Simmons on sports writing

Interesting take.

But Why, then, are individual club websites, things like MLB.com, and NFL Network not run away successes?

 

By what definition is mlb.com not a runaway success? Revenue is a half-billion dollars a year, about half the MLB tickets are sold via the website, and other leagues and entertainment entities have outsourced their web operations to mlb.com.

 

A content success, I guess I mean? Ebay sells stuff, too, but who goes there to consume information?

It is so rare that somebody sends me an mlb.com link. Like, hey, check this out.

That being said, I do think it's a quality operation with many talented folks.

 

Define "success" in this case.

MLB.com gets 11 million unique visitors a month. How do we define "content success" here?

 

Are those people going there to get their baseball news, or are they doing things like buying tickets? I'm asking, I don't know. Maybe you guys have me on this one. I'm a big believer that when the shit comes down, the player gets arrested, or the team screws somebody over... The average reader still seeks the source that is more independent.

 

On the controversial stuff, of course. But when the non-shit news goes down -- trade, free-agent signing, All-Star selection, etc. -- teams are increasingly feeding that to their website before an announcement to the rest of the media. And game stories, lineup changes, injuries -- you can get that anywhere. So I suspect there are a good number of fans that see mlb.com as a news source rather than how many journalists view it, as a sophisticated in-house propaganda outlet.

 

They don't have you. Look at the front page. News is tucked in the upper right hand corner and the rest is video, watch games and the obligatory plug to the new employee, Posnanski. The site's design tells you what drives traffic.

 

This was perfect. Bravo. I hate how some - most? - sports writers these days have this elitist mentality.

I think Simmons is a talented writer who borders on well above average when he speaks on things he knows, like the NBA and sometimes baseball. For those to sit here and say he's not talented and is, essentially, worthless speaks a lot more on them than Simmons.

 

WFW.

 

Is mlb.com breaking a lot of trade/fa news these days? I still hear people going to espn.com and city papers for that kind of thing.

I know "traditional media" is supposedly "so five minutes ago," but does anybody have any real numbers to back this up?

 

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/5/21/3033417/who-gets-the-scoop-major-league-reporters-ranked-2011-12-edition



None of those guys are MLB.com writers. But while Heyman (CBS) and Rosenthal (FOX) both report/write for other outlets, they're also employed by MLB Network, too.

 

Great pull, buck. I wonder who Heyman and Rosenthal break more news for. I'm guessing, but I bet if it's a small tidbit, MLB gets it. If it's a big nut, CBS and FOX get it.