Mariotti Back in Chicago

[BMuddMan]

Hearing from my ChiTown pals Mariotti will be back in the market most likely with the new ESPNChicago.com site. He's been apparently teasing on some local television and radio stations in town. Anyone know more?

 

[Fran Curci]

He could write for ESPN.com AND for AOL? (I assume he still is with AOL.)

 

[Football_Bat]

He could write for ESPN.com AND for AOL? (I assume he still is with AOL.)

He is for those of you still on dial-up.

 

[fishwrapper]

He writes a text-only page/column for Prodigy, too.

 

[Clerk Typist]

But he passed on CompuServe.

 

[JakeandElwood]

And I thought espnchicago was actually off to a decent start.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

I've been hearing that the ESPNchicago site isn't going over real well with locals, especially when it comes to their college and prep content, or lack thereof.

 

[JakeandElwood]

I kind of like it. It's not exactly must see for me or anything, but they have a good take on pro stuff. But yeah, very little on Notre Dame, I've seen nothing on Northwestern or DePaul and very little of UofI. Also haven't seen any preps.

 

[pallister]

Notre Dame, Northwestern and DePaul all suck to varying degrees, so that may have something to do with it.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Notre Dame, Northwestern and DePaul all suck to varying degrees, so that may have something to do with it.

Well yeah, but if your name is espnCHICAGO, you have to cover them. You need to cover preps, UIC, and U of I too.

 

[playthrough]

It's obvious that espnchicago, right now, is a storefront for pro coverage (all which can be pulled from the espn.com mothership) and promoting the radio station. Not the dumbest startup strategy, really. You're not going to get 20,000 hits on a UIC story and doing preps right would be more labor-intensive than they probably want to take on right now. And local columnists like Wojo and Scoop were on the payroll already.

But seeing the direction the papers are going, that site could grow into something plenty big.

 

[Billy Pritchard]

They could put together a pretty good preps/college crew immediately, based on the Trib's cuts today.

 

[pallister]

Well yeah, but if your name is espnCHICAGO, you have to cover them. You need to cover preps, UIC, and U of I too.

But you don't have to devote time and resources to crappy teams out of season when the Bulls and Blackhawks are in the playoffs, the Cubs and Sox are playing daily and the Bears are preparing for the draft. I'm sure the college coverage will ramp up at the appropriate time.

 

[MileHigh]

They could put together a pretty good preps/college crew immediately, based on the Trib's cuts today.

True, but if I remember correctly, weren't they initially looking for part-time people to put this thing together to get it launched?

It's a good idea -- if done right. Gotta spend money to make money. I know, easy to say in these dark days, but invest properly in the product and grow it.

Make the site THE go-to place for sports in Chicago (and elsewhere, eventually). But you have to put in the resources to grow it.

 

[Joe Williams]

Wasn't sure which thread to post this on, this one or the one about the Tribune's massive cuts. But for once, I'm rooting for an ESPN project to succeed. What better time to open shop in Chicago as an online sports authority than the week that the Tribune throws a bunch of sports staffers overboard? It's as if Sam Zell is surrendering a huge chunk of his audience to a national Web site that has decided to set up in his backyard.

Can actually root for the WWL over The Grave Dancer. Who'd a thunk it?

 

[pressboxramblings07]

I'm proud to say I've never read anything by Jay Mariotti, and I never will.

 

[Moderator1]

Some info on this ESPNChicago thing:

http://www.mediabistro.com/webnewser/the_new_new_thing/espnchicagocom_launches_monday_113687.asp?c=rss

 

[Armchair_QB]

They could put together a pretty good preps/college crew immediately, based on the Trib's cuts today.

True, but if I remember correctly, weren't they initially looking for part-time people to put this thing together to get it launched?

It's a good idea -- if done right. Gotta spend money to make money. I know, easy to say in these dark days, but invest properly in the product and grow it.

Make the site THE go-to place for sports in Chicago (and elsewhere, eventually). But you have to put in the resources to grow it.

Done correctly, and since this is ESPN we're talking about it won't be, a website like this could destroy a local newspaper's sports section in terms of coverage.

Given the state of the job market you could put together incredibly strong college and prep departments that I think would drive a significant amount of traffic to the site.

The DFW market would be ripe for something like this right now.

 

[MileHigh]

They could put together a pretty good preps/college crew immediately, based on the Trib's cuts today.

True, but if I remember correctly, weren't they initially looking for part-time people to put this thing together to get it launched?

It's a good idea -- if done right. Gotta spend money to make money. I know, easy to say in these dark days, but invest properly in the product and grow it.

Make the site THE go-to place for sports in Chicago (and elsewhere, eventually). But you have to put in the resources to grow it.

Done correctly, and since this is ESPN we're talking about it won't be, a website like this could destroy a local newspaper's sports section in terms of coverage.

Given the state of the job market you could put together incredibly strong college and prep departments that I think would drive a significant amount of traffic to the site.

The DFW market would be ripe for something like this right now.

A lot of markets would be ripe for something like this right now.

 

[slappy4428]

Some info on this ESPNChicago thing:

http://www.mediabistro.com/webnewser/the_new_new_thing/espnchicagocom_launches_monday_113687.asp?c=rss

Chuck Swirsky? HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA