Sports Biz Journal on shrinking sports sections/team coverage

^ I agree that a paper should offer more than just game stories. Features, profiles, stats and previews of big games really add to the content of a paper. Problem is the staff is becoming smaller at a lot of papers and thus there aren't the hands to do a lot beyond game stuff and the infrequent feature.

 

I think readers are looking for objective analysis (while knowing that the writer hopes that the home team wins).

I don't think that is available on those Stepford team sites.

 

While I tend to agree with you, the poll numbers suggest otherwise. Or at least suggest more people go to team sites over newspaper sites no matter what we think.

 

The team web sites give the reader more.

Maybe not more objective analysis, but more of everything else. Stats, notes, schedules, ordering tickets, promotions, contests.

Newspapers used to be the "meat and potatoes" because TV just couldn't do it.

Now the team web sites are the meat and potatoes . . . and the newspaper is the seldom-eaten dessert with occasional good commentary and analysis and sometimes a scoop (and I don't mean "so-and-so will be sent down to Triple-A")