogger Tim MacMahon, a couple of good editors.

 

any chance of espn omaha?

 

Still waiting for ESPNhungryhorse.com.

 

All Northwest Huskies, all the time.

 

Why wouldn't they? This would be a natural progression and bring tons of people to the site. It's working backwards. You get people there for high school, and they like your pro coverage, and local coverage and stop reading the Globe etc.

The fact that it's a sports only site will help. All they need to do is break some stories to gain credibility.

ESPN should have went long ago to this model. They have the resources, if they choose, to annihilate the competition in these towns sports wise. It's just a matter if they think they can make money at it.