Website Game Day Coverage Overkill/Underkill

Your explanation sounds a lot like what newspapers have been going through for the last 10 years -- breaking their backs to chase hits for some nebulous reason that is never quantified and probably doesn't mean much.

 

This is correct. If you can only do one or the other, the live blog is preferable over Twitter.

Why do I say this? Twitter is great for the mobile-device audience and fulfills a need. But it's a stand-alone element that can't be monetized very effectively.

A live blog, using the free Cover It Live software, allows you to slap your content onto an existing page on your website. That page can have links to all of your other content for the week as well as contain ads for your corporate sponsors or school-driven stuff such as the booster club, logo merchandise, season-ticket sales, etc.

Online usage via the iPad and web-enabled phones has reached critical mass. That's the audience to be serving. Twitter is still useful, but in a lot of respects it's to the web what digital pagers are to smart phones.

 

We have an unofficial agreement --if another coach schedules a contest on a home football weekend, be prepared to buy SIDs expensive dinner and bar tab on Sunday. Last year, we had volleyball, two basketball games and football all in 32 hours...

 

I don't disagree, but, unlike newspapers, athletic departments have methods of bringing in money. And the overhead is substantially lower without having to pay for a newsroom, printing costs, designers, etc.

 

This budget is essentially what I do at a D-II school, with staggering video pieces/sidebars and commentary throughout the week. And yes, I focus on the positive, which isn't hard with a player feature or analysis piece. I also do a running blog for the game, which tends to generate a ton of hits, especially for away games, and we've generated some ad traffic for it. We also webcast online, including postgame pressers.

 

Isn't it more about controlling the message rather than trying to beat the folks who are promoting your program?

 

I agree. Scoring plays, "major" plays (like an interception) and interesting tidbits (records set, big numbers, confirmed injuries).

If I follow @PodunkUnivSports because my niece is on the volleyball team, I don't want to get flooded with football possession changes.

But you can create @PodunkUnivFootball for dedicated football tweets, and cross-promote a few items on the @PodunkUnivSports account. Or even a @PodunkFootballGameday that is specifically active on Saturdays.

 

You can outcover them, but would the web hits justify it? As for working with the student paper, there are pitfalls. What if the reporters writes something that isn't "cheerleading" the school, or rips the school?

 

There's a middle ground you have to strike on this. Here's what makes me blanche -- the Virginia perfect-game situation.

If you're providing coverage on your school's website, that does NOT mean that you ignore news from the other side of the field. They're the other half of the competition. Sure, you can boldface your home-team names, add the hometown and high schools, all that.

But if you're going to write on the game, write a complete story. Not half a story.

 

I agree. Game stories should tell the story of the game. In the case of having a columnist working for a PR site, though, I think he should focus on your team and be mostly positive.