Football Tab: Running Thread

We're a 42k with 36 high schools playing football and State U just down the road.

Last year, we did 52 broadsheet pages on the high schools and college teams. This year, we're doing four-page wraps over an 11-day span. Each page has a 3x6 ad across the bottom of the page. We started with the smallest classification and will move to a larger one each day. The metro teams get their own individual wraps, as does State U.

Advertising says we'll make more money with this setup than the old tab. I like it because I honestly don't think readers wade through big tabs. They find their team, read it and throw the rest away. Hopefully, by giving it to them in smaller doses, it'll be easier to digest.

 

hell, i like the approach.

 

25 football teams
24 tab pages (22 after cover and back-page ad)
each team gets 1/2 page so we can have enough room for the cover story, secondary feature, and small stories on in-state college teams

fuck it, I like the wrap idea that inky brought up much better. I think I'll pitch that for next year.

 

I find that odd. In the last two weeks I bet we've had no fewer than 20 phone calls with people wanting to know when the football edition comes out. A few years back advertising decided we would do a broadsheet edition instead of a tab. We had to convince them to go back to a tab because people complained. Folks like to keep the edition all season as a reference, and the tab was more handy to keep by their chair or on the table or wherever.

Oh, and as someone else mentioned, don't even think of doing away with the team shot of the truly local teams. You'd have an easier time getting a recall election on the Pope. I did manage a few years ago to stop running team shots of the three colleges we cover but there's no way in creation we could get rid of the high school team photos. We'd be stormed by Hell's Grannies wielding pitchforks and torches.

 

20-page broadsheet for high schools, 40-page tab for college/NFL. Started Sunday, and I just have the two cover stories and proofing left.

Oh, yeah. One-hundred and eighty-eight (188) head shots. Count 'em. 1. 8. 8.

 

Any helmets?

(ducking!)

 

We get those calls too. But this year, instead of giving one date, we asked what team or conference they were interested in and gave them that one date.

The wraps over several days might not work for everybody. It works for us, because of the number of teams and conferences we cover.

And we've not done the team photos for years now. They're a complete waste of space and we get zero calls about it. But, again, that's just us.

 

Gotta be. Find 'em here: http://www.pahelmetproject.com/

Speaking of that sweet site -- you rock, shot. I was wondering how the heck I was going to find South Podunk High's field next Friday ...

 

70+ schools... 20-page broadsheets -- one for FB, one for boys soccer, one for girls soccer.

And that, shottie, at 5 per team per sport, totals about 1,100 head shots!

 

1,100 mug shots fit onto 20 pages?

 

20 pages for boys soccer, 20 pages girls soccer, 20 pages football...3 sections over 3 days.

 

Ad staff not trying to sell a tab? No way/