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ESPN wants to be MySpace for fans

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by Faos, Jul 3, 2006.

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  1. Faos

    Faos Contributing Member

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    http://adage.com/mediaworks/article.php?article_id=110272

    ESPN Wants to Be MySpace for Fans

    Plans to Sell Sponsors Into Team Communities

    By Abbey Klaassen

    Published: June 29, 2006

    NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- ESPN is hoping to become the MySpace of the sports world. In September, it will unveil as part of ESPN's Sports Nation property the tools for fans to create profiles, contribute to sports blogs, post opinions and link to favorite articles.

    John Zaccario, VP-digital media sales and marketing at ESPN, revealed the plans to advertisers at a pre-NBA Draft party in Chelsea that also featured an appearance by NBA great (and ESPN basketball analyst) Bill Walton. "We want to make the sports fan the center of ESPN's universe," Mr. Zaccari said. ESPN will allow users to personalize their home pages and participate in blogs and discussions around favorite teams and sports.

    'Team sponsorships'

    ESPN plans to sell "team sponsorships" around the community-driven elements of its website, much like the sponsorships individual professional teams ink with marketers. For example, a particular beer marketer could be the official beer of the New York Yankees on ESPN.

    ESPN also unveiled its digital plans for "Monday Night Football," coined "Monday Night Surround." ESPN.com's editor in chief, John Papanek, said the network would cover the game "the way ABC covered the Super Bowl -- with fleets of trucks and armies of crews." "Monday Night Surround" will feature scouting reports, news and games within a game, where fans from the opposing teams register and battle each other for fan supremacy through trivia, IQ contests, debates and betting contest created and hosted by Page Two columnist Bill Simmons.

    Network executives also detailed Scream, ESPN's new broadband player, and reported that ESPN 360 managed 40,000 simultaneous streams of World Cup play. ESPN 360 is only available to 8 million subscribers but ESPN launched a free trial of the service June 26.

    Long-winded session

    Mr. Walton took the stage for what was promised to be a half-hour question-and-answer session, but the long-winded basketball star-turned-analyst didn't get around to answering many queries; he instead regaled digital media buyers with stories of his formative and basketball playing years, critiqued this year's NBA Finals and yet, somehow, managed to work praise for ESPN into nearly every subject he approached.

    He likened Ed Erhardt, ESPN's president-customer sales and marketing, to former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach and explained how the Miami Heat came from behind to win an NBA Championship victory: "[It happens] when you have the talent, when you have the best guys -- and that's what we have at ESPN."

    "We got our money's worth tonight," Mr. Erhardt quipped as he closed the show and thanked Mr. Walton.
     
    #1 Faos, Jul 3, 2006
  2. Ryan Bowen MVP

    Ryan Bowen MVP Member

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    Can it be used for dating? I need a chick that digs the Rockets as much as I do :eek:
     
    #2 Ryan Bowen MVP, Jul 3, 2006
  3. WhoMikeJames

    WhoMikeJames Contributing Member

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    Oh great theres gonna be like 1239123 Mark Cuban fakes
     
    #3 WhoMikeJames, Jul 3, 2006
  4. m_cable

    m_cable Contributing Member

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    I don't see this going anywhere. Myspace is successful because it's topic is the person. If the topic is sports then you might as well go with a message board.
     
    #4 m_cable, Jul 3, 2006
  5. Dave2000

    Dave2000 Contributing Member

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    interesting. Its a joke that everybody is trying to cash into the MySpace craze with these wannabe websites. Its like when Classmates.com came out, all of the wannabes are trying to be like them, but everybody still mainly uses Classmates.
     
    #5 Dave2000, Jul 3, 2006
  6. Harrisment

    Harrisment Member

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    You've got to be kidding me. Me and my buddy came up with this idea about a year ago. We actually even started developing the website, but have never gotten around to completing it. Stack24 can vouch for me, I remember telling him about it one day at Live.

    BS, I'm suing ESPN! :mad:
     
    #6 Harrisment, Jul 3, 2006
  7. robbie380

    robbie380 ლ(▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿ლ)
    Supporting Member

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    why does espn always seem to be trying waaaaay too hard?
     
    #7 robbie380, Jul 3, 2006
  8. Faos

    Faos Contributing Member

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    I'm not into MySpace, but I think it's a good idea. I bet it's very successful and won't be surprised if many Rockets fans have pages.
     
    #8 Faos, Jul 3, 2006
  9. Mulder

    Mulder Contributing Member

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    So let me see if I got this right.

    People log on, create a profile, and post about all aspects of their favorite team and other random stuff...

    Pffft.

    That will NEVER work. :p
     
    #9 Mulder, Jul 3, 2006
  10. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    I hate buzzwords....but it's "Web 2.0"

    It's all about the community. My guess is this will go over very well. Sports fans are very passionate and like to post/blog about their team.
     
    #10 Deuce, Jul 3, 2006
  11. Faos

    Faos Contributing Member

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    I can't wait for this to get started so I can start my Pat Hurst fan page.

    [​IMG]
     
    #11 Faos, Jul 3, 2006
  12. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    I am sure Ozzy Guillen will be the first to join. He likes the WNBA too. :p
     
    #12 Deuce, Jul 3, 2006
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