1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

High school sports/local sports magazine - can it work

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by FuturaBold, Jun 2, 2007.

  1. jfs1000

    jfs1000 Member

    Isn't this the key? Balancing your niche market against advertisers' needs and wants? No advertiser is going to pay you good coin for a 3 town magazine. You have to go bigger just to broaden your advertising base.

    I have looked at doing a weekly in different markets (not just sports), and done some research. It isn't as expensive as some on here are thinking, but, to do it right you are going to run out of staff. I think when a journalist goes into making a newspaper or magazine, sometimes we are too concerned with quality. If you are using glossy paper, or spending 3 days on design, that is too many hours not spent pounding payment and getting advertisers.

    My hometown has 2 non-dailies. One is pretty good and makes a killing. The other, a monthly, is all volunteer run, and is awful...AND IT MAKES A KILLING. Serious, there is not one pro journalist who works with that paper. Layout is shoddy, no content (anyone can submit articles) and the thing is chock full of advertising.

    So, would you want to be the owner of a diphshit paper that makes money? Or do you want to go bankrupt doing really good work? Journalists can never control costs like they should (which is why I won't start one). Ok. go to take shower. Feel like a JRC publisher right now.
     
  2. GamedayMagazine

    GamedayMagazine New Member

    I am the owner of Gameday Magazine, a growing sports magazine publication in Virginia, that is set to franchise now across the country. We have been successful for 6 years in one of the best sports markets in the country. We currently have several markets open in Virginia and have a blueprint for success that works. The magazine industry is a tough one, especially if you are committed to high quality, which we are. But it can work. I think the thing you need to ask yourself is, can I sell? Forget writing, that's the easy part, the bottom line is, are you a great salesperson? If the answer is no, then stick with your full time job.

    I'm a salesperson first and foremost, and I can sell anything. I also love high school sports and have become a graphic designer, video editor, and better writer than I was in college. I started in Radio 7 years ago and that led me to launching my magazine concept because of the same reason you had, more coverage was needed in our area. We have since developed our business concept to include all aspects of media.

    If you are interested in starting up a sports magazine in your market and want to skip the learning curve and taking it on the chin, I'd be glad to discuss with you how we can open up Gameday Magazine in your state. Hope this info helped. Visit our website for more info www.GamedayMagazine.com or e-mail me at Andy@tccsports.com

    Best Regards,

    Andy Hayes
    Owner & Founder
    Gameday Magazine
    www.GamedayMagazine.com
     
  3. donaugust

    donaugust Member

    Having seen this magazine in person I can say it looks great, is a decent read and is overall very professional looking. The four or so issues I have read, the only major complaint I would have is that the writers need to have more success getting the kids to open up, and the Q&A's I saw were painfully dull. But my journalistic curiosity got me to pick it up several times -- on the free rack at my local grocery store.
     
  4. FuturaBold

    FuturaBold Member

    OK, some follow-up questions/topics for discussion based on those who recommended trying something totally online:-

    - again, can a totally "local" sports site work in a smaller town setting, say if the site covered three counties worth of sports (in my case, it's a pretty rural area with 11 total high schools)? Would it get the traffic to justify its existence?

    - would you charge for content? (And would folks buy it if you did?) I mean, if you had just 250 subscribers at $10 a month (what Rivals.com charges), that's $2,500x12 = $30000 a year... Combine that with ad revenue, and it sounds like a feasible venture... maybe... I don't know I'm new at new media

    - would advertisers be interested and how much $$ is there to be had with on-line advertising? What do online ads cost anyways?

    I kicked around these topics and ideas a lot over the weekend after seeing some of the responses to my original question. I like the thought of creating an on-line community that's very interactive and can include "new media" items like audio and video as well lots of stories, photos, etc. (and I have some experience here after a brief but productive stint with a rivals site). I keep coming back to the $$ issue - basically can I provide for my family if I undertook such a product?

    Thanks for all the thoughtful responses and follow-up...
     
  5. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Why not just make the Web site an extension of your current endeavor and try to swing some more cash from your employer based on its revenues?
     
  6. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    Funny how these things make you think.
    You go into it with the mentality of doing it right. Paying people well, being a writer's paradise. Then the economics of publishing hit.
    Let's say you have 10 stories an issue at an average of $50 a pop. So for a 10-week football season, you have an editorial expense of $5k, but then you start thinking, "that expense cuts into my profit, the amount of money I take home," so you start jiggling the numbers and realize if you paid an average of $40 a story, you'd save a grand, just over football season.
    It becomes, man printing all these pages is expensive. If I put a word limit in and cut back on the amount of copy, then I could be making so much more money.
    Then welcome to the world of hard decisions.
     
  7. FuturaBold

    FuturaBold Member

    well said, Jay ...
     
  8. GamedayMagazine

    GamedayMagazine New Member

    Answers to two questions. First, a website can make you money, but I don't believe it can stand alone and pay you in the beginning. Remember, Rivals.com was sold originally because their revenue model was flawed. They were giving it away for free and selling ads to support it. That won't work unless you have amazing numbers, but even then, it's all about results. I know many of the rivals.com site owners and they all say their subscription numbers are average at best. That is why most of them have other jobs. We have several major companies on our website, and they are happy with their results. However, we only reached that point after 4 years of being online and thousands of dollars later. We also have other ways to point people to the website, a must have if you are going to build interest.

    I think anyone who is looking at this as an easy and quick job change should just look for another job. It takes more hours to build than people know, and depending on the business community you have surrounding your schools, it could fall flat on its face quickly. The magazine business is a grind as well. Margins are everything. If you can sell advertising, you will survive, if you can't, you will die on the vine. Pretty simple.

    Most important thing to remember, if you are a journalist first and foremost, don't start your own magazine. If you are a salesman first and foremost, give it a shot, because you can learn to be a journalist. Make sense?

    This in my opinion, is the only thing that separates the magazines or publications that make it and fail. Sales, Sales, Sales!

    Most of you, if you are journalists, probably despise the thought of having to meet with 30 companies a month to make something work. For me, it was the best part of the job. That is why our business model has worked, because we do the work on the sales end first, then support the journalism end second. Has to be that way if you are a publisher/owner of a magazine.
     
  9. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    If you can find someone who can handle the sales end of the business and knows sports, you're golden.

    Good luck finding that rare combo.
     
  10. SoCalScribe

    SoCalScribe Member

    One thing to guard against...everyone will read about high school football, and advertisers know that. The winter and spring high school spots do not generate nearly as much interest, and you have to believe that's going to make ad revenue shrink.

    Then there's that pesky summer period where, while you don't have production costs, you have no product to sell, and you still have overhead.
     
  11. Cansportschick

    Cansportschick Active Member

    Welcome to my world! A very small sports journalism market but a hot bed of sports enthusiasm. No sports magazine, two newspapers that do their best at coverage. People are hungry for sports and also reading sports, especially local coverage, but nothing to really fill the void.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page